Ball Valve Fittings - Seeking Advice

[Jay Cee]

I want to fit a 1/2in ball valve to an urn, and need some guidance. I assume I need a male barb for the outlet (will be attaching a hose, which will go to a pump), but how do I fit it to the HLT - is there a female to female threaded joint and a washer & nut to secure it on the inside? I won't be welding it in.

Also, I wouldn't mind a quick release snap off attachment, similar to a garden hose assembly. Do they make such a beast?

Looking at getting either this brass one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Green-Plastic-C...=item3a76ba7750


Or this stainless one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-2-Female-NPT-...=item20bfa849e7

 

[Jay Cee]

For that matter, I could put a barb on the inside also, right? I assume a silicone washer on each side would be required to form a seal.

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=1157

 

[shavey147]

I want to fit a 1/2in ball valve to an urn, and need some guidance. I assume I need a male barb for the outlet (will be attaching a hose, which will go to a pump), but how do I fit it to the HLT - is there a female to female threaded joint and a washer & nut to secure it on the inside? I won't be welding it in.

Also, I wouldn't mind a quick release snap off attachment, similar to a garden hose assembly. Do they make such a beast?

Looking at getting either this brass one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Green-Plastic-C...=item3a76ba7750


Or this stainless one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-2-Female-NPT-...=item20bfa849e7

If you want to go weldless to fit the valve to the HLT best bet would be a bulkhead fitting, I got mine from Beerbelly http://www.beerbelly.com.au/fittings.html last weekend (No affiliation etc etc), haven't fitted it yet though. Comes with a locknut for each side of the vessel wall and a sillicone washer.

As for the garden hose attachment / assembly, there is something similar listed on the fittings page, but it is marked as out of stock. I would assume you would be able to get them from somewhere, most likely a hardware store would have something close.

 

[breakbeer]

I use a s/s hex nipple with silicone gaskets secured by a s/s lock nut on the inside, hex part of the nipple on the outside

I prefer the hex nipple over the bulkhead (that I bought but now don't use) coz it has something to grab ( the hex part) as opposed to a smooth cylinder. One spanner on the inner lock nut & another on the outside hex nipple

this method doesn't allow alot of thread left over on the inside to attach any kind of attachment

 

[Jay Cee]

Thanks guys. The bulkhead costs more than tap, so I shall see if a 1/2 inch double ended nipple does the job with a washer. I don't require any internal attachments (I assume you are referring to a pickup tube or a manifold) and the vessel walls are thin.

It looks like I'll need to be mindful of thread size as well. As I want to use a brown pump, I'll want my hose connections to be uniform throughout. The pump threading is male BSP, but the valves out of China all all appear to be NPT. Glad I noticed this before purchasing, and I'll prefer to spend a bit more to have everything interchangeable.

 

[Maheel]

1/2 inch NPT is ok to use in BSP they are "interchangeable"

there are a few threads on that
just search this. npt bsp

 

[Jay Cee]

So a thread pitch of a 5 degree variance is not worth worrying about ? Several online sites mention that BSP/NPT is not interchangeable, while others state that this is of concern only when used inline with high pressure devices.

 

[Maheel]

i think the 1/2 fittings are fine, all the other sizes of NPT -> BSP dont work

 

[WarmBeer]

Have a look at this post for some information I left years ago:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=831905

And some ideas for hooking up a ball valve to an Esky, not really relevant, but it shows the snap-on camlock fittings you are looking for:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=655783

 

[Feldon]

So a thread pitch of a 5 degree variance is not worth worrying about ? Several online sites mention that BSP/NPT is not interchangeable, while others state that this is of concern only when used inline with high pressure devices.

 

[Wolfy]

From my blog:

'From left: American NPT camlock, Australian BSP nipple, Chinese NPT cross, Australian BSP elbow, Chinese NPT nipple. All these fittings fit snugly and with or without plumbing tape are tight and secure. At 1/2 inch size the only real difference between the NPT and BSP fittings is a difference in thread-pitch, so with some plumbing tape and a little care they all mate together without issue."

In 1/2 inch stainless, a hex-nipple and locknut are about $2.50ea (@ somewhere like Prochem locally or Ebay).
Add either a stainless washer and flat silicon washer or an o-ring, for not much more and your fittings should cost much less than the valve.

 

[Jay Cee]

Cheers all. Evaluating what I need (bulkhead>ballvalve>disconnect assembly>hose>disconnect assembly>pump>ballvalve>disconnect assembly>hose>disconnect assembly>elbow back into vessel) and there' a lot of pieces ! Looks like I'll be up for about $150 or more, not including pump.

