Stainless Quick Disconnects

[awalker]

I did see some stainless ones somewhere that looked like the dog's danglies, but can't seem to find them now, they had a sentence underneath them which said they were exactly what was used in a microbrewery, only smaller.

That would be here

http://beerbelly.com.au/fittings.html

[Garth]

that's the one's awalker!! good work!!

are you some kind of Investigative Beer Detective kind of person.....?

they are nice mind aren't they....and hey they ain't gonna break the bank, very reasonable

[awalker]

that's the one's awalker!! good work!!

are you some kind of Investigative Beer Detective kind of person.....?

they are nice mind aren't they....and hey they ain't gonna break the bank, very reasonable

Some thing like that, I have had a few weeks off work and have ordered a few bits from there myself in the last few weeks. But I decided to not go that far as the bill was getting higher.


I might have to put Investigative Beer Detective in my signature
Something to do with my old job being so boring, lots of time was spent on the internet.
The new job will mean no time on the internet, but at least I will not go mad through boredom.

[Garth]

tbh I would have bought some of them but could not find them again, I remember Wayne from BeerBelly was on here a while back, that's how I saw them

They are much cheaper than the CPC plastic jobbies I bought, never mind, next time eh?

[adm]

Ooooh....looky here

It's those nice Camlock fittings from a UK supplier.

[adm]

All the bits for 6 sets of 316 Stainless Steel couplings, 6 hose barb female couplers for my hoses, 4 male thread 1/2" nipples for my plate chiller and 2 female thread 1/2" nipples for my hopback - £59.62 including VAT.

I think that's a bloody good price. Almost the same as for the nickel plated brass Kiowa ones.

Aluminium ones are half the price, poly ones are almost free.....but neither is quite so.......shiny.

I've emailed them an order - hope delivery isn't too much

[adm]

Right, that's those ordered then. They should be with me tomorrow, so I'll be able to have a bit of a play around over the weekend. £72 for six sets delivered. I went for stainless for all the bits in the end (although the middle pic shows an aluminium coupler). You know the reason why.

Very helpful bloke on the phone, called me this morning from last night's email. He says that these are not technically considered a "hygenic" coupling as it's possible for bacteria to get stuck behind the seals on the female parts, but that the seals just pop out easily so they can be sanitised separately. Replacement seals are also available from stock. Apparently, St. Ivel use them for pumping their yoghurt cultures around.

[DarloDave]

This is a REALLY noobish question, but are these for connecting an immersion chiller? If not can somebody please explain to me what fittings I need to attatch the hosepipe to the end of it to feed the cold water in, as my first brew I couldnt do it and had to let it chill naturally. Im such a moron

[adm]

Nope. These are for connecting up my pump, hop back and plate chiller so that they can all come apart quickly and easily. You could use them for an IC, but it would be an expensive way to do it.

The thing with the plate chiller is that because the wort passes inside it, it needs much more cleaning than an IC, which you can just dump into the boil to sanitise. It also has four connections - two for the chilling water and two for the wort, so it's a right pain in the arse if you want to take all the hoses off to clean it and they are held on with screw fittings or jubilee clips.

For an Immersion chiller, life is much easier....

Here's how my IC is connected. It's basically a couple of plumbing fittings to step the 8mm microbore pipe up to 15mm so regular garden hose is a tight fit on it, then a jubilee clip to secure the hose. Works great.

I only went to the plate chiller as I'm a gadget slut and wanted to use a hopback - the IC does the job perfectly, it just takes a little longer

[DarloDave]

Can I pick these up from any hardware shop? ..That doesnt look too hard..i dont think!

[adm]

A plumbing supply shop would be the best as they will definitely have what you need, but you might strike it lucky in B&Q or similar.

I've soldered mine, but you can also get compression fit versions if you don't like the idea of soldering

[DarloDave]

Ill wander about and have a look, cheers, ill hopefully find something!

[steve_flack]

According to Steve Flack the rubber seals go on them after a bit of boiling abuse. I reckon the plastic bodies would be ok though.

I've discovered what was killing the seals BTW. It was using a silicone lubricant to make it easier to put the things together. It you just get them wet with a bit of water then it works almost as well and doesn't knacker the seals.

[mixbrewery]

My BIY kit in the 90's had lots of nickel plated brass fittings, several of which are still in service today in my garage setup.
I had tons of brass compression fittings specially plated, all still in good condition. Used with SS and copper tube.

[Garth]

According to Steve Flack the rubber seals go on them after a bit of boiling abuse. I reckon the plastic bodies would be ok though.

I've discovered what was killing the seals BTW. It was using a silicone lubricant to make it easier to put the things together. It you just get them wet with a bit of water then it works almost as well and doesn't knacker the seals.

oh well that's a relief, the buggers weren't cheap....! cheers Mr Flack