Stainless Camlocks review

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I did mine on a bench grinder and yes, it sucks. I stopped often to let the piece cool down. Another way is to mount the fitting into a vice and use a grinder hand held. It's much eaiser to do this with a straight nipple because the elbow part doesn't get in the way. Too bad the street L is a nicer solution.
 
Thanks Bobby.

But now that I just received a new little giant pump, that 3/4 " inlet opens up other possibilities.

Hmmmmm.

IF I use the 3/4" camlocks with barb, that would give me the .55 ID. Do you think I could stretch my silicone (1/2") over that outer barb size (.85)

So many options.....


thanks,
jason
 
jwright said:
Thanks Bobby.

But now that I just received a new little giant pump, that 3/4 " inlet opens up other possibilities.

Hmmmmm.

IF I use the 3/4" camlocks with barb, that would give me the .55 ID. Do you think I could stretch my silicone (1/2") over that outer barb size (.85)

So many options.....


thanks,
jason
Click to expand...

Why not just use 3/4" hose?
 
This is what I am doing on my builds now. 3/4" camloks and 3/4" tubing. I dont see a point in using 1/2" hoses on 3/4" fittings. That would be like people using 3/8" tubing on their 1/2" fittings, who does that?
 
Prices for silicon tubing are all pretty standard. At least for 1/2" I haven't seen prices flucuate more than a few cents per foot.

I always use bargainfittings.com for stuff like that.
 
Bobby_M said:
I think my favorite setup so far, which I just messed with after making the video, is the 1/2" male NPT female QD with a street elbow threaded on. You can grind those threads down into a smooth hose barb which is the most compact way to emulate the old mcmaster elbow connector. The bonus is, you don't "ruin" the camlock threads in case you have second thoughts.
Click to expand...


I'm already checking with buyfittingsonline regarding theirs, but one option I thought of is using a threaded camlock fitting with a barbed hose adapter from another source that doesn't suffer from such a huge ID deficiency.
 
weirdboy, try again with asking them. I have used them before on orders and they have been great.
 
It seems to me that after spending the money for these adapters you are getting into the price range of a sanitary fitting. Where is the concern for this extra flow coming from? I have the standard barbs fitting from Proflow and I do not see any reason to spend the extra money for a fraction of flow increase you will see with buying these adapters.

If you really are finding that you need more flow. Why not just bump up to 3/4 fittings? How much time are you really going to save with these extra methods?

I get it, if you want the elbow feature. Then sure maybe adding extras will solve that. But from a purely flow standpoint I don't see the need.
 
I agree that it's not worth buying extra barbs for the added benefit. With a march pump and 1' of head, the proflow with barbs runs 2.5gpm while the DIY barb version runs 3.5gpm. That's enough of a difference for me to warrant making my own barbs from the street elbows since I already wanted to incorporate an elbow. If you don't want the elbows, you'd have to decide for yourself if it's worth grinding the threads down to make your own barb. The one application where flow matters is if you want to do recirculation whirlpooling in your kettle.
 
Brewmoor, from what I have gathered maximizing the flow stems from the desire to whirlpool at the end of your boil. I have read here that restricting the flow can alter the results of the trub cone you get from whirlpooling.

I have not personally confirmed any of this as I am in the building stages of my system and am new to whirlpooling and immersion chillers. My old system used a chillzilla counterflow and we never whirlpooled. In the summer there were some painfully long cooling times on our 11 gallon batches, like 40-50 minutes. In my new build I am looking to avoid that.

I am planning on using the barb fittings that you have for myself, and see how my trub cone comes out. If I need more flow I will create a pair of hoses that are high flow and am curious.

Do you use your fittings with a whirlpool/recircualtion at the end of your boil? If so what pump or gal per minute are you moving the wort at? and what size kettle to you have?
 
Commonwealth said:
Brewmoor, from what I have gathered maximizing the flow stems from the desire to whirlpool at the end of your boil. I have read here that restricting the flow can alter the results of the trub cone you get from whirlpooling.

I have not personally confirmed any of this as I am in the building stages of my system and am new to whirlpooling and immersion chillers. My old system used a chillzilla counterflow and we never whirlpooled. In the summer there were some painfully long cooling times on our 11 gallon batches, like 40-50 minutes. In my new build I am looking to avoid that.

I am planning on using the barb fittings that you have for myself, and see how my trub cone comes out. If I need more flow I will create a pair of hoses that are high flow and am curious.

Do you use your fittings with a whirlpool/recircualtion at the end of your boil? If so what pump or gal per minute are you moving the wort at? and what size kettle to you have?
Click to expand...

I do not whirlpool. I just remove my immersion chiller and "whirlpool" with my spoon. It works ok but with my electric element in there the swirl gets disrupted and my cone is not that big. I get a decent about of sediment in my fermenters. I am thinking of putting a hop screen of some sort in to see if it helps. I have converted kegs for my system.
 
weirdboy said:
Well I was looking at these:

http://www.buyfittingsonline.com/Fittings/item6467.htm

They're $6.25 each but I'm still unsure what the ID is like on them. I sent them a question and they replied with the OD, which obviously doesn't help for our purposes.
Click to expand...


Buyfittingsonline barb ID was no good for me. I'll post a pic tonite. They are more like "thick wall" fittings. Sent them back.

EDIT: Dern, can't seem to find pix. I took them, but... whatever. Basically, the ones I bought from another vendor were the 'thin wall' kind (not that they were labeled as such) and the ones I bought from buyfittingsonline.com are the 'thick wall' kind that have about half (or even less) the ID that the thin wall ones do. I would not get these if you are trying to do better than what comes on the barbed camlocks themselves.
 
