Anyone know if there's a John Guest elbow fitting for a beer shank?

[hezagenius]

I'm looking to build one of those keg towers with 2" metal pipe. Ideally, I'd like to be able to use John Guest fittings. I've got the shortest shank I can find (2") going into a 2" hex bushing and then that fits into a 2" street elbow. The Accuflex liquid line is too rigid to make that turn with the straight JG shank connector.

What would make it work is a JG fitting that has a female end screw onto the shank (5/8" female BSPP) and then elbow into a JG push fitting (5/16"). I've scoured the interwebs but can't find anything like this. Does anyone know if this fitting exists?

 

[Smellyglove]

I don't think there is a 5/8" elbow itself, if that's what you're asking for. But you can do from 5/8" down to "something", then stick an elbow fitting in that which ends up in a female push fitting for a hose. That way your hose itself wouldn't need to do the 90deg bend.

If you're making a keezer or kegerator or such, or something else which isn't long lines (like kegs in basement and taps floor above) you could do 3/16" lines which connect nicely to ball locks and with JG at the shanks. Maybe there's a reason you're asking for 5/16".. But 3/16" is the classic foam reducing hose to use if you're building something which requires up to 6ft of lines.

 

[jschm19]

Maybe a combo of these?

http://www.birdmanbrewing.com/shank-connector-for-accuflex-bev-seal/

https://www.fws.co/images/product/medium/PI221616S.jpg

 

[hezagenius]

Maybe a combo of these?

http://www.birdmanbrewing.com/shank-connector-for-accuflex-bev-seal/

https://www.fws.co/images/product/medium/PI221616S.jpg

Yeah, that's the best option I could come up with. My hope was that there was some fitting that combined these. One less connection to worry about. I already have the shank connectors, but that Accuflex tubing is really stiff! I'll probably have to at least buy a few of those speedfit elbows just in case that's the best way to go.

 

[hezagenius]

I don't think there is a 5/8" elbow itself, if that's what you're asking for. But you can do from 5/8" down to "something", then stick an elbow fitting in that which ends up in a female push fitting for a hose. That way your hose itself wouldn't need to do the 90deg bend.

If you're making a keezer or kegerator or such, or something else which isn't long lines (like kegs in basement and taps floor above) you could do 3/16" lines which connect nicely to ball locks and with JG at the shanks. Maybe there's a reason you're asking for 5/16".. But 3/16" is the classic foam reducing hose to use if you're building something which requires up to 6ft of lines.

3/16" ID. 5/16" OD. We are talking about the same tubing.

 

[Smellyglove]

That was what I was talking about. You will not find a fitting which you're looking for.

 

[Smellyglove]

3/16" ID. 5/16" OD. We are talking about the same tubing.

I mean 3/16" OD. tubing is given as OD. Hoses as ID. If you look at JG-fittings and see 3/16" tubing specced to a fitting, that's OD.

 

[hezagenius]

I mean 3/16" OD. tubing is given as OD. Hoses as ID. If you look at JG-fittings and see 3/16" tubing specced to a fitting, that's OD.

Ah. The Accuflex line I have is 3/16" ID. Good to know about how they are specced out. That's what I assumed but I wasn't sure. I just sent an email to Fresh Water before I saw your reply. My OD isn't listed on the tubing but I think it's 5/16".

 

[Smellyglove]

Ah. The Accuflex line I have is 3/16" ID. Good to know about how they are specced out. That's what I assumed but I wasn't sure. I just sent an email to Fresh Water before I saw your reply. My OD isn't listed on the tubing but I think it's 5/16".

Then I'd be careful not to order anything before you've done the necessary research.

If you have a "hose", then as I said hoses are given as ID. This means that they are produced with toleranced concerning the ID, tolerances for OD might vary (depending on producer, specs, etc).

What I'm saying is if you have a "hose" then i would not stick that into a female john guest, unless you are 100% sure that the OD is within tolerances to a certain spec. This means you maybe need a hose barb at the JG end, which goes into your hose. JG has very narrow tolerances to OD diameters, if your OD is not up to a certain spec/tolerance, it might leak.

Did this make any sense? I suck at describing things in english.

Edit: To sum up. "Tubing" goes into JG. "Hose" needs a barb. You need to know what the hose is defined as, as you can find flexible tubing which one would call a "hose".

 

[hezagenius]

This is the tubing I have
http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/accuflex-bev-seal-ultra-3-16-50/

And it fits into this
http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/5-16-x-5-8-bspp-shank-connector-push-to-connect/

Hopefully Farmhouse is selling the right fittings made for that tubing

 

[Smellyglove]

That hose/tube looks familiar, its the same as the ones used by the Lindr's, and those are compatible with JG

 

[BBBF]

Bend Clip:
https://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-2571-john-guest-flow-bend-clip-516.aspx

John Guest to Shank (I think this was the right size, but confirm before ordering)
https://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-2501-john-guest-female-adapter-cone-end-bspp-516-x-58-bspp.aspx

 

[whovous]

Doubtless too late to matter, but did you ever find this?
http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843485.htm

I've reached a different point of the same search - deciding on a stainless shank to replace the Intertap barbed shank.

 

[hezagenius]

Doubtless too late to matter, but did you ever find this?
http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/843485.htm

I've reached a different point of the same search - deciding on a stainless shank to replace the Intertap barbed shank.

Yep. That's what I ended up with. Worked for what I needed.

 

[whovous]

Yep. That's what I ended up with. Worked for what I needed.

By any chance did you fit two lines into your tower? I think I finally have all of the pieces that I need, and only now do I discover there is not even remotely enough room to get all the connections onto both shanks. If I install both faucets on the tower and put one Guest connector on one shank, it completely blocks any chance of screwing the second connector onto the second shank. This is more than a little frustrating.

 

[hezagenius]

@whovous
I have a T tower so no clearance issues for me. In the standard 2 faucet tower, I could see that being an issue. Have you tried shorter shanks?

 

[whovous]

I bought 2" shanks thinking that was as short as they get, but even if I managed to find 1.5" it seems likely that the length of the fitting with the elbow will be too long to prevent one from running into another. For now, I will probably try to do one faucet with BevSeal & Guest and the other faucet the old-fashioned way with lesser quality line. I tried putting the BevSeal into a pot of boiling water for a while; that managed to slightly damage the line where it rested on the edge of the hot pot, but it did not come close to making it flexible enough to fit onto the barb.

 

[whovous]

Oh geez, I've just found yet another way to spend money on this project:
https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Intertap-DuoTight-Tower-Shank-P4815.aspx

It appears Intertap makes a completely different shank to fit DuoTight and presumably Guest fittings. Add a 6.5 to 8mm reducer, and it looks like I may finally have something that works.

 

[Bobby_M]

It's pretty easy to flare open these barrier tubing types to get them over even 1/4" hose barbs. Heat and a tapered tool (makeshift or otherwise) gets it done.

 

[whovous]

I tried a couple of different ways and it was beyond my skillset. I do not doubt for a minute that it worked for you, but the fact that Intertap saw fit to market a whole new shank for people like me suggests I am not alone.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I just set mine up using the small (4mm) tubing and the standard intertap elbow. It took a botched attempt or two, but after soaking in some hot water, I found the best tool is a nail set. nice taper.

 

[Bobby_M]

I use a Harbor Freight heat gun $14 and a hand swaging tool to ream it open. I offer this flaring as a free service to customers who buy the tubing from me.