Trying to find discussions on camlocks vs ball locked assemblies, but everything relates to keg parts. Is there a reason people favour camlocks over these? Would pumping wort through them result in a buildup of gunk?

Photo from Gryphon

 

[Jay Cee]

I'm also assuming those in the pic need the female on the hose end to 'push on' rather than on the ballvalve ? The adaptors in order to acheive this are adding to the length, and the cost as I cannot find any female QD/female 1/2in arrangement

 

[QldKev]

I started with some neta snap lock fittings for years, then more recently I plumbed the entire system with s/s camlocks. I found the snaplock fittings dribbled a little after a while (maybe new o-rings could have fixed it up), I did like how quick and easy they were to connect and disconnect. The camlocks ensure a good pressure seal so is more reliable at sealing better, hence why they use them on the petrol tankers etc. I got 10 x type C and 10 x type F camlocks posted for $173 from T&S. I'm happy with their product, no issues at all, but to be fair I haven't had much experience with other brands. Honestly I think both would be ok.


QldKev

 

[pk.sax]

Caution with using av-rf

I ordered 8 SS bits and 2 of them arrived somewhat rusted... Price was very cheap so I'd do it again for plumbing a home brewery but have some backup in case their product is a bit too under par.

Also, the threaded fittings are a bit too loose in each other, will need tape for SURE!

Less than a cent's worth.

 

[Jay Cee]

point taken on av-rf.

QLDKev, I saw that another guy on here has used brass garden hose fittings, and I would be inclined to do this as a cheap, interim alternative but for the fact that the gear is metric, but I need a 1/2inch ball valve, and the pump is also 1/2 inch. That also puts a spanner in the works for using T & S Valves as a supplier if I did decide on Camlocks, unless I could get some post-side fittings that are the same size male cam as the metric equivalent 9Im hoping its a standard, regardless of the thread specs being imperial or metric.

And as much as I would like QD's such as those in my post #12, I'm yet to find a single brewer using them on wort-side transfer. The internal locking balls look like an invitation for crud buildup, so I should probably shift my focud to camlocks.

 

[QldKev]

point taken on av-rf.

QLDKev, I saw that another guy on here has used brass garden hose fittings, and I would be inclined to do this as a cheap, interim alternative but for the fact that the gear is metric, but I need a 1/2inch ball valve, and the pump is also 1/2 inch. That also puts a spanner in the works for using T & S Valves as a supplier if I did decide on Camlocks, unless I could get some post-side fittings that are the same size male cam as the metric equivalent 9Im hoping its a standard, regardless of the thread specs being imperial or metric.

And as much as I would like QD's such as those in my post #12, I'm yet to find a single brewer using them on wort-side transfer. The internal locking balls look like an invitation for crud buildup, so I should probably shift my focud to camlocks.

I used the brass neta snaplocks on the wort-side transfer with no ill effects. Only thing I found was the brass neta fittings cost more than the T&S camlocks.


The 15mm from places like Bunnings and T&S is the same as 1/2" BSP. My system is built using the T&S valves 15mm camlocks, plus a mix of 1/2" parts from the US and China. A bit of thread tape and a spanner and all is working.


The only thing to be aware of is the camlock head itself. There seems to be more than one sizing of the camlock in a 1/2" (aka 15mm) fitting. So a T&S camlock will not fit up to one purchased say from Blackwoods.



QldKev

 

[Jay Cee]

I'm starting to become sold on the idea of camlocks from T & S, all matching & all metric. The vessel is reported to take 1/2 inch ballvalve, but Im certain there will be no issue squeezing a 15mm in there.

Might as well get all the bling in one go B)

 

[QldKev]

I'm starting to become sold on the idea of camlocks from T & S, all matching & all metric. The vessel is reported to take 1/2 inch ballvalve, but Im certain there will be no issue squeezing a 15mm in there.

Might as well get all the bling in one go B)

Just to tempt you



A quick pic from about 5 secs ago.

On one end of the hoses
15mm T&S camlocks, into 1/2" BSP T peices, fitted to the March pump.
on the other end
15mm camlocks into 1/2" elbows, via a ball valve into the HLT and Kettle


The other 2 connections go off to the HERMS and mash tun.

QldKev

 

[Jay Cee]

I'm tempted alright. Nice ****, and kudos on the colour coordination.

Taking your suggestion of going through T & S, just sent of a quote request, with any luck I'll order today.

Are you using the pump to sparge out, and if so do you regulate the flow with a ballvalve on the receiving vessel ? I'm rigging up a single vessel rig to recirculate, for temperature stability purposes, so I'm thinking I won't need to regulate the flow, as there's no grain filter bed or slow runoff issues.