Valve Preference

[cdbrown]

Hi guys,

Just wondering what people preferences are when it comes to ball valves on the rig. I see that some people go for the 3-piece ball valves so they can be taken apart, but alot of others just go for the normal 2-piece. Just looking for opinions as trying to work out if it's worth the extra money and time for delivery of 3-piece over a 2-piece.

I'll be doing th 2-piece for the HLT outlet.

Cheers
-cdbrown

 

[Fents]

depends if your a tinkerer / anal cleaner type....

i brought a 3 piece for my kettle cause thats what all the cool kids had....have i ever taken it apart to clean? nope....probably will one day tho.

 

[schooey]

IMHO... Anytthing pre-boil, you won't need to disassemble and clean so ofte, so they can be normal old full bore two piece ball valves. You can still clean them, they're just not as easy to get apart. Anything post boil, make it three piece for ease of cleaning

 

[Eggs]

ive seen 3 piece stainless valves at the evil hardware giant. can these be used? are the one sold by sponsors something special
in terms of food grade or stainless quality?

 

[cdbrown]

Post boil will just be the one outlet valve with a barbed fitting, silicone tube and a cube for NC.

Thanks for the advice. Those 3-piece valve do look sexy that's for sure.

Also no problems with using S/S for valves, copper for HE and pickups and brass for other fittings (t-pieces and threaded rod etc)? Seems to be quite common just by looking at some of the brew rigs - or I might be completely wrong.

 

[Fourstar]

Also no problems with using S/S for valves, copper for HE and pickups and brass for other fittings (t-pieces and threaded rod etc)? Seems to be quite common just by looking at some of the brew rigs - or I might be completely wrong.

I find that quite funny actually! All this stainless bling, stainless valves etc and then brass garden disconnects. You could have saved 10 bucks a valve and selected brass instead!

 

[mika]

Doesn't seem to matter how much I flush my mashtun valve, every 4 brews or so it starts smelling a bit 'funky' and I strip it down. I know it gets boiled afterwards, but I don't care. I want to know it's clean.
If you wanted to do it properly I'd be welding triclover stubs to the vessels and avoid the threads all together by using something like the mashmaster valves that attach via tri-clover.
I'm yet to have a probelnm, but I'll strip the fittings out and redo the thread tape at least once a year as well.

Remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they're not out to get you.

 

[pk.sax]

Sorry for the necrophilia, I've been trying to find some info.

I was at the big green shed the other day and almost picked up a brass valve and fittings but my friend alerted me that copper products shouldn't be used with food. Apparently the corroded copper compounds (blue green stuff) is pretty bad for us and can cause poisoning. Hmnnnnn, well I abandoned that stuff. I mean, didn't they use to use copper cookware in ages past?!

SS is bling, yeah but prices too. I could buy a brass valve ~12-13 quid while SS is quoted from 20-40 for the valves everywhere. It's really stumping me ATM.
Another issue I read about SS fittings was cold welding of SS parts over time. Anyone had that happen either? I might end up getting SS parts for peace of mind but would be good to know just in case I have to sub some brass here and there. I definitely don't dig poisoning :S

 

[mika]

Plenty of people on here using brass an most of them are mostly OK.
It can be pickled to make it safe, there was some info on this in Howtobrew.com I believe, or you could just google search it.
Everyone that I know of, including myself, still uses thread tape between stainless fittings, so the thread galling isn't really an issue and presumably this would stop the cold welding you speak of. Every now and then all the fittings need to be pulled apart anyway and given a good clean and the thread tape replaced, so it's not like the fittings are together for years and years to the point where they can weld themselves together.

 

[pk.sax]

Good points. Teflon tape to the rescue then. I'll only initially need an elbow tube for the sight gauge and a ball valve. Might just end up ordering from beerbelly with other stuff.

My concern with cold welding was cuz I mean to test them out on my bigW pot until I can lay my hands on a bigger one (going all weldless for now). I can convert the small pot into a chiller later.

 

[tavas]

Sorry for the necrophilia, I've been trying to find some info.

I was at the big green shed the other day and almost picked up a brass valve and fittings but my friend alerted me that copper products shouldn't be used with food. Apparently the corroded copper compounds (blue green stuff) is pretty bad for us and can cause poisoning. Hmnnnnn, well I abandoned that stuff. I mean, didn't they use to use copper cookware in ages past?!

SS is bling, yeah but prices too. I could buy a brass valve ~12-13 quid while SS is quoted from 20-40 for the valves everywhere. It's really stumping me ATM.
Another issue I read about SS fittings was cold welding of SS parts over time. Anyone had that happen either? I might end up getting SS parts for peace of mind but would be good to know just in case I have to sub some brass here and there. I definitely don't dig poisoning :S

The pipes in your house will be copper so I can't see a brass valve being an issue. However for piece of mind get SS. Pull it apart and wash in detergent before use as it will have machining oil traces in it.

 

[raven19]

SS is bling, yeah but prices too. I could buy a brass valve ~12-13 quid while SS is quoted from 20-40 for the valves everywhere. It's really stumping me ATM.

T&S Valves do 3 pieces for a lot less than that iirc. No affiliation, etc.

 

[pk.sax]

Thnx tavas n raven, I'll check for that, have to do a round of tradelink and Reece's tomorrow to see I can get some local too.

Abt copper, its not water, its food safety that my friend told me about. He said as long as copper is not coming in direct contact With food itself it is OK.
Besides that, a house we rented ages ago had to have it's hot water piping replaced, the copper had corroded on the inside with time. And yeah, water used to be muddy out of those taps, took a bottle full of the water to the real estate agent's office to get themto move it and believe it so I'm quite sure copper can corrode in a big way too. I'm going to Ty to not use copper in any situation where it has to be boiled/heated in contac. With the wort, that'll keep me happy