Stainless Quick Disconnects

[adm]

Does anybody know a decent UK supplier of stainless quick disconnects? I need 1/2" threaded and hose barbed types and the only place I can find them seems to be MoreBeer in the US.

I'm wary of plastic ones, as i want to fit some to my plate chiller, which I bake in the oven after use to sanitise and I think plastic ones probably wouldn't do too well at 150C !

[confused]

Try Kiowa - www.kiowa.co.uk

otherwise Cole-Palmer - www.colepalmer.co.uk

may have what you are looking for

[adm]

Thanks! that Kiowa link is a dandy.....

Nice selection of well priced Nickel Plated brass disconnects here

I presume nickel plated brass would be OK for beer applications - it's only going to be for the transfer of wort to FV, so there wouldn't be any long contact ??

Also, the nipple sides of the couplings don't appear to have any plastic or O-rings in them, so should be fine for baking in the oven....

Other than that, Cole Parmer are hugely expensive!

[adm]

Forgot to say.....Kiowas also do stainless couplings, but they are about a million times more expensive than the nickel plated brass ones.....

£36 for the female side of a 1/2 BSP quick release coupling !!

[Garth]

adm, I looked at stainless disconnects a while back, they are an absolute fortune, especially when I needed quite a few

I eventually settled for the CPC plastic ones, you can get these from MoreBeer but I decided to get them from Cole Parmer, they are still expensive but I now have them on every tap, on my pump, chiller etc and they sooooo make brewing even more pleasurable. I understand that they may not be appropriate if you are boiling them all the time. 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 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.

[adm]

Yeah - I need 6 sets.....and the SS ones from Kiowa are about £50 a set! So that's a no-go. It actually makes the MoreBeer ones look good value.

I was thinking about the Cole Parmer plastic ones originally, but I really want to be able to sanitise my chiller and hopback in a very hot over for an hour or two at a time (as the hopback won't fit in any of my pots!) and I just don't think the plastic would deal with it well...

The nickel plated brass ones from Kiowa work out about £55 for all the parts i need, whereas the MoreBeer ones are around £120 plus shipping for the lot (although they don't sell one with a nipple and a female 1/2 thread which I want to minimise the number of adaptors I'd need.

The nickel/brass ones look like the best deal, but I'm still a little worried about the nickel plating either being toxic or causing off flavours. However, it would only be in contact with wort for ten minutes or so, so I'm probably worrying about nothing.

[Garth]

although they don't sell one with a nipple and a female 1/2 thread which I want to minimise the number of adaptors I'd need.

I needed one like that to connect my chiller so I just bought a full inline 1/2 socket from BES (stainless) and used a nipple disconnect with a male 1/2 thread

[boingy]

Make sure you check the temperature specs. The stainless parts will be fine but the seals may not be happy in an oven.

[adm]

Ta Da!



Just what I need. £2.18 plus VAT.

I've actually got a couple of 1/2 inline female connecotrs, so i could just use a male 1/2" nipple, but I want to have the absolute minimum number of pieces so there's less chance of any bugs hiding in joins or chance for leaks.

I think I'll go for these from Kiowa unless anybody tells me that nickel plated brass is a big no-no for brewing....the price is good and they've got all the bits.

[adm]

Make sure you check the temperature specs. The stainless parts will be fine but the seals may not be happy in an oven.

That's part of my worry - and why I want male nipple ends only on the bits that go in the oven as they have no seals.... the female sides will only get cleaned in hot sanitiser and maybe boiled as well.

Even the stainless steel ones from MoreBeer are only listed to 80C though....and Kiowa don't list any specs for their SS ones....

[boingy]

Good question about the suitability of nickel. I've got no idea!

[confused]

looking at this adm, would suggest nickel is fine. certainly food safe. it's performance in contact with an acidic wort may be an issue but as you say, for the limited contact time I cannot see that being a problem.

http://www.chefsresource.com/nickel-pla ... kware.html

[confused]

in fact thinking about the acidity many sauces etc are quite acidic so if a skillet or frying pan is giong to be safe I would suggest you have no worries.

[jamesb]

I've had nickel plated stuff go bad when left in fermented wort for a couple of weeks, but I guess it'll be ok for this application.

[adm]

Good points all.....looks like no need to worry then and just buy the cheap(er) ones!