Ag Brewery Set Up

[ntboozer]

What is the general concencus on the number of hoses / tubes required in an AG set up?
I'm about to buy the CPC style disconnects and silicone tubing but want to make sure I don't waste money by getting too much or not enough.
My set up (two tier) will have:
50lt 'pot' for HLT (upper tier, gravity feed into mash tun)
Rubbermaid cooler as mash tun
50lt 'pot' as kettle
'chillus convolutus' CFCW
march pump to move from tun to kettle, kettle to kettle via chiller.

These disconnects and tubing are the last bits I need to get this thing up and running so any assistance would be appreciated.
cherrs
nt
:beer:

 

[Justin]

How about doing a mock plumb up with a length of hose.

I'd hazard a guess that you'd ahve some hose lying round from racking tubes etc. Just use that to work out your distances. Measure, write it down then move to the next connection, measure, write it down etc.

FWIW I used 2 metres on my brewery that you have probably seen here (if not do a search). I just measured my lengths how I described above.

Then factor a bit in for error and some extra and your done. Don't skimp too much and cut yourself short, as tight corners with hot hose isn't a great arrangement but you don't want too much hose either or it gets too heavy and you end up with your kinking problems again.

I'd just have a read good think about the best plumbing plan and go to it.

Cheers, Justin

 

[Christian G]

I have found that the disconnects are not really needed if you are using barbs of the right size.

We initially thought we would use hose clamps, and then buy the disconnects later on, but have found no need to purchase them. For connection to copper tubing, we use a hose clamp. For connection to the March pump, we bought some plastic connectors from bunnings - work a treat with no leakage.

By all means get the disconnects if you can afford them, but they are pretty pricey for the simple job they perform. The silicone hose is excellent and much easier to work with than plastic hose.

Regarding hose length, mock plumbing is a good option. I agree with Justin - make sure you don't skimp on the hose length estimates...

 

[shonky]

G'day boozer.

I've got a similar setup to your, other than I pump the water from the HLT into the mash tun (underlet).

Also had to build in a portable element to my brewery design. Sometimes brew at my house, sometimes my mates so built in a bit of slack.

As you can see I plumbed my march pump so that there are two in's and two out's. The quick disconnects are handy in my design as I can underlet and then disconnect and batch sparge on top of the grains.

Also when it comes to draining the mash I just disconnect fromt eh pump and chuck it in the kettle.

To answer your question I used 5 metres of hose.

Hope the photos come out first time at trying to attach the things.

Hope this helps

Cheers
Jon

 

[vlbaby]

ntboozer,
I would guess you'd need at least 3 metres of hose, maybe 4 if your planning on underletting. I'd highly recommend 1/2" silicon hose that you can buy from G&G etc.. used with 1/2" barbs. This stuff is so soft and flexible that i dont feel the need to have QD's in my system. Just stick the hose over the barb with a hose clamp and your done.
BTW, bunnings have some really cool hose clamps that dont require a screwdriver, instead they have a plastic wingnut. Its a sort off poors mans Quick Disconnect for me

vl.

 

[BigAl]

Nt,

I have a 3 tier setup currently in construction, 50L HLT, 70L Mash tun, 100L boiler, march pump, plate HE.
I got 10 male and 10 female cpc conects and 6m of silcone hose.
I havent finished putting it together yet, but i think it should be about right.
I planned to have a couple of spare connects for when i build my hopback.

Not sure where you planning on getting the stuff, getting it from the US was much cheaper than some of the local suppliers, so worth looking around. The fittings are very light so postage cost isnt that bad.

Cheers :chug:

 

[Darren]

NT,

I haven't used QD's myself as I am also in the "slip and fit" group.
Some things to think about is that are the female fitting are more expensive as the males (as in just about everything) and some quick disconnects have a "cross-hair" right in the middle of fitting. These will block with hops etc. real quick.

cheers

Darren

 

[Sammus]

Why order expensive QDs from the states? Is there something wrong with using brass garden hose style QDs from bunnings? They seem to work fine for me...

Oh and to stay on topic, Ive have:
50L HLT
50L Kettle
38L Coleman mashtun
Domonsura style CFC
March pump

I have 5 brass male QD fittings, attached after the ball valve on the hlt, kettle, mash tun and one on either side of the pump. I have 5 female brass QD fittings, one on either end of two 1.5m length hoses to chop and change whats connected around the brewery, and one on the end of a hose clamped to the 'wort in' side of the CFC, to connect to the pump
So thats 5 total QD pair's so far

As for future plans:

I plan to make another F-F hose length if and when I start fly sparging to hook up to a permenant manifold mounted in the esky lid, and am also considering another male port on the kettle for pump-driven whirlpool action (I dont even use an IC, I'm just extremely lazy )

Then as for standard plastic hose fittings, theres a plastic male connect on 'chillwater in' on the CFC.
I plan to get one of those 12mm hose to plastic male qd from bunnings for water out, as there is only a barb. The plan is to pump chilling water through the CFC from an ice chilled reservoir, and my design involves the following: one female on the lid of the reservoir for return, then a shut-when-not-connected male connect connected to the 'out' of the aq pump via a hose through the wall in the bottom of the reservoir (hopefully a 10 or 20L bucket) to plug straight into the chiller.

So for my complete setup thats 7 Brass F, 6 Brass M, 2 Plastic M, 1 plastic F (I think...if I can count properly... )