Cam Locks

[balconybrewer]

hi all,
looking to purchase some cam locks to upgrade the use of hose clamps (piss me of every brew). just after some advice from those that use them, do i want to buy the female or male with the hosetail.......?

i dont know which way the arms on the females swing, so do people have the male or female ones attached to there ball valves????

also are these as cool and easy to use as they look???

cheers

 

[Kleiny]

hi all,
looking to purchase some cam locks to upgrade the use of hose clamps (piss me of every brew). just after some advice from those that use them, do i want to buy the female or male with the hosetail.......?

i dont know which way the arms on the females swing, so do people have the male or female ones attached to there ball valves????

also are these as cool and easy to use as they look???

cheers

I use the female as the hose tail because the handles then move away from the valve rather than get caught up around it. It neater on the pot if the male is there and if a washer needs replacing its easier to work around the hose than a pot.

My 2c

Kleiny

 

[Greg Lawrence]

I use male on the ballvalves with female hosetails. This way if you drop the hose you dont ding up the exposed male fitting.
Personally, I was a bit disappointed with them, they are not as cool and easy to use as they look. They take a bit of force to fold the arms back to lock them in.

Gregor

 

[balconybrewer]

how about you klieny / anyoneelse, do you think they are a good investment or just stick with the hoseclamps??

 

[balconybrewer]

come on, any opinions???????????

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I really like mine

Changing is easy

Here's some pics of mine

http://hyperfox.info/webalbum04/hltwithqui...ockfitting.html

Definitely worth it

I'd go female on the hose and male on the pot

Cheers

 

[leiothrix]

I have the female on my 3-piece ball valve with the male on the hose.

Gregor is probably right in that they should be the other way around, but I haven't damaged the fitting at all.

As long as you're not swinging the hose around or dragging it along a rough concrete floor, it probably doesn't matter.

And it's certainly worth getting some kind of quick disconnect. I don't have any experience with anything other than the camlock, but I don't have any problems with it.

The comment about the fair bit of force to lock them in -- I don't have any problem with that at all. Also, you don't have to fold the arms all the way back. Just enough to hold it and seal properly. It also helps if you put a bit of food grade silicone lube on the male fitting as it makes it easier to fold the arms down.

Rob.

 

[Greg Lawrence]

Maybe I should try a bit of lube.
Dont get me wrong, Im happy with mine. Im sure that they are better than loosening and tightening hoseclamps, but I was expecting more for some reason.

 

[Yorg]

Like most of the others, male on valves, female on hoses.
Love them.
Much cheaper than plastic Colder brand disconnects, which arguably need the cross piece drilled out to avoid hops clogging them.
Ditto re not needing to fold all the way back.
BUT.

Word of warning:
Not all 1/2" camlocks are made to the same specification, so buy all from the one supplier.
Found out the hard way - very competitively priced at both T&S valves in Sydney, and Geordi Stainless in Melb. There are others I believe. However they don't interfit - the males from Geordi won't fit the females from T&S, too wide.

The brewshops seem to buy them from these types of suppliers and then mark them up.

 

[pjwhite5]

I also have female cam locks on my mash tun and kettle, and male on my hoses, Love them, hell of alot easier then the old hose clamp. However they can be a bit tricky trying to disconnect after transferring near boiling wort.

Cheers

PJ

 

[Sammus]

Like most of the others, male on valves, female on hoses.
Love them.
Much cheaper than plastic Colder brand disconnects, which arguably need the cross piece drilled out to avoid hops clogging them.
Ditto re not needing to fold all the way back.
BUT.

Word of warning:
Not all 1/2" camlocks are made to the same specification, so buy all from the one supplier.
Found out the hard way - very competitively priced at both T&S valves in Sydney, and Geordi Stainless in Melb. There are others I believe. However they don't interfit - the males from Geordi won't fit the females from T&S, too wide.

The brewshops seem to buy them from these types of suppliers and then mark them up.

cheaper than the colder plastic ones? :\ I'm not sure how much prices have changed, but to kit out my brewery with colder plastic hardware was less than half of the cost of SS camlocks... that was about 2 years ago now though.

 

[Lilo]

Same as most, Female on Hose.

Love em... Rip the stupid ring thingie off the levers and all sweet, allways getting in the Bloody road.

Can be a little finiky sometimes, but no regrets fitting out with em

Cheer

 

[Yorg]

cheaper than the colder plastic ones? :\ I'm not sure how much prices have changed, but to kit out my brewery with colder plastic hardware was less than half of the cost of SS camlocks... that was about 2 years ago now though.

Well last time I looked at the Colder fittings they were in the >$30 area per fitting from Home Brew shop.
Depending on the Camlock, if you don't get them from a home brew shop, they are $10 -$12 per fitting.
Like I said, Geordi or T&S Valves.
If you have a cheaper source than the home brew shops, please post.

 

[Sammus]

Well last time I looked at the Colder fittings they were in the >$30 area per fitting from Home Brew shop.
Depending on the Camlock, if you don't get them from a home brew shop, they are $10 -$12 per fitting.
Like I said, Geordi or T&S Valves.
If you have a cheaper source than the home brew shops, please post.

I got mine from morebeer, theyre about 10-15 USD for each fitting, plus shipping they were $15-20 AUD landed at the time. Also when I was looking at the SS camlocks they were like $20-30ea. At least that's how my frazzled brain recalls it They mustve been more, because I really wanted SS cams, but the CPC from morebeer worked out significantly cheaper at the time...