Are SS cam locks worth it? how good are Polypropylene

[Newtons Shed]

Ok as yoiu may know I'm looking to build a home brewery a keggle system ie 3 converted beer kegs.

I've sourced supplies for most of the parts of the brewery build listed at the bottom current costs approx £130.

The bit that I'm struggling with now, is how to connect it up, as I'm using brass and the kegs have some coating on the inside I don't see the benefit of going all ss for pipe fittings. I initially thought to use compressions but I don't want to knacker the threads up on the ball valves by screwing & unscrewing nuts onto the threads. If I ever did upgrade, I would at least not have to do so for the pipe fastenings if I did go for the ss cam locks. Looking at the prices, as I plan to have 2 hoses one at each end of the pump & coupler to each ball valve of the kegs and plate chiller. I would therefore need 6 of one type and 2 of the other. Looking at various websites Type E with hosetail and male cam adaptor at £3.44 each plus vat to go on ends of BV plus 2 of type C with hosetail and female coupling at £5.94 each to go on end of pump = £40 total inc vat ex del. But then I saw the Polypropylene 'Camlock' & Aluminium 'Camlock' which are a lot cheaper, can these be used instead? Are they rated to 100 deg c?

Also how can I fix the other end to the ball valves other than using copper tubing and compression fittings? As if wanted to use cam locks that be another 12 fitting ie female camlock to hose tail on one side of short tube and and hose tail with a male coupling on the other, I guess it's not as critical this end to have the quick disconnect.

I also need a way to join the tank connector to the ball valve both male threads like a ss dubble female socket to screw the tank connect to the ball valve or a copper pipe with compressions on either side, to join the tank connector to ball valve and same again on the other side going from other end of bv to the hose tail male camlock ie a short piece of copper with compression on one side and the silicone tube pushed over the other end of the copper pipe and the male cam lock at the other end of the silicone tube allowing it to be connected to the female cmlock going to the pump.

brewery build parts
5m 1/2" Silicone tubing from this forum £25
6X 2 piece SS ball valves at £30, £4.99 each from local plumbers merchant
10m 10mm mirco bore copper tubing (to make the heat exchanger to sit in a domestic kettle) £18 near enough same price as a 4m lenght from ebay. From local plumbers merchant.
2x 15mm - 10mm reducers to go onto heat exchanger.
5 brass tank connectors £8.50 from local plumbers merchant. (already have 3 tank connectors fitted so 1 on each keg plus 2 on hlt for a sight tube)
2 elbows 50p (sight tube fitting)
1 T f(for cold water in going to HLT + mains cold tap in shed and to go into cold inflow of plate chiller)
Project box £5 maplins for the ATC800+
Replacement front part of solar pump (after dog chewed it) £10
so that's about £100 so far...
I also want to insulate the kegs with foil bubble wrap (provided it won't melt) £15 from B&Q
I also need prob about 5m of propane hose to connect the gas rings to the propane bottle £15 at £3 per metre
Total £130

 

[mabrungard]

I incorporated SS camlocks into my system almost a year ago and have been pleased. I don't use that in all locations though. I'm not confident that I could trust them on the suction side of my pump, so I just use barb fittings and hose clamps there. I'm not saying that camlocks would leak, but I just didn't want to chance it. The camlocks on the pressure side have all been totally leak free and easy to use.

I use female camlocks with male barb fittings on all of my hoses so that they are all interchangeable. I was concerned with the small ID of the hole through the barb fitting, but after reviewing the flow rate of my March 815 and the velocity through the barbs, I calculated that the head loss was not significant. Don't worry about the small ID of the barbs on the pressure side. If you are considering a camlock on the suction side, I notice that you can get a barb fitting that has been bored out. See this site where I made my purchases.

http://proflowdynamics2.reachlocal.com/

Obviously not very convenient to the UK, but its another option.

 

[Springer]

For a UK supplier Have a look here
Don't know about poly, I went ali and wish I had gone stainless on this occasion, Vossy did tell me. :lol:
S

 

[Newtons Shed]

Cheers,

When it says they are "female thread" does that mean they'd screw onto a male threaded pipe like on to the end of a ompression ball valve?

