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March, 1996 Volume 19, Issue 3

 

Gas Quick- Connects

You’re never quite "finished" when you make your own brewery - there’s always something to improve upon. I fire my burners with natural gas, tapped near the water heater in the garage. I brew in the driveway, so on brew day I set up a 50’ flexible gas line to my portable brewery cart. Previously, I threaded the hose connections by hand, then tightened everything with wrenches, and tested every joint for leaks. The process took about 25 minutes to set up and 15 minutes to tear down. I had to reduce this set up / tear down time.

Here’s something I just added to my setup that takes 5 minutes to set up and 5 minutes to tear down: gas quick-connects.

Disclaimers: Gas can be extremely dangerous, so if you have any questions about what you’re doing, don’t fiddle with it. I have no affiliation with these products, I’m just a happy user.

That being said, here’s what I use:

Hansen’s Gas-Mate® couplings (contact me if for information about a local distributor.) These are one-way shut-off safety couplings designed for LP and natural gas applications. (So it works just as well for propane tanks.) I use 3/8" FPT size, and the plugs are made of brass with stainless steel inner workings. The plugs work just like garden hose quick-connects, by sliding the sleeve to release the connection, snapping the plug in to connect.

There is an automatic shut-off (at the socket) when the plug is removed. This is a nice safety feature, but always use a shutoff valve at the source (ahead of any quick-connects.) I use a gas ball valve at the tap tee for rapid action, and the direction of the handle gives an instant visual indicator of whether it’s open or not.

Safety continues: in the event of a fire, the heat sensitive plug automatically stops the flow of gas. I hope to never test this feature, but it’s nice to know it’s there.

OK, price. I went all out and got nice, brass dust covers too (when I could have used plastic ones or none at all.) Before sales tax and shipping, sockets are $12.50 each and their dust caps are $3.56 each, plugs are $5.88 each and their dust caps are $3.84 each. Including sales tax and shipping, it comes to $29.16 per connection, and you typically want one connection on each end of your hose. Without the dust covers it’s $23.85 per connection, but why not protect your investment?

Not cheap, but for what it does it’s less expensive than other gas quick-connects on the market. I feel that it’s a lot safer than setting up and testing threaded connections each time and it saves me a half an hour on brew day. For me, that’s worth it right there.

 


Updated: January 08, 1998.