Tubing for carbonated water lines?

[saratoga]

I converted one of my taps to seltzer using a McCain's carbonator. Unfortunately I'm struggling with off tastes from the tubing interacting with the carbonated water.

Initially I tried showing some Bev-Flex 172 by Accuflex 1/4 onto the shank and using a couple of crimp on fittings, but no matter how hard I crimped I'd get a slow leak above 50 PSI, which I guess makes sense since its a gas line tube and very hard so not made for barbed fittings.

Next I tried Clearflo AG-47 which was god awful. It seals great and holds pressure perfectly, but even a second or two contact with the seltzer and it tastes like I'm drinking bitter plastic.

Then I tried Excelon RNT, which similarly seals well but tastes only a little better.

At this point I've spent a lot ordering random tubing and haven't had much success. Are there any good options I should be looking at? High pressure, a tight fit on a barbed soda tap, and the neutral taste of seltzer water seems to really limit my options.

 

[Transamguy77]

I’m going down the same path with seltzer water and everything I’ve read is to use Eva barrier tubing. How long are your lines that you need to have it set to 50psi?

 

[saratoga]

According to the product page, Eva barrier is hard tubing for push fittings. Probably fine for hooking up water lines with compression fittings, but I don't think you'd get a tight seal on the tap shank unless you somehow retrofit one with compression fittings.

I'm running ~4 feet of tubing, typical pressure is about 60-70 PSI for good carbonation. You don't want to run too much less than that, otherwise your water line pressure will prevent CO2 from leaving the tank.

 

[twd000]

I'm using Eva Barrier and Duotight fittings on both liquid and gas side. No barb fittings.

Currently running seltzer at 30 psi. Surprised to see 60-70 PSI - that must be a lotta bubbles!

 

[saratoga]

How do you do the duotight on the dispenser side? Are you using a beer tap?

 

[Transamguy77]

According to the product page, Eva barrier is hard tubing for push fittings. Probably fine for hooking up water lines with compression fittings, but I don't think you'd get a tight seal on the tap shank unless you somehow retrofit one with compression fittings.

I'm running ~4 feet of tubing, typical pressure is about 60-70 PSI for good carbonation. You don't want to run too much less than that, otherwise your water line pressure will prevent CO2 from leaving the tank.

they make adapters for the push to barb adapter. And I would use a longer line so you don’t have to have to pressure set so high.

Edit: if you look at Brewhardware.com they have the line and adapters.

 

[twd000]

How do you do the duotight on the dispenser side? Are you using a beer tap?

Yeah I have the seltzer hooked up the same way as my beer taps. Duotight--> shank-->perlick tap

 

[saratoga]

Yeah I have the seltzer hooked up the same way as my beer taps. Duotight--> shank-->perlick tap

Edit: You mean something like this? Intertap Beer Faucet Shank (Stainless) - Tower Shank w/ Duotight Compatible Barb | MoreBeer I might have to try that.

Edit2: "Please note these shanks are not compatible with Perlick brand faucets." Damn it.

they make adapters for the push to barb adapter. And I would use a longer line so you don’t have to have to pressure set so high.

The line length doesn't matter since when carbonating there is no flow and thus no pressure drop. The pressure cannot be set any lower than the building water pressure, since if it were no CO2 would be able to enter the carbonator.

 

[twd000]

Edit: You mean something like this? Intertap Beer Faucet Shank (Stainless) - Tower Shank w/ Duotight Compatible Barb | MoreBeer I might have to try that.

Edit2: "Please note these shanks are not compatible with Perlick brand faucets." Damn it.




The line length doesn't matter since when carbonating there is no flow and thus no pressure drop. The pressure cannot be set any lower than the building water pressure, since if it were no CO2 would be able to enter the carbonator.

It's a threaded piece onto the shank that has a push in Duotight fitting on the other side

https://www.morebeer.com/products/d...m8-PTIA0GDvmr5kqPxMH_viELJ4KDl-hoCiocQAvD_BwE

 

[saratoga]

I'll see if I can figure out a way to make that work with my existing Perlick taps. I see a few threads on it. Assuming I can work out the parts, that's definitely a neater solution than using hose barbs and lets me use my existing hard tube.

 

[Nathan Graen]

I cheaped out and ordered this and it's worked great:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/UDP-5-1...Tubing-with-Dispenser-Box-T16004002/304185208
https://www.homedepot.com/p/John-Gu...Connector-Fitting-10-Pack-PM4508F4S/301411160

 

[saratoga]

I've got tons of those JG fittings around, but no way to hook them up to my Perlick taps which use 90 degree barbs. Looking around, people say that those Duotight fittings leak on Perlicks due to differences in how the threading is cut.

I tried ordering some platinum cured silicon hose from McMaster Carr, but unfortunately even the ultrahigh purity stuff still has a plastic taste to it. I guess I could just use an inch or two of it on the barb and run that into a barb to JG adapter then use hard tube the rest of the way. Shame Perlick doesn't seem to offer compression fittings.

 

[saratoga]

Just wanted to post a final update:

While the platinum cured silicon hose initially had an off taste, I found that by baking it at 220F for ~3 hours I could significantly reduce it and then baking another 3 hours completely removed it. Most likely it was some residual contaminate from the manufacturing process.

If anyone else has this problem, here is the hose I used (McMaster Part number 51735K23) :

https://www.mcmaster.com/51735K23/
Aside from the annoyance of having to bake it, I was pleasantly surprised with how tightly it seals. I think even without clamps it would probably have held 60 PSI of pressure easily enough. Compared to most high pressure tube, it is remarkably compliant.