Hose Connections For Ag

[sponge]

Hey everyone.
I have almost finished my AG setup, just need the hose connections between the HLT, mash tun and boiler. I know craftbrewer have silicon hose which is what i was looking for but only in 20mm. I measured the HLT and boiler fittings to be 25-26mm, and the mash tun's fitting to 12-13mm. The following pics are of the fittings, and a hose.

Mash Tun.

Some hose i found at bunnings, wasnt sure if it is able to be used at all. It looks a lot better then the flimsy vinyl hosing, but not sure about its able to be used for food things, and its not see through. Feels very strong though

The keggle ball valve.

I'm sure there have been posts on this before but couldnt find any which specifically talked about hosing, mainly just the fittings themselves. So i was hoping I could just be informed as to what hose I should be looking at getting, and what sizes should be used.

Cheers, Sponge

 

[matti]

The ball valve on keggle has threads in it by the looks of it.
You can get hose fittings that screws in, just get a hose fitting that fit food grade 20 ml.
matti

 

[LethalCorpse]

Don't use that hose. It's washing machine hose, unlikely to be any good with heat or food.

 

[BOG]

Buy some decent hose. The plastic stuff will leach toxins with heat and kill you over time.

You can get some food grade hose from a local ship chandler (whitworths) for about $4 per meter.

You can also get a brass pressure fitting to fit that tap (1/2"BSP) from bunnings for under $8.

Only a silicon hose will be rated food safe over 65 deg C. If you get the stuff from Withworths or clark rubber you have to wait till the temp of the wort drops to under 65deg from the boil.
No issue if your using a wort chiller.


BOG

 

[Pumpy]

these are my quick connects from Bunnings on silicone hose from the sponsors the best investment you can ever make


pumpy

 

[blackbock]

Looks like common 3/4" BSP thread to me. Not sure what you are measuring, but if it's 25-26mm across I would guess that the thread is 3/4 BSP. I use brass garden hose fittings, they fit the 12mm silicon hose very nicely. Add some S/S hoseclamps and Bob's your uncle. The fittings get hot, but you can either wear gloves or HTFU

 

[LethalCorpse]

these are my quick connects from Bunnings on silicone hose from the sponsors the best investment you can ever make


pumpy

You sacrifice quite a lot of your flow rate for those, though, they're fairly restrictive. Then again, it is difficult to find connector fittings that are full-bore, unless you go for camlocks (expensive, but the gold standard in brewery connector ).

Sponge, looking again at your mashtun fittings, they look like nylon irrigation fittings, and are pretty bad for food grade. The esky probably is too, so it's up to you how much you care about this, but I'd be looking at replacing those with some cheap brass bits from bunnings.

If you want to be completely food safe it's got to be stainless and silicone from end to end, but that's a pretty high target for most backyard brewers.

 

[schooey]

unless you go for camlocks (expensive, but the gold standard in brewery connector ).

Not really if you go to T & S Valves in Ingleburn and pay cash. Only about $22 for the complete M/F set in 316SS

 

[sponge]

Hey

Dont ask me why i measured it as 25mm across. Having been off uni since november has made a lot of braincells go to sleep. It's just a standard 1/2" fitting so that's not an issue and ill get around to buying some silicone hose for it. Just a quick question, as much as I want to help out the sponsors, Silicone hose becomes very expensive if that is all you are buying from them. I will try and find some homoebrew gear to make the purchase worthwhile, but if I can't really find anything that i need (as im pretty well stocked atm) is there anywhere else which sells 20mm silicone hose, or what sort of shops would sell it? I went looking in a couple of hardware shops today and all i could really find was clear vinyl.

Also, 12mm hose will fit the mash tun valve, but what sort of hose should be used for that? Is vinyl or garden hose alright for that or should silicone also be used there?


Cheers, Sponge



EDIT: LethalCorpse, just read your comment "If you want to be completely food safe it's got to be stainless and silicone from end to end, but that's a pretty high target for most backyard brewers." I'll definately keep that in mind. Ill try and get a couple more shifts at work to afford the little extras

PS. I was generously given the mash tun by a fellow IBU member who upgraded his and was told that it did him well, so i think ill stick witih that fitting until I run into some problems.

 

[blackbock]

You still need something that will not make the wort taste like plastic, so ideally food grade silicon.