Would part A go with with Part C? So have part A screwed into end of ball valve and enable a hose with part C to be attached to it?

It's just a bit cheaper to try and do it the other way round as in use part A on the majority of hoses/the most end feeds and Part C nearly £2 each more sparingly.
As I plan to have 6 bv in total, 2 in each pot, but one is for the cold water in, I would need 5X part A and 2X part C for the flexi hose going to and from the pump.
So thats 5X A at £4 each =£20 + 2X part C at £5.94 ech = £12 total £31.88 plus vat? = £39 how much is del from intrico?
It does solve the problem of the quick disconnect but it's 24% of the brewery building expenditure!
Do I bother having them at the other end going to the pump? Thats another 2 part A and 2 part C plus on of each for the cold in so thats
8X part A at £4 each so £32
5X part C at £5.94 each so £29.70 ... So that's £61.70 is that ex vat so £74.04 how much is del? nah won't bother for that much think will just use femalexfemale sockets to male hose barb

 

[Springer]

I think you answered you own questions................................... :)
S

 

[Newtons Shed]

which one?
£40 or £50 just sounds better than nearly £100 I jus meant wouldn't bother with the pump end fittings being cmlock just use compression.
I think for the advantage of quick disconnects be worth it on ball valves end. ie 6X A & 2X C at £40 or maybe 1 extra for the cold feed oh and at least one for plate chiller so 8X A & 3X c £54. Then just use the fittings that come with the pump to fix the other ends of the pump (that don't need the disconnects) using the socket and hose barb at £7 each are same price near enough to camlocks at £10 without the advantage of being quick disconnecting which is worth the extra £3 and better then messing around with compression futtings each time I want move hoses around.

So A and C fit together right?

Re Intrico Do you know del charge and if prices include VAT?

Any other cheaper place to buy from other than intrico or is that the best offer?

Thanks
Andy

 

[Springer]

nah won't bother for that much think will just use femalexfemale sockets to male hose barb

That one. :lol:

S

 

[Aleman]

SS Camlocks are more than worth it. I went with Camlock to hose tails on my tubing, and I really wish I had done it the other way round, as the arms can be tricky to lock . . but other than that they were brill.

Thare are better Quick Disconnect available . . Do NOT click this link





































You Were Warned!!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[Springer]

I was like the bloke in the Dirty Harry Film "just had to know man"
Not heard of Vossy for a while, bet he is busy drooling and putting an order together. :lol:
S

 

[Newtons Shed]

Luckily I don't think they're available in the size I want 1/2"/15mm.

Always wondered what the tri stuff was but too expensive anyway! I thought camlocks were expensive. Also are tri clamps quick disconnecting?

Looking at my needs and what I need it to do, the cam klocks do look to be most suited. The alternitives arn't saving me as much, cheapest option other than compression is swivel female hoses found some for a total of £22 albeit crome/brass fitting so for sake of about £30 I get (hopefully) leak free, sterile, quick disconnects, tested in the environment that they'll be used in.

Saying that costs are starting to mount up

 

[Newtons Shed]

Just had a quote back from www.actionsealtite.com after emailing their sister company in the USA the inital base price was rediculasly higher then the other place (£84) however they then applied a 30% discount and now a 35% discount and only £10 deliver so I can get 7 Part A and 2 Part C for £58.49 delivered is that a good price for 9 ss 1/2" camlocks and couplers?

 

[Vossy1]

Not heard of Vossy for a while, bet he is busy drooling and putting an order together.

:lol: I don't like tri clover fittings not exactly quick to use and hard to keep the mating surface spotless.
FWIW though I have SS camlocks but I prefer my CPC disconnects from Morebeer. The sealing area on camlocks is very hidden and it's not easy to clean or get the seals out, it's also a lot larger than the CPC disconnects seal. If you do go the camlock route take the split rings and safety pins off, makes them much more user friendly

 

[Newtons Shed]

Cheers vossy those cpc do seem ideal an look better than can locks ex del and custom duty/tax are on par costwise from moor beer but they limited connections. Main reason I looked at camlocks is because it solved a couple of issues, one being having male/male threaded ball valve with bpts rather than female npt having a quick look for female British pipe thread to go onto the thread I found tom Parker Ltd who do the cpc but are quite a bit more than camlocks. Do u of UK supplier of cpc or where I get a ball valve with male/female npt from foabout a fiver each

 

[Vossy1]

Plastic NPT will fit stainless BSP, I know as that was my set up.

