Stainless Hose Connections

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Boots

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Hi Guys,

I'm just finishing of my brewery, and would like to know what people are using for hose connections.

I'm using 1/2" S/S ball valves, and would like to keep stainless wherever possible.

I have 1 x 1/2" S/S Hose Barb fitting, but the barb fitting is a LOT smaller than half inch, (maybe 5mm?) and this is apparently the std barb fitting. I'm concerned that the small flow capacity of this barb would be bad for my March pump. Also, there is no swivel fitting, so to unscrew the hose, I have to be able to twist the whole hose around with each revolution (unless I remove the hose from the fitting each time by loosening the pipe clamp). To buy a S/S swivel fitting, i was quoted around $50.

Question 1: What other alternatives are there in S/S (if any)? I want to stay S/S but would like to not have to remove the hose everytime if poss.

If I can't find any other alternatives, I was going to go back tonight and just buy everything with the barbs coz i need to get brewing.

Thanks everyone (btw - i'd check out the gallery for ideas but it's down at the mo)
 
OK Boots...

Buy some 1/2 inch SS Male to male nipples.
Then buy 1/2" SS nut and tail barb set for the male.

I can get the 1/2inch ones - have one in stock for around 12.50ea ...from Lancer Pacific.
so use this as a starting point for your pricing.
Otherwise, best place for ss stuff is to ring
ring Sally at WEMS - Winery Equipment Supplies - 856 7270.
They are located up at Nurioopta.

Hope this helps u out.

Ken...
 
Boots,
What I plan on doing is to buy some thermoplastic CPC QD fittings(food grade and can take the temperatures) from Vicfit. A number of other brewers use these(eg MAH, Asher etc). They are a bit pricey tho. But once you have them you have a plug and play system.

Cheers Roach
 
Boots the contact name and details at Vicfit are:


Russell McMullen

Victoria Fittings & Valves Pty. Ltd.
11 Thornton Crescent
Mitcham
Victoria 3132

Phone 03 9873 1400 fax 03 9873 1366 email [email protected]
 
Hi Boots

The Coulder Products Company (CPC) couplers are not cheap. A male and female set will cost about $35-$40, but this sounds cheaper than your SS option. They are food grade high temp plastic. IMHO they are great. Easy to connect and disconnect, means you can quickly pull apart your brewery for cleaning or just to simply switch lines over.

If you are going to go down this path, planning is the key (this is where I made my mistakes). Draw up your brewery and mark out where you will need the couplers. The male half of the coupler is almost half the price of the female half, so if you can, try and limit the number of female couplers, which usually means using these for your ball valves and using male couplers on all the hose ends. The other thing to consider is the size of the barb end. I bought the FFC35 series, which have a larger bard to allow full 1/2" flow (might as well if you have full port 1/2" ball valves). Only problem is that you then need some very wide tuding to fit the 19mm OD of the barb.

If you get the couplers and and get the ones with 19mm barb, let me know, as I have quite a bit of spare tubing. Nice thick braided line.

If you want a catalogue, send an email as I have a PDF for the FFC35 series.

And if you do use them, make sure you use lube to keep the o-rings in good condition.

Cheers
MAH
 
Plastic disconnects dont get hot like metal ones do. The stainless disconnect set up your talking about will need gloves or a rag to handle when you've got hot liquid flowing through. Just something to keep in mind.
 
Cool.

Thanks for the replies guys. I've now got a brochure on the quick disconnects which I'll have a squizz at.

Thanks
 
Boots

Thsi is the quick Disconect Stuff taht i use....

:ph34r: Flame Suit ON :ph34r:

I screw in 1/2inch or 3/4 inch Nylex male click on fittings into all the ballvalves
ie kettle, masth tun, hlt, CCFWC, Idra pump etc.
Then i make up 3 different length rainwater hoses and use female Nylex Hose conections.
These retail for around 3.00 ea - cheaper for u as u work at hills.

This way - everything clicks together and apart - great for cleaning the CCFWC - as i just snap on the garden hose to clean it all out before sterilisation.

Now they are definately not the same quality as MAH setup - but heaps cheaper and i have had no probs so far.

I use the SS Nut and tails inside the Mash tun to conect the false bottom onto and the kettle if i want to instal a screen.

Hope this helps
 
I'm not really overly keen on pumping 100 Degree + fluid through nylex fittings Ken.

The quick disconnects look great, but I'm just working out what parts I'll be needing, and it looks like it'll cost a bit more than I was intending.

Popping an email to vicfit to get pricing.
 
Good suggestion Ken and glad to hear it works well for you. If such ideas make it easier/more affordable for people to get into AG brewing then great. I suppose it gets down to what you can afford, within reason.