Hey Bobby or any other camlockers out there,

I can't seem to find the thread on what size Silicon o ring to replace the gasket with. Can you provide specs?

Is there enough thread to grind and clamp on type B or F if you didn't need an elbow?
If so I can try clamping on the threads and testing my system to see where I need elbows to prevent kinking and if the flow from my pumps will provide a sufficient whirlpool.

I know I read answers to this stuff somewhere and would love to order some up. It is only a matter of time before I purchase my set of these. Just trying to dial in how many of each type.

Thanks
 
Brewmoor said:
I have the standard barbs fitting from Proflow and I do not see any reason to spend the extra money for a fraction of flow increase you will see
Click to expand...

With Bobby_M he has a 1.40 times higher flow volume with his modified fittings I see this as a great flow increase vs your "fraction of flow increase". Dealing with a March pump your already starting out with a weak pump they need all the help they can. For whirlpooling that would be a dud. JMO's.
 
I would still call that a fraction I comparison to the 3.5 that march claims on their pumps. Also as I understand it flow is not the only factor in whirlpooling. I get plenty of whirlpooling from my stock barbs. When I. Transfer from my mash tun to kettle through my bottom outlet. The small gain you get from extra parts will not make much difference.
 
I'm convinced now. Placed an order for 7 sets. I will have 6 sets of the McMaster 90 degree brass disconnects for sale very soon. Anyone want first dibs on them before I list them in the classifieds?
 
Reelale said:
:confused:
Click to expand...

I believe you need to read the definition of whirlpooling. Whirlpooling is for when the boil is done. It gathers all the hops and left over grains into the middle and creates a cone.

As I said I get whirlpooling when I transfer from mash to kettle. I was just stating that there is a enough flow and force to create this action.

NO I do not whirlpool. Yes My equipment has the ability. Thats all. Smart ass
 
Brewmoor said:
I believe you need to read the definition of whirlpooling. Whirlpooling is for when the boil is done. It gathers all the hops and left over grains into the middle and creates a cone.

As I said I get whirlpooling when I transfer from mash to kettle. I was just stating that there is a enough flow and force to create this action.

NO I do not whirlpool. Yes My equipment has the ability. Thats all. Smart ass
Click to expand...

I was just a little confused by the conflicting statements. Now that's cleared up, we can move on:mug:
 
There's a big difference between observing wort swirling in the kettle and the act of whirlpooling with a huge IC coil in there slowing things down. I don't have any way to measure actual wort movement and I'm not going to run a batch with the barbed fittings and without and measure the chilling time difference. Avoiding the barbs worked out in my favor for two reasons and the flow increase is the marginal one.
 
Good point.

It would be great if there were a way to quantify that. You know, diameter of kettle, diameter of the chiller, cubic feet per second of liquid... I'm not a mathematician.

I "believe" I have a scenario that will provide a good whirlpool and have spent $ on hoping it happens.... same scenario, I guess.
 
Commonwealth, the orings I used were 1" OD, 1/8" profile diameter. #214.

Here are some pics showing why I like the elbow..

With:
camlock1.jpg


Without:
camlock2.jpg


Nice on the MLT recirculation port:
camlock3.jpg
 
Nice pictures Bobby - thanks.

I am new to buying/sizing O-rings.
When I pull up the # 214 I get : 1 ID x 1-1/4 OD x 1/8.

Are these really the same as what you used?

thanks,
jason
 
weirdboy

1" OD vs 1-1/4" OD ?????????

Since these are internally fit, that 1/4" sounds like a significant difference.

What am I missing?

jason
 
Thanks Bobby, you are true saint amongst brewers. thanks again for all of your efforts and sharing. I completely get why the elbows are nice. I think I will have to assemble a good portion of my single tier and see where I will need them. and just to be clear is there any benefit to the increased flow outside of the whirlpool? again I get it, it takes a lot to get a whirlpool going with a IC in there messing up the fluid dynmics. But do you need high flow on other hoses that are not recircing the wort during the chilling process? The barbs seem cleaner, simpler and certainly less work for any application that is not high flow dependent.
 
Commonwealth said:
Thanks Bobby, you are true saint amongst brewers. thanks again for all of your efforts and sharing. I completely get why the elbows are nice. I think I will have to assemble a good portion of my single tier and see where I will need them. and just to be clear is there any benefit to the increased flow outside of the whirlpool? again I get it, it takes a lot to get a whirlpool going with a IC in there messing up the fluid dynmics. But do you need high flow on other hoses that are not recircing the wort during the chilling process? The barbs seem cleaner, simpler and certainly less work for any application that is not high flow dependent.
Click to expand...

I've been using the brass disconnects (3/8 ID) from McMaster Carr for about a year now. I no-sparge brew, so I recirculate wort during the mash. I can say for a fact that my hoses and disconnects have not been a limiting factor so far. I can only pump as fast as the MLT drains. I'm specifically hoping to get a better flow for chilling (plate chiller) and whirlpooling. I'm thinking that matching the whole set-up to the outlet diameter of the pump is a good thing all the way around. IMO, if you don't need the high flow rates, the barbs would probably work fine.
 
Has anyone considered boring or drilling out the barbed versions for better flow? The walls appear pretty thick to me and we homebrewers run pretty low pressures. I realize many folks like the elbows for the directional change they provide without kinking the tubing. But I will be using these on a brutus type system that will have the SS Tee fittings for temp probes, that means I will have an elbow already integrated.
 

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