Struggling with my herms coil connections

[awarner322]

Hey guys. I'm putting my keggles together and am having an issue with getting my herms coil connections to the ball valve in the outside. I am using a weldless set up.

My current situation is a half inch ss nipple to connect to the 1/2 copper compression fitting I sweated on to my coil. However the ss nipple doesn't fit as well as i I wou have thought. It threads on 'okay' but it eventually slips off....I can decide if it is 1)bc going from copper to ss that way is a no no 2) the compression fitting nut isn't deep enough and grabbing enough thread 3) both....ouror something else....

Regardless....there has to be a better way. I thought thus this be an easy search I here....but I'm coming up empty. Can anyone help me....or point me in the right direction?

Thx

 

[TechyDork]

Do you have a pic of your current set up? I am having trouble picturing what you have going on.

Here is what I used to mount my HERMS coil in my HLT. A nice SS weldless fitting with the 1/2" compression built in to connect to the coil.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/truebulkhead12comp.htm

 

[awarner322]

Thanks...Bobby doesn't have a picture of that product...do you have a picture of your set up?. I'll take a picture when I get home. Do you have a copper or ss coil?

 

[TechyDork]

Thanks...Bobby doesn't have a picture of that product...do you have a picture of your set up?. I'll take a picture when I get home. Do you have a copper or ss coil?

I have a SS coil. This is the only image i have with me at work. Basically the fitting has male threads on one side of the bulkhead for connecting your valve to, and the inside is a compression fitting for the 1/2" tube. I like it because it is a one piece solution

 

[Bobby_M]

Hey guys. I'm putting my keggles together and am having an issue with getting my herms coil connections to the ball valve in the outside. I am using a weldless set up.

My current situation is a half inch ss nipple to connect to the 1/2 copper compression fitting I sweated on to my coil. However the ss nipple doesn't fit as well as i I wou have thought. It threads on 'okay' but it eventually slips off....I can decide if it is 1)bc going from copper to ss that way is a no no 2) the compression fitting nut isn't deep enough and grabbing enough thread 3) both....ouror something else....

Regardless....there has to be a better way. I thought thus this be an easy search I here....but I'm coming up empty. Can anyone help me....or point me in the right direction?

Thx

To be honest, I can't follow what you're saying you currently have.

Compression fittings are not typically sweated to tubing. They are "compressed" on.

I'm sorry I don't have a picture up yet for the true bulkhead with 1/2" compression but picture it similar to what you see below but intead of a diptube, that's where your coil would be. The exact fitting shown also is not the "truebulkhead" design with the captured ORING but it's a reasonable representation of what it would look like. I guarantee that they are the best weldless solution available today.

These are used when the ends of the coil are just bare tubes. What exactly did you sweat on?

 

[awarner322]

Sorry for the crappy explanation. Here is what I was trying to say....I held them up (minus the o-rings and SS washers).

 

[rudylyon57]

Looks like you are attempting to connect an NPT nipple to the female portion of a union? Unless you machine the end of the nipple to match the union, any seal you are able to get would be by luck only. It will take up lots of space but it seems that you need a male end of the union on the end of the nipple.

 

[awarner322]

Looks like you are attempting to connect an NPT nipple to the female portion of a union? Unless you machine the end of the nipple to match the union, any seal you are able to get would be by luck only. It will take up lots of space but it seems that you need a male end of the union on the end of the nipple.

Yeah I just realized when I was typing on my phone my situation... I said compression fitting instead of union (I was looking at compression fittings at the time). Sorry for the confusion...I guess all that aside...what is the best way to get this to work? I am willing to scrap everything I have. I thought copper may be the better way to go for me...but perhaps I should but a stainless coil and connections?

Thanks for the help guys

 

[jekeane]

I just got a 50' 1/2" stainless herms coil with stainless compression fittings for $125 from sainless brewing.

 

[awarner322]

I am thinking I might have to go this route... but what would be the best way to attach the copper coil?

 

[jekeane]

I think you would need to redo your bends to the input and output. End the bends with a length of straight copper and use a compression fitting on the straight copper to attach to your nipples. With copper I would think you could avoid sweating altogether and just bend it.

