Poll: TriClover vs Quick Disconnects vs Camlocks

[JayInJersey]

I'm trying to decide what type of connections to use on my setup...as I'm getting to that final step.

What do you use?

What are the advantages/disadvantages of your selection?

Thanks for sharing!

 

[lamarguy]

Cam-lock - Not sanitary, easy to attach/detach, reliable seal, and inexpensive.

Tri-clover - Sanitary, not as easy to attach/detach, reliable seal, and expensive.

IMO, for cold-side fittings (e.g., fermenter), tri-clover is best. For hot-side fittings (i.e., brew rig), cam-lock is best.

 

[Julohan]

I have used tri clovers and qd's. I definitely prefer qd's especially when I am changing the connections around at/after boil with liquids in the lines. I agree with the previous post that tc's and with the sanitary quality are the best for fermentation. I scolded my hands to many times with tc's when priming the pump after boil.

 

[conpewter]

I have quick disconnects on the brew rig and really like them. The tri-clovers I've used are nice, but more trouble than they are worth IMO.

 

[klyph]

I use the brass QD's and while they are not sanitary fittings, a dip in star san and pumping boiling wort through them, I haven't had any infections using them on the cold side.

 

[BrewNinja1]

I had a few of the brass QD's, and before my last batch moved to the camlocks (upgraded my brew stand to single tier with pump). They are pretty awesome. They are about the same price, and the camlocks are stainless. Thats why I ended up going with them over the brass QD's.

 

[JayInJersey]

I currently have the brass QD's on my setup now...but on the E-Rig I'm using all SS and the prices are getting interesting.

Tri's and QD's seem to be in the same ballpark and I can't find Male and Female Camlocks with 1/2" MPT ... all the females seem to be FPT.


Still can't make up my mind

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I have used all three pretty extensively.

Tris:
Most interchangable, easiest to clean, rock solid connection that can stand up to heavy mechanical loads. These are the best for systems that do not need to make a lot of connect-disconnect actions or where you need mechanical strength. They are also very nice because they can be adapted so many ways, add sensors, gauges etc. without any work.

Cams, polysulphone or brass
A little cheaper than tris and definitely easy for changing connections. I really like these a lot and will use them in the future as well. I will still use tris though in certain spots around my rig for rigid connections, sensor placement, etc.

QD's
Don't make any sense to me. Not stainless, more expensive than cams, restricted flow, few connectivity options. I would not purchase these.

 

[Krelja]

I have used all three pretty extensively.

Tris:
Most interchangable, easiest to clean, rock solid connection that can stand up to heavy mechanical loads. These are the best for systems that do not need to make a lot of connect-disconnect actions or where you need mechanical strength. They are also very nice because they can be adapted so many ways, add sensors, gauges etc. without any work.

Cams, polysulphone or brass
A little cheaper than tris and definitely easy for changing connections. I really like these a lot and will use them in the future as well. I will still use tris though in certain spots around my rig for rigid connections, sensor placement, etc.

QD's
Don't make any sense to me. Not stainless, more expensive than cams, restricted flow, few connectivity options. I would not purchase these.

Very well put. I have tri-clamps all over my rig and changing them at times can be cumbersome but the positives outweigh all that for me. The camlocks look like a good product so nothing bad to say about them even though I've never used them

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I think changing tris is easy and quick, its just that the cams are quicker.

 

[Julohan]

My QD's are stainless, though more expensive than tc's, not by much.

 

[klyph]

I don't think you're giving the brass QD's enough credit. They are about $10 for a set of male/female. Granted they reduce the diameter to 3/8" but most people are using dip tubes made of 1/2" (which is 3/8 ID). Not to mention any additional flow beyond what you get with the brass QD's is almost useless to a homebrewer in the <15 gallon range.

Admittedly, I have some ugly baby syndrome going on here, and if I the SS camlocks were more well known when I bought QD's, I probably would have gone that route. But saying that the brass QD's don't make any sense when they are still the cheapest option that has been proven to work well isn't accurate.

IMHO YMMV ROFLBBQ ETC

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I didn't mean to knock the brass QD's... they just don't make sense to me. The SS cams are also $10 per set but have many more advantages IME.

I haven't dropped the coin on the SS QD's (ala MoreBeer) so I don't really know about those. They look nice.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I went with a combination of Tri's and Camloks.....mostly Tri's for bling factor and infrequent disassembly....but I got camloks for those areas that I KNOW will be frequently accessed, like on my plate chiller when backflushing.

I absolutely LOVE triclover stuff....but you can't beat the prices on cams, and they're 316 SS to boot.

 

[Dog House Brew]

Cams came after I put all Tri's on my build. Brewing with it for the first time next weekend. We will see how they are for moving around. Worked with cam locks for years and never had a problem with one, just didn't think of them for my rig.

 

[redbs]

I have all SS QD's on my equipment and I love them. They are fast, easy to use and are 1/2 inch all the way through, but not cheap. If I were to start over I would definitely consider the cam locks. They seem about as easy to use but cost a lot less.

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I use the stainless QDs from morebeer on my hot side and triclamps on the cold side... I also agree that I probably would have gone with camlocks on the hot side if I had known about them at the time I bought the QDs.

 

[SankePankey]

Cam-lock - Not sanitary, easy to attach/detach, reliable seal, and inexpensive.

Tri-clover - Sanitary, not as easy to attach/detach, reliable seal, and expensive.

IMO, for cold-side fittings (e.g., fermenter), tri-clover is best. For hot-side fittings (i.e., brew rig), cam-lock is best.

I'm going to second Lamarguy here and add a few points. I have and use all three and they all have their good and bad points. I'm not voting cause there is no "all of the above" to vote on.

