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Our stainless steel Camlock style disconnects (sometimes called cam
and groove) are the best compromise between cost and function for
making and breaking connections between your vessels, chillers, pumps
and hose sets. Eventually you get tired of pushing tubing onto hose
barbs and adjusting worm gear clamps. These are cheaper than triclovers
and all other stainless steel quick disconnect designs. Best of all,
they are milspec standard around the world so you'll never get stuck
with a single vendor's proprietary disconnect system and have trouble
adding on to it several years down the road.
We offer a large
selection of standard and custom high flow camlocks. They come standard
with replaceable food grade silicone gaskets. The
"quick disconnect" or business portion of the camlock system consists
of male and female parts. The male side is a cylinder with an external
concave recess around the circumference and a front sealing face. Once
inserted into the female coupling, a set of cammed arms are drawn back
to apply pressure to the male's recess which locks the parts together
and holds the male's sealing face tight to the captured gasket. Ultimate
application is up to the user, but it is most common to use the male
part on fixed brewery components while the female coupling end is
typically installed on the more mobile parts like hose sets. Why? The
movable cam arms need room to swing.  Type A - Male QD/ Female 1/2" NPT.
The most common use for this part is attaching to the wort in/out ports
on a plate chiller. It can also be used for recirculation ports, the
in/out of a HERMS coil. etc.Type F - Male QD / Male 1/2" NPT. Usually used on the output of brewing vessels, threaded into the ball valve. Used in place of traditional hose barbs. Type E - Male QD / HOSE BARB. (no
picture) The type E is simlar to the A and F but instead of threads, it
has a 1/2" hose barb on the back end. The barb is rather restrictive,
however, if you're using smaller tubing, the E is just fine. Type DP - Male QD DUST PLUG.
(no picture) The type DP has the same male part as the A/F/E but
nothing else on the back side. It's just a way to close off a female
end.
*********** Next we'll review the standard female side fittings:
Type B - Female QD Coupling to Male 1/2" NPT. These
are usually installed on the more portable or "mobile" end. Prior to
developement of better hose attachment options, users would often
stretch silicone tubing over the threads. The type B can be coupled to a
garden hose adapter to backflush plate chillers or to fill vessels with
fresh brewing water. There are probably other good uses that we're not
thinking of. Type C (reduced barb)- Female QD coupling to 1/2" OD HOSE BARB. We
carried the stock type C for a while due to customer demand but we did
so reluctantly. The interior of the barb is usually less than 3/8" and
was obnoxiously restrictive when you consider the fact that we use 1/2"
ID tubing all over the place. We've gone back and forth on selling or
not selling these based on these restrictions but decided our customers
can make their own decisions on whether the flow restriction is a
problem. Note that you CAN get 3/8" ID silicone and regular rigid 1/2"
ID thermoplastic tubing over the type C barb.
Type D - Female QD Coupling to Female 1/2" NPT. These are just like the Type B, only they have female NPT thread. Type DC - Female QD Coupling to block off cap.
Similar to the B and D but just a blank block off. They're sold as duct
caps but it's also a liquid tight solution as sound as any other
coupling here. If all you want to do is keep dust out of the male parts,
check out the vinyl caps below.
**********
Last we'll go over the options for some custom modified solutions that
are not part of the standard camlock offerings. You may see other
vendors selling these, but it all started here.
Cam BIG C - Female QD coupling to 5/8" OD x 1/2" ID compact hose barb. There
had to be a better way to do this and we finally figured out how to do
it for a decent price without compromising performance. Up until this
point, we recommended using a combination of the type D and a 5/8" hose
barb. It worked great, but it was also bulky and expensive considering
you needed one on each end of your hoses. Cam Kit BL - This is a Type B camlock and a High Flow Elbow Barb. You
still have to thread them together yourself but it can be added to the
cart with one click and you'll save a buck too. This is perfect for the
hose ends that connect to your vessel bulkheads. When the three or four
feet of silicone gets filled with liquid, it would tend to pull down and
kink the tubing if you used a horizontal barb. The only place we don't
recommned this is on the suction or inlet side of a pump. Use the Big C
for that. BIG E - Male Cam x 5/8" Hose Barb. This is
our newest offering in the custom, high flow line. While it's not the
most common usage, if you want a male camlock on the end of a silicone
hose, this is the fitting for you. This one has the same oversized hose
barb on the back measuring just over 1/2" ID and 5/8" OD. Our silicone
tubing stretches over this barb perfectly for a firm fit.
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