 

[snackson]

You can keep the copper coil, just cut off the bends and attach a 1/2" NPT TO 1/2" OD TUBE COMPRESSION ELBOW like this one that Bobby sells, https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/comp90-12tx12mnpt.htm

Here is a female NPT one from Bargain Fittings, http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_56&product_id=239

 

[augiedoggy]

You can keep the copper coil, just cut off the bends and attach a 1/2" NPT TO 1/2" OD TUBE COMPRESSION ELBOW like this one that Bobby sells, https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/comp90-12tx12mnpt.htm

Here is a female NPT one from Bargain Fittings, http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_56&product_id=239

This is what I did with my old herms setup.. you can also pick up brass compression fittings for like $5 at the local hardware store... They are all LEAD FREE now days unlike a few years ago... stainless will stay cleaner with less effort though...
People mainly go with stainless here because of the misconception that brass still contains harmful amounts of lead and heavy metals. however stainless doesnt discolor and it looks pretty compared to copper and brass... (despite some of the other reasons mentioned for self justification) I started with a lot of plastic and copper and such and converted to stainless over time but I'll admit it was mainly for looks although I didnt like how my copper sparge manifold would turn nasty if left exposed to grain bed overnight in my MT. and I didnt care for the smell left in my plastic cooler MT after cleaning..

The truth is many breweries still brew in copper kettles with brass fittings....
until recently even Stella was brewed this way in Belgium for hundreds of years.

 

[awarner322]

What would be better then? Using the female end of the compression tube elbow and using the nipple from my current setup....or buying a male end and connecting that straight to the ball valve on the outside of the kettle?

 

[TechyDork]

What would be better then? Using the female end of the compression tube elbow and using the nipple from my current setup....or buying a male end and connecting that straight to the ball valve on the outside of the kettle?

Looks like you could cut the coil behind your fittings and then put a 90 bend on there. Then you could just pick up a female NPT to compression fitting and use your current set up. If you don't want stainless you could probably pick them up at the hardware store for pretty cheap.

Or go with the stainless weldless bulkhead compression fitting in link earlier, both ways will accomplish the same thing. Just one way using a single fitting and the other uses a few fittings.

Either way i think you would be better off to cut off those sweat on fittings and just put a couple of 90 bends in your coil.

 

[acidrain]

What would be better then? Using the female end of the compression tube elbow and using the nipple from my current setup....or buying a male end and connecting that straight to the ball valve on the outside of the kettle?

Your copper union will not mate to a nipple.
Either use the correct side of that copper union, or scrap it and go with a "normal" compression fitting.
I use a 90 deg. compression so that I didn't have to make bends at the end of my coil.

 

[donbrew]

Why not just make a bulkhead fitting?
nut-washer-gasket | gasket-washer-nut.

 

[augiedoggy]

Why not just make a bulkhead fitting?
nut-washer-gasket | gasket-washer-nut.

I dont think he has enough threads for that for one thing...

 

[donbrew]

Bulkhead with a compression fitting on the copper is the way to go.

 

[TechyDork]

I use a 90 deg. compression so that I didn't have to make bends at the end of my coil.

I think this would be your best bet. No need to bend the coil. I think Bobby sells a bulkhead to 90 compression fitting.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

I think this would be your best bet. No need to bend the coil. I think Bobby sells a bulkhead to 90 compression fitting.

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/comp90-12tx12mnpt.htm

He does:

 

[DNKDUKE]

I just got a 50' 1/2" stainless herms coil with stainless compression fittings for $125 from sainless brewing.

Is there such a thing??????

 

[TechyDork]

Is there such a thing??????

Pretty sure every time i brew there is a temporary loss of sanity. :rockin:

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

This is what I did with my old herms setup.. you can also pick up brass compression fittings for like $5 at the local hardware store... They are all LEAD FREE now days unlike a few years ago... stainless will stay cleaner with less effort though...
People mainly go with stainless here because of the misconception that brass still contains harmful amounts of lead and heavy metals. however stainless doesnt discolor and it looks pretty compared to copper and brass... (despite some of the other reasons mentioned for self justification) I started with a lot of plastic and copper and such and converted to stainless over time but I'll admit it was mainly for looks although I didnt like how my copper sparge manifold would turn nasty if left exposed to grain bed overnight in my MT. and I didnt care for the smell left in my plastic cooler MT after cleaning..

The truth is many breweries still brew in copper kettles with brass fittings....
until recently even Stella was brewed this way in Belgium for hundreds of years.

FWIW Lead Free does not mean "Free of Lead" it means "less lead". There is still lead in Lead free brass. They are allowed up to 0.25% instead of 4% it used to be.

 

[augiedoggy]

FWIW Lead Free does not mean "Free of Lead" it means "less lead". There is still lead in Lead free brass. They are allowed up to 0.25% instead of 4% it used to be.

Yes correct just like the lead free solder used for copper plumbing. And you can soak the plumbing in something to remove it from the surface if I remember correctly...
In any case it's a lot like using aluminum for brewing or sauce where the acidity dissolves the metal into what your consuming... Pick your poison I guess the jury is still out on whether it really has negative effects.