 

[LethalCorpse]

I will try and find some homoebrew gear to make the purchase worthwhile

Altogether now...

BUY SOME KEGS! :beer:

EDIT: LethalCorpse, just read your comment "If you want to be completely food safe it's got to be stainless and silicone from end to end, but that's a pretty high target for most backyard brewers." I'll definately keep that in mind. Ill try and get a couple more shifts at work to afford the little extras

PS. I was generously given the mash tun by a fellow IBU member who upgraded his and was told that it did him well, so i think ill stick witih that fitting until I run into some problems.

Like schooey said, if you can make the trek up to Ingleburn (it's only about a half hour drive from the 'gong) to see T&S valves, they're pretty much the cheapest any of us have found anywhere for SS valves, connectors and fittings. Soon as I get Mr Rudds new cash injection I'm making a trip myself (I expect to run into a few other brewers there, assuming the cheques get sent out at the same time )

 

[jimi]

I just slide my silicone tube over the brass nipple. Slides on and off but stays tight and has never leaked a drop. Connection fightings bahhh !! h34r:
My system only uses gravity, it might not be an option for those who have pumps in their system

 

[sponge]

I think ill just end up buying from one of the sponsors, and i know that the 20mm one will fit nicely over a 1/2" M to 1/2" M fitting for the keggles, but there is also a 1/2" silicone hose available from another sponsor, and im just wondering if this will fit alright over the 13mm valve on the mash tun? Are these two silicone tubes actually the same, or are the inner diameters different for both?

 

[blackbock]

I think ill just end up buying from one of the sponsors, and i know that the 20mm one will fit nicely over a 1/2" M to 1/2" M fitting for the keggles, but there is also a 1/2" silicone hose available from another sponsor, and im just wondering if this will fit alright over the 13mm valve on the mash tun? Are these two silicone tubes actually the same, or are the inner diameters different for both?

Sponge, unless he has changed suppliers, the 20mm hose from Ross actually has 1/2" (12mm) ID, the same size as Mashmaster and G&G both sell, only theirs was thin-walled. Maybe this is no longer the case, but go for the thicker stuff if all else the same, it holds its shape better when hot.

:icon_cheers:

 

[matti]

Sponge, unless he has changed suppliers, the 20mm hose from Ross actually has 1/2" (12mm) ID, the same size as Mashmaster and G&G both sell, only theirs was thin-walled. Maybe this is no longer the case, but go for the thicker stuff if all else the same, it holds its shape better when hot.

:icon_cheers:

+1
There thicker then some

 

[Burghbrewer]

I think ill just end up buying from one of the sponsors, and i know that the 20mm one will fit nicely over a 1/2" M to 1/2" M fitting for the keggles, but there is also a 1/2" silicone hose available from another sponsor, and im just wondering if this will fit alright over the 13mm valve on the mash tun? Are these two silicone tubes actually the same, or are the inner diameters different for both?

Sponge
Im about to order some of the silicone hose, if the sponsor gets back to me on another product question, if you want some I will be ordering a metre for myself but im at the Burgh if you want to pick up some from here,Chris.

Burghbrewer

 

[sponge]

Cheers Chris. Does sound like a good offer. Is there a chance your heading down here for the Real Ale Fest on the 21st?

If i can't find anything else that I need for the same order then I might just take you up on that offer. Let me know if you get a reply and ill let you know if I decide to find some items to splurge on to make up for the postage to my place.

 

[Screwtop]

these are my quick connects from Bunnings on silicone hose from the sponsors the best investment you can ever make


pumpy

One thing to say: Shut up and listen to Pump, better than the much maligned +1 :lol:

Experienced brewers are giving you their honest free advice, take it or leave it!

Screwy

 

[sponge]

these are my quick connects from Bunnings on silicone hose from the sponsors the best investment you can ever make


pumpy

So are they 1/2" M quick connect fittings from bunnings eyyy... they do look pretty good. I missed your reply until Screwy pointed it out just before. Ill have to have a look tomorrow. they look like the solution to all of lifes problems

 

[real_beer]

I just slide my silicone tube over the brass nipple. Slides on and off but stays tight and has never leaked a drop. Connection fightings bahhh !! h34r:
My system only uses gravity, it might not be an option for those who have pumps in their system

Great back to basics idea especially for people just starting to design their system, later they can change to anything they want too at their leisure. I like it :beer: