Throttling flow by means other than the ball valve

[Muz]

I’m looking for a way to throttle the flow when I drain from the mush tun to the boil kettle and from the boil kettle to the fermentor that is a) consistent batch to back and b) allows me to always fully open the valve.

Both my mash tub and boil kettle have (10mm? 12.5mm?) barbs on them. I like a really slow flow so I don’t collapse the grain bed and so I don’t suck all the trub out of the kettle.

In my mind it’s a matter of going from my usual (10mm? 12.5mm?) tubing and using a slicer to reduce down to much smaller tubing. I have two problems though: a) there are no splicers that go from (10mm? 12.5mm?) down to 4mm b) I’m not sure 4mm is small enough to reduce the flow to the rate I want.

Is there another way of doing this or do I need to source some tubing with a sub 4mm tubing and use multiple splicers to reduce it down.

Oh, I have a similar issue with filling bottles from my keg. In an ideal world I’d just unscrew the spout from the tab and replace it with the barbed attachment. I’d then splice to a thinner tube to slow the flow so I could fill bottle slowly without stuffing around with the regulator pressure.

Thanks.

Brian.

 

[mofox1]

Silicone tube with an adjustable clamp? Forget where I've seen them.. but it just clamps over the tube and you can squeeze the tube until the desired flow rate is achieved.

Or use an adjustable spanner.

And just to show I'm not shitting you:

Plus it looks cute as fu¢k.

 

[Muz]

Haha. I guess that works.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I’m looking for a way to throttle the flow when I drain from the mush tun to the boil kettle and from the boil kettle to the fermentor that is a) consistent batch to back and b) allows me to always fully open the valve.

Both my mash tub and boil kettle have (10mm? 12.5mm?) barbs on them. I like a really slow flow so I don’t collapse the grain bed and so I don’t suck all the trub out of the kettle.

In my mind it’s a matter of going from my usual (10mm? 12.5mm?) tubing and using a slicer to reduce down to much smaller tubing. I have two problems though: a) there are no splicers that go from (10mm? 12.5mm?) down to 4mm b) I’m not sure 4mm is small enough to reduce the flow to the rate I want.

Is there another way of doing this or do I need to source some tubing with a sub 4mm tubing and use multiple splicers to reduce it down.

Oh, I have a similar issue with filling bottles from my keg. In an ideal world I’d just unscrew the spout from the tab and replace it with the barbed attachment. I’d then splice to a thinner tube to slow the flow so I could fill bottle slowly without stuffing around with the regulator pressure.

Thanks.

Brian.

I got some stainless washers from Bunnings took it down to 8 mm, good idea to get some fibre washers and test with them. Had to file a smidgen off the s/s washers.

 

[MHB]

Search for "Hoffman Clamp", there are a bunch on eBay, you can get better quality (stainless rather than chromed brass/steel) from lab supplies, at a price. there are even a bunch of plastic variants.
Mark

 

[S.E]

there are no splicers that go from (10mm? 12.5mm?) down to 4mm

You can get them from KL. These stainless fittings are machined from 304 stainless steel. The stainless splicer is perfect for attaching 4mm-6mm ID line to 10mm-13mm ID line

A clamp would give you the control to fine tune the flow though.

 

[Half-baked]

If you’re after consistent, the splicer above plus 4mm hose will give you that. A massive reduction in area, so will dramatically slow the flow down...

 

[MHB]

Depends on what you are throttling!
If there is the possibility of any chunks going through, a reducing splice is sure to block up. With a screw clamp you can just ease the clamp let the lump pass and readjust,
I used two bits of wood with a couple of bolts and wing nuts that fit over 1/2" silicone hose for years, ended up replacing it with a full bore ball valve IORC.
Mark

 

[takai]

I used to use a pair of ball valves. One for throttling flow and the other for on/off. Could just leave the flow throttle set 99% of the time, and added an aligning mark with an engraver to the outside of the housing.
Much easier for cleaning too.

 

[Muz]

I’m still looking in to this. I’ve found that 2mm ID food grade tubing does exist:


http://www.silicone-tubing.com.au/silicone_tubing.htm


I’m just not sure how to connect to it. There is one with an OD of 6mm. Duotight fittings don’t come that small do they?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I’m still looking in to this. I’ve found that 2mm ID food grade tubing does exist:


http://www.silicone-tubing.com.au/silicone_tubing.htm


I’m just not sure how to connect to it. There is one with an OD of 6mm. Duotight fittings don’t come that small do they?

Have a look on here Muz, its where I go for odd size tubing. And there is 2mm ID.
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesal...2&SearchText=silicone+tubing&switch_new_app=y

 

[Muz]

Have a look on here Muz, its where I go for odd size tubing. And there is 2mm ID.
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesal...2&SearchText=silicone+tubing&switch_new_app=y

Oh awesome. Any idea how I can go from 12mm ID to 2mm ID?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Oh awesome. Any idea how I can go from 12mm ID to 2mm ID?

Is it a 12mm thread?

 

[Muz]

I currently have a 10mm or 12mm hose for the job. I could go with a much smaller barb to make things easier but I'm not going to get one that fits in 2mm ID tube. I'm going to need to reduce from at least 6mm I'd say.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I would doubt you would get a reducing hose barb to 2 m even on Aliexpress

 

[Muz]

Agreed. I'm looking at push fit reducers that might go from 6mm ID to 2mm ID. Just not sure if they exist. The other options is a hose barb with a 2mm ID. Doesn't matter if the tubing I connect is larger. If the barb itself is small enough that will reduce the flow.

 

[S.E]

Just a thought Muz. I know you are after means of throttling flow by means other than the ball valve but when I first started fly sparging I used a bent nail with the point cut off as a spacer between the stop tab and body of the lever ball valve to set the gap precisely.

That way you can easily open the valve if it blocks then return it to the exact same position using the spacer. Worked well till I misplaced the nail. By that time I had got the hang of setting the valve by sight so didn’t bother making another spacer.

 

[dkril]

Have you considered using a different type of valve that is designed for throttling? I use a globe valve for this purpose. Mine gives me 9+ turns of adjustment, although the recirc pump's maximum flow means there's no actual adjustment after a couple of turns.

Looks like this.

https://www.westatehose.com.au/products/valves-nozzles-and-spray-guns/valves/stainless-globe-valve/

 

[koshari]

Search for "Hoffman Clamp", there are a bunch on eBay, you can get better quality (stainless rather than chromed brass/steel) from lab supplies, at a price. there are even a bunch of plastic variants.
Mark
View attachment 116598

this method is very good, you have effectively created a saunders valve.

other wise a gate valve as mentioned above, ball/butterfly valves have the worst linearity of all valves,

 

[dkril]

Gate valves aren't designed to be used for throttling flow -- just on or off, like ball valves. Hence why I suggested a globe valve, which is designed for throttling flow.

Sure they don't seal as well against pressure (hence in industry you will sometimes see separate shut-off and throttling valves next to each other), but that's hardly likely to be a problem in a home-brew environment,