Question on swivel nuts

[J2W2]

Hi,

When I built my keezer a few years back, I put barbed FFL swivel nuts on all my beer and gas lines. I inserted them so that they were almost flush with the tubing, leaving just enough room so that they did swivel.

I use the nylon washers with them periodically, mainly when I'm cleaning my lines, and I usually have a devil of a time getting the washers back out when I'm ready to put my quick disconnects back on.

Recently, I noticed the tubing for my beer gun left about a 1/4 inch of barb sticking out of the tubing. When I'm ready to remove the washer, I just push the nut against the tubing and it kind of "ejects" the washer.

I'm getting ready to clean my lines again, and I'm thinking about cutting off my swivel nuts (man, that sounds kind of bad ) and putting them on with the 1/4 gap. It'll only cost me a few Oetiker clamps and a little time.

Does anyone else install their swivel nuts this way, and is there any downside to doing it? Thanks for your input!

 

[kiwipen]

Are you using plastic or steel disconnects? The plastic ones don't need a gasket.

As long as most of the barb is in the hose I don't think it matters that a small part isn't.

 

[day_trippr]

Right, no need to snug the tubing to the swivel nut.
That said, are you sure you got the right size flare washers? I ask because my lhbs had some 5/16" gaskets in the 1/4" bin and when I used them they wedged pretty darn tight inside the 1/4" nuts. Otoh, a proper 1/4" flare washer drops right out...

Cheers!

 

[J2W2]

Are you using plastic or steel disconnects? The plastic ones don't need a gasket.

As long as most of the barb is in the hose I don't think it matters that a small part isn't.

Right. I have the disconnects with the built-in gaskets. However, when I clean my lines, I remove the disconnects (disassemble and clean them separately) and use two-sided all brass MFL connectors to join my lines into a single line for cleaning, and a brass MFL connector to attach the last line to a fountain pump to circulate line cleaner. That's when the washers come into play.

Right, no need to snug the tubing to the swivel nut.
That said, are you sure you got the right size flare washers? I ask because my lhbs had some 5/16" gaskets in the 1/4" bin and when I used them they wedged pretty darn tight inside the 1/4" nuts. Otoh, a proper 1/4" flare washer drops right out...

Cheers!

I went ahead and redid the swivel nuts with a little gap. I'm cleaning the lines right now, so we'll see how well the washers release. I ordered these online, but I think I had at least one over-sized. I couldn't even get it to lay flat in the nut. I threw that one out.

I'll try and post back when I'm done cleaning.

Thanks for your help!