However I am adopting the philosophy, rightly or worngly, that since I plan on AG brewing for many years, then I should try and get the best possible gear together to do the job straight up. The cost over a lifetime of brewing is relatively small.

Perhaps that why I haven't got a march pump(and the CPC fittings)yet(ye i know i am not a real brewer :super: ). Hopefully have one by mid year. :blink: :blink: :lol:

Cheers
Roach

PS I would be concerned(paranoid!)about plasticines or whatever might leech from pumping boiling wort through nylex fittings.
 
Hi Boots

I know you're working on a budget, that's why I said the CPC couplers are not the cheapest option, but they are right up there for quality. It cost me a fair bit for the couplers, but over the life of the brewery, it's bugger all.

My logic was if I have to use this equipment for my favourite pass-time, then I want it to be as hassle free as possible. I hate having to use equipment at work that's not up to the task, it makes it a real PITA, so I wanted to avoid this when brewing. And fortunately for me I'm not into brewing to cut costs so I just forked out the cash.

But as I said, when you're on a budget you have to weigh up all options.

Cheers
MAH
 
Totally agree with you MAH.
And I'm the same way .. that's why my brewery is taking so *freakin* long to finish up. I've not wanted to take any shortcuts that will end up meaning more work / hassle in the future - so I've had to spread it out.

I'm not on a strict budget, I'm just trying to keep spending within reasonable limits due to other commitments, and after buying my pump, and some bulk grain recently .... :)

I'll post back with pricing when I get the quote back .. if it's under $100 which I doubt by what you're saying, I'll go with it.

I like the sound of these quick disconnects, so if they're too expensive i may try and get some fittings with QD's others with <<insert solution here>> complete the QD setup over time.

Thanks again
 
I wonder if you could do any good with a AHB bulk order Boots?

I am interested

Batz
 
Hi Boots

I reckon it will be over $100. Not sure of your set up, but it sounds like you would need a male coupler for:
HLT
Boiler
Mash Tun
Pump In
Pump Out
CFC

Then you need 1 hose line, to connect from say the HLT to the Pump In and another from the Pump Out to the Mash Tun. This would require 2 female coupler on each end of the lines, or 4 all together.

This would cost about $180-$200.

Not cheap, but would be a nice set-up.

Cheers
MAH
 
I have used the CPC quick couplings from VicFit such as:
CPCApart.jpg


However this is the acetyl version which I don't believe is rated for boiling.

If you have it right after a ball valve then you don't need the version with shutoff valve which could save you a few bucks. I have had one breakage with the CPC valve shown above.

The other option you might be interested in are the CIP fittings from http://www.geordi.com.au/. They will require a little more stuffing around to get everything together but a pair is under $20
 
I haven't got the quote back yet but here's what I'd need:

Coupling Bodies
------------------
3 x Male Pipe Thread 1/2" (All on Ball valves from HLT, Pump outlet, Kettle)
2 x Female Thread 3/4" only size they do (inlet on pump, inlett on cfc using adapters)

Coupling inserts
-------------------
4 x Inline hose barbs (i'll have 2 hoses)


I'm also getting it quoted on the reverse option ie. run coupling inserts on the equipment, and Coupling bodies on the hoses.

Batz - I'll ask about a bulk order and see what they say.
 
I'd consider it if the price was good. Also, just a thought. US Plastics does these connectors for far less than VicFit but you guessed it they are in the states, along with the hastles associated with that.

I have emailed them before about these connectors, I'll see if I can dig up the email as I can't remember their response.

Cheers, Justin

FWIW My 3gallon kegs arrived yesterday-Hooray :D
 
Boots said:
2 x Female Thread 3/4" only size they do (inlet on pump, inlett on cfc using adapters)

Hi Boots

You can get all male 1/2" threaded for your March pump, and probably for the CFC. Just use a 1/2" coupling. This will turn the 1/2" male thread on the March into a 1/2" female thread. I did this to keep all the CPC couplers a standard size, which means if I change anything down the trac, they should all be interchangeable. Only a few dollars each for SS coupling.


Cheers
MAH

coupling_ss.jpg
 
Good idea MAH, I hadn't thought of that.

Thanks
 
I got my CPC fittings from morebeer.com
female $11.75 US
male $7.25 US

When working out where to connect male and where to put the female half of the connection I worked on the following logic...
- All equipment to have male connects.
- All hoses have female connects at both ends.

This makes everything interchangeable... It makes life easy when cleaning-up/sterilising bits and pieces being able to recirculate hot water through any bit of equipment independently or in a chain....

Why have the female connects on the hose & not on the equipment I hear you ask????
By doing it this way you can disconnect a hose with one hand (female has the lock on it) leaving the other always free for a beer :beerbang:

Asher for now
 
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