Recommend some quick disconnect fittings for chiller
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You need a valved quick disconnect. Freshwater Systems have them. I have all 3/8" barbs myself on the chiller and almost all my coils are 3/8" outer diameter. I went with a 3/8" barbed elbow and then the valved disconnects (barbed) with short 3/8" ID tubing from the coil to the elbow and from the elbow to the QD. Looks like you have a 1/2"x3/8" ptc elbow? Is it 1/2" OD from the chiller to the fermenter coil?
I don't remember what they are called, but I do know that I ran into the Kent Systems people at homebrewcon a few years back and they had quickconnect fittings that had shutoffs when you disconnected(plastic). You should be able to google them and get in touch. I remember them being very nice and helpful. I was also probably very full of beer..
http://brew.kentsystems.com
http://brew.kentsystems.com
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Freshwater Systems has some with threads instead of a barb, not sure if there are any ptc type. They also call it a coupling not a disconnect. So a valved coupling, that gets squeezed to separate. Both sides have valves in them such that the valves close when disconnecting. Mine are barbed though.
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homebrewdude76
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Quickcoupling is probably why I couldn't find anything..
Kentsystems website is a work of art... ha!
I have bought from Freshwater systems in the past. That is local for me and no shipping.
Thanks for the direction!
Kentsystems website is a work of art... ha!
I have bought from Freshwater systems in the past. That is local for me and no shipping.
Thanks for the direction!
I just got these https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/glycolqdset_inline.htm at brewhardware and they might be what you are looking for.
I was worried they would restrict the flow, but have not seen any difference in the cooling after installing on a 5 and 10 gal fermenter. Still cold crashed good.
I was worried they would restrict the flow, but have not seen any difference in the cooling after installing on a 5 and 10 gal fermenter. Still cold crashed good.
https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23027&catid=743
The US Plastics HFC 12 series is what I use. Very handy. They are available in 3/8" and 1/2" tubing sizes
The US Plastics HFC 12 series is what I use. Very handy. They are available in 3/8" and 1/2" tubing sizes
505-Brewer
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Wish the freshwater site listed the partner parts side by side. Lotsa hunting required. Whats the preferred body material for chiller applications?
Looking for barbed valved couplings, 3/8” i think to be used with Spike chiller coils on my fermenters.
Looking for barbed valved couplings, 3/8” i think to be used with Spike chiller coils on my fermenters.
505-Brewer
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It's a difficult site to navigate I agree. I looked at various brands and materials. What I found was, it seemed like for different materials/manufacturers, 32F was frequently listed as a low. I didn't feel like that was a strict value. Instead it might be that value since that's water's freezing point. You'll go a little less than that with glycol and water mixed but not far. The high end of the material not typically important here. I did try to find some that went below 32 but found maybe just one that did. I ended up not worrying about it as long as it was 32F. I posted the ones I bought previously but would need to search again to find them. (I may have checked out as guest.)
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The dual type are what is offered by some of the homebrew chiller brands as well. Can't say for a jacketed fermenter but with coils, it's sometimes necessary to flip the glycol flow direction to account for a temperature inversion at ~mid to high thirties F. The dual types are often keyed which prevents that. I suggest checking with Brewhardware on these. With that in mind, individual pairs of male/ female allow reversing the line flow direction (must be same brand/type).
Other posts here mention cost. I found that one valved fitting is about $7‐8, with 2 pairs of male/female needed per line minimum ($28-32). I disconnect at the coils, so that leaves the line connected from the coil disconnect to the chiller. The dual ones are neater and may save a few bucks I noticed but if you need to flip them, best to check on if possible.
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homebrewdude76
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Those look good, but I don't run my lines tied together like that
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homebrewdude76
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Is it possible to secure the hard tubing directly over the barb without it splitting?
Is that normal practice?
Is that normal practice?
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Hard tubing you may want to just go with shutoff valves on both sides then (post #2).
No I don't think it is normal practice to put a barb into hard tubing. For homebrewing, seems like most people use soft tubing for glycol lines. Seems like you would have to nudge the fermenter or chiller to disconnect hard piping? How is your piping connect to your chiller?
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homebrewdude76
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Chiller is push connect John Guest fittings.
My spike conical is also push connect John Guest.
My new to me SSBrewtech conical is the barb fittings.
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You have a couple things making it difficult to adapt your setup: the 1/2" OD hard tubing and the ptc connections. Barbs and soft tubing are more common on chillers that I have looked at. Probably starts with the pumps typically having a barbed fitting. On the fermenter side, 3/8" OD coils appear to be common for the smaller size fermenters. The coils I've looked at don't usually have barbs but I just ordered some SS Brewtech fermenters and I've noticed they frequently use barbs on their stuff. I have a mini-bucket coming and I happened to notice that SS Brewtech had an adapter fitting that would fit into the valve since their barb is removalable on the drain. I don't think that will work for you though.
The sizes of ptc under 1/2" John Guest are compatible with metric sizes for Dutotight. 3/8"=9.5 mm, 5/16"=8mm. I'm not sure why you went 1/2" off the chiller since you have to reduce to 3/8" at the coil. But to go from the 3/8" barb, you'd need to convert from the barb to ptc which might be hard to find or simpler would be to convert from barbed to NPT with an adapter, then NPT to ptc with an adapter A short piece of tubing to go from the barb to the adapter fitting. Last idea would be to swage a piece of 9.5mm evabarrier to the barb. I don't usually got that route for barbed fittings but people have done it here I know for the smaller barb sizes and smaller evabarrier diameters. I don't know what your hard tubing is at 1/2". Evabarrier is based on outer diameter but it's still quite flexible.
My own glycol system had 3/8" barbs on the chiller. I bought the pumps separate and used 1/2" npt x 3/8" barb adapters to run 3/8" ID silicone tubing to the fermenters. I used the 3/8" barbed autoshutoff (valved) disconnects (coupling) [that description has the various names I have encountered]. The 3/8" ID tubing fits right over 3/8" OD coils where I simply use Oetiker (ear) clamps. In a way, I went with the lowest common denominator, the 3/8" barbs as far as the tubing because it was what was on my chiller and I know it would work easier with the coils on my fermenters. I had also seen that the glycol lines for the chillers that I was interested in were using 3/8" lines commonly.
Now the jacketed fermenters I don't know what they typically have as their in/out fittings or expected line size.