Do u of UK supplier of cpc or where I get a ball valve with male/female npt from foabout a fiver each

There aren't any last time I looked (a long time ago).

 

[Newtons Shed]

Thanks Vossy and good deciphering, typed on a I pad. Do you have female socket ball valves with the male threaded cpc? As I think mine (when I get them) are male threaded on both sides & I can't seem to find a cpc with a female socket only male to female or am I missing something?

Can you rememer how much shipping/import tax was on them?

Heres a link to Tom Parker Ltd that seem to have a large range in various meterials;
http://www.tom-parker.co.uk/products_su ... oups=8110B
Still can't see the ones I may nee,d if I go this route, might start off with a bodged compression fitting.

 

[Vossy1]

Do you have female socket ball valves with the male threaded cpc?

Yup

As I think mine (when I get them) are male threaded on both sides & I can't seem to find a cpc with a female socket only male to female or am I missing something?

Don't quite understand, male both sides is a connector :hmm:

Can you rememer how much shipping/import tax was on them?

They didn't get taxed and the shipping was USPS, I know the prices have changed now.
Surely you only need male by cpc and hose tail by cpc...why the need for another type?

I just ripped this from an old post
I use these nice and cheap and ultra reliable. Camlock fittings are also good, and when made of brass can be cheaper that the cpc fittings. Have a good nosy around here for some ideas :thumb:
I particularly like these They can be found cheaper in one of the links above but I can't remember which one

 

[Newtons Shed]

Sorry for the confusion, the ball valves that I've seen, that are 1/2" 2 piece ss at £4.99 each from local plumbers merchant, have male 15mm threads on each end of the ball valve rather than female sockets. So if I were to get these ball valves and use a CPC fitting, I would need a cpc fitting with a female socket to screw on to the ball valve, and the other end have a hose barb into tube and clip into the female thread screwed onto the ball valves. Whereas you have female socket on the BV and the male CPC screws into the female BV.

Thats why at first the camlocks look ideal as Part A 1/2" Female Thread - 1/2" Male Adaptor that I need the most of are the cheaper of the two and would screw directly on to the end of the ball valves, no need for sockets or anything and Part C 1/2" Hose Barb 1/2" Female Coupler that's the most expensive out the two I would only need 2 of them one at each end of the hose going into and out of the pump.

To start with as I will male threads on the BV I can just use cheap compression fitting to screw the bv on to the silicone hose with copper pipe and compression on the end, before "upgrading" to some sort of quick disconnect.

 

[Vossy1]

the ball valves that I've seen, that are 1/2" 2 piece ss at £4.99 each from local plumbers merchant

That's a great price, are you sure they're not plated :hmm:
Try and think ahead when making purchases. Male port ball valves are not the norm and finding female parts may not be as easy and could be more expensive than the female ball valve fittings.

Re the Camlocks, they are (or should I say mine are) BSPT which means they'll lock up early on BSPP threads, not necessarily a problem but be aware of it

 

[Newtons Shed]

Try and think ahead when making purchases.
Exactly what I am trying to do and why I've not got anything yet!

ball valves are not the norm and finding female parts may not be as easy
Again my thoughts which is why looking at what quick disconnects I can get and which is why at min I couldn't use the CPC but I know I could definatly get the camlocks but can't use a male threaded hose barb, having said that I have found (thanks for the link in another post) a female swivel hose barb just not ss.

As I say to start with the advantage of using male threaded bv is I can simply use compression screwed directly onto the ends of the valves and screw the bv into the kegs without need of tank connectors.

That's a great price, are you sure they're not plated
I'm starting to wonder that, but when I inquired they definatly said they were ss but will check again before committing and whether they just mean the ball is ss and everything ele is plated,as other wise might as well go for the ones on ebay that are definatly plated but cheaper!

 

[Aleman]

I think what you have are 15mm ball valves . . . which do have male ends . . . 1/2" Ball Valves are generally female