Beer Forum

I am planning on adding a March pump to my B3 1000 Brew Sculpture to: 1) recirculate the mash tun, 2) heat the mash in the HLT w/ immersion chiller, and 3) add a whirlpool recirulating chiller after flame out. What kind of quick disconnects do you sculpture pump brewers use? B3 stainless, brass, polysulfone, etc? I figure that I need 2 couplers, a ball valve and 2 female QDs to 1/2" npt thread fittings for the pump. Then 2 male QD to 1/2" barb for the hoses to hook up the pump. What is the best way to hook up the garden hose fittings on the chiller to the pump hose? Maybe I can save a few bucks here and use brass QDs for garden hose to the chiller - any concerns here? It would be sweet to use all stainless, but might cost as much as the pump itself!

Thanks,
Eric

I use the B3 stainless

I just outfitted my whole rig with the B3 stainless fittings, too. They are pricey, indeed - but they are well worth it. They are about 1/3 more than the plastic (CPC) fittings. What you get for the extra money is durability. Those plastic ones are nice because they don't get hot, but they are pretty fragile, and you have to replace the exposed o-rings often. Brass is more durable than the plastic - but it only comes with garden hose threads, meaning that you will have to buy a myriad of adapters (also in brass) to connect it to everything else in your system. You also have to pickle the brass ones periodically.

Many people that I have talked to decide to plumb theirs with the same gender fittings on both sides of the hose. I never liked that method. I always preferred a "linear approach" in which each hose has a male and a female side on it. That way I can always join two or more hoses together if necessary. I guess it's personal preference. When I planned out my B3 order, I grabbed four highlighers to mark up my plumbing diagram. (ie. threaded male, threaded female, barbed male, barbed female). As it turned out, I had the same number of male and female threads, and the same number of male and female barbs, so I was able to buy them all as "sets" (cheaper).

Since I also repurpose my JZ chiller as my herms coil, I had to make one adaptor so I could easily switch from the stainless B3 fittings, to the plastic garden hose QDs on my garden hose. If you plan it out right, you will be able to easily accomplish all your goals. QDs make brewing so nice...


Mylo

Thanks Mylo,

I was thinking of having male fittings on both sides of the hose and female fittings on the kettle and pump, but you make a good case for being able to connect hoses. I am also wondering how to quickly change my chiller QD from stainless to brass for the garden hose when I start chilling. What is this adapter you speak of? Or I could pony up more cash and use stainless QDs on my garden hose, but that seems ridiculous.

Has anyone converted a B3 Gravity Brew Sculpture into a pump system? Just wondering if there are more things to plan before I place an order. Do I need a bracket to mount the pump on the sculpture?

Thanks! Eric

I also have QD's on my Brewtus....and found that I prefer the female ends on the hoses, and the male ends on the kettle/pump side.....makes for easier one handed removal.

Mylo wrote:...Many people that I have talked to decide to plumb theirs with the same gender fittings on both sides of the hose. I never liked that method. I always preferred a "linear approach" in which each hose has a male and a female side on it. ...

So you are homohoseaphobic?

Thanks for the rest of the insights as well as I still need to get the March pump up and running over here.

Whitebeard_Brewer wrote:I also have QD's on my Brewtus....and found that I prefer the female ends on the hoses, and the male ends on the kettle/pump side.....makes for easier one handed removal.

We don't want to know what the other hand is doing.

Hoppy Brewah wrote: What is this adapter you speak of?

It was one that I had to make. Since my JZ chiller has all female stainless for it's purposes during the mash - I had to take a male stainless and convert it to the plastic hose quick disconnect that I have on all of my garden hoses. That's all.


Mylo