Tri- All my cold side stuff is tri-clamp, except my wort pump which gets heat sanitized anyways and has threads itself, so there's no getting around that. The best part of TC is that it's sexually androgynous. You don't have to worry about an Adam and Steve in there, or what not. This is a concern for me as I have in-line everything (Ox,Carbing,Filtering,blowoff,yeast harvesting, etc...). This is the only really sanitary disconnect too so I think better for fermenters and such. Also, the large internal diameter of a 1.5" tri-clamp makes for putting things inside like an in line diffusion stone (which you can do with pipe too, but that's not sanitary) or a sock screen gasket for, as in my case, second stage filtering pre plate chiller.

Cam-lock- As much as I wanted to just stick to one or two, I ended up just purchasing the cam locks for the hot side. They are way more useful for 'patch-bay' type applications where you need NPT anyways, like a plate chiller.

Quick Disconnects- I'm assuming you mean the CPC plastic ones. They are useful for things, although I am sending many of them back to McMaster.. For one, they are the only one of the three that comes in an elbow configuration (without adding a street elbow) and also a "thru-the-wall" mount configuration too, which I use for my water in. Also of note is that they can come with shut-off valve configs too (just like ball locks, basically). The bad thing is that they have a little cross thingy in the inside (really only there to push open the shut-off valves, but the non shutoffs come with them too... so you can intermingle). So if you are using them for mash recirc, they can trap grains. I'm replacing that particular one with the proflows camlocks.

D- All of the above.

 

[Hex]

Would anyone post product links for us noobes?

 

[JayInJersey]

Well as far as I know the SS Quick Disconnects are only available from MoreBeer (www.morebeer.com) and the PNs are H503A and H503B

The Tri-Clovers I was looking at I sourced from www.brewershardware.com but I think they are available elsewhere as well (I just happen to like BrewersHardware )


I haven't found suitable sets of SS Cams with MPT on both sides yet...but I'm still looking.

 

[BargainFittings]

Well as far as I know the SS Quick Disconnects are only available from MoreBeer (www.morebeer.com) and the PNs are H503A and H503B

The Tri-Clovers I was looking at I sourced from www.brewershardware.com but I think they are available elsewhere as well (I just happen to like BrewersHardware )


I haven't found suitable sets of SS Cams with MPT on both sides yet...but I'm still looking.

Style F is male camlock by male npt
Style B is female camlock by male npt

 

[pjj2ba]

QD's
Don't make any sense to me. Not stainless, more expensive than cams, restricted flow, few connectivity options. I would not purchase these.

This to me is a big consideration. I personally prefer good flow over ease of use.

 

[JayInJersey]

Thanks Wayne,

Those are exactly the ones I was looking for...

I think I may have found my choice =D

 

[lamarguy]

This to me is a big consideration. I personally prefer good flow over ease of use.

I would recommend the "dump" technique then. Best flow with little ease of use!

 

[ntempleton]

Good thread. Timely as I'm trying to decide between camlocks and tri-clovers. I'm leaning towards a mix. Camlocks on the hot side, and tri-clovers on the cold side.

 

[klyph]

I think it's funny how concerned people are with a minor increase in flow, then they have to choke down their pumps to avoid a stuck sparge anyway. I use the brass QD's and still have to slow my runoff. I guess it makes filling the mash tun and draining the boil kettle about 2 minutes faster...

Would anyone post product links for us noobes?

Brass QD's:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6739k59
http://www.mcmaster.com/#6739k64

SS QD's
http://morebeer.com/view_product/7642/102348/Threaded_Stainless_Steel_Quick_Disconnect_Set_1_set_MPT

Cam Locks:
http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=51
http://www.proflowdynamics.com/cam-and-groove-couplings.html

Triclovers:
http://www.stpats.com/sanitaryfittings.htm
http://klgstainless.com/

 

[Bobby_M]

The poll is flawed in that the "QD" is such a generic term that it could include triclover, camlock, mcmaster brass coolant sleeve locks, Morebeer stainless sleeve-locks etc. I assume you mean sleevelocks in general... you know, pull the sleeve to disconnect. I suppose you can mean the poly pushbutton ones.

I think stainless camlocks are the obvious winner in value. Cost the same as the brass sleevelocks from mc with the stainless longevity and wide open flow. TC's aren't any easier to connect/disconnect but they are more than twice the price. There's no sense in talking about sanitary or not if you use any threaded fittings inline. In other words, unless you convert your pump heads to native TC and use TC butterfly valves, it ain't sanitary anymore.

 

[klyph]

I'm thinking about getting 1/2" female NPT to triclamp adapters

And thread them onto the chugger pump head

Then have the adaptor sanitary welded at the face.

I'm not sure if this would give you a sanitary pump or not considering the internals, but it would eliminate contamination from threads.

 

[Swagman]

Myself I favor the Tri's. My system is hard piped and not many changes of hose. I tried quick connects and found over time they will fail at the O-ring.




God Bless
Dominus Vobiscum
Swagman

 

[ScubaSteve]

Sanitary is a relative term....camloks are pretty dang sanitary if you keep em clean. That being said, unless you are using a triclover pump that is designed to be broken down repeatedly and have the impeller cleaned, you're not really accomplishing what the industry would call "sanitary". So it's relative, in that NO homebrewer that I've seen has one of these pumps and they just do their best to keep things clean. You can do that using any type of QD with the right chemicals/procedures, so I guess it comes down to whether or not you take care of your gear.

If you're cleaning properly, then the next question is how do you like to brew? Switching hoses, completely hard piped, wearing gloves, etc.