Duotight not coming apart. Any advice.

[brooksbrew]

Hi y'all. Funny enough I heard some rumors that duotight fittings could leak but I have had the exact opposite experience, where not only do they NOT leak, but they can be kind of hard to take apart (i have hand/wrist injuries and its not making things any better). I have one pressure gage (with the metal stem) that is fitted to a duotight ball lock disconnect fitting right now and this sucker will not come off (with assistance of my wife pulling on the gage). I make sure to get the collar as flush as possible by pushing it in with the duotight removal tool as I (or my wife) pulls on the gage, but no luck. I've gotten many of these apart in the past but this one is not budging. Any thoughts?

 

[Boalmjpd]

Use a crescent wrench or a pair of needle nose pliers and push on both sides of the collar equally.

 

[brooksbrew]

I've used a crescent wrench sometimes too. The opening isn't big enough for it in this case though, and the needle nose pliers aren't working, unfortunately.

 

[Broken Crow]

Given that this one has now shown itself to be problematic, I'd just take a pair of sidecutters to it and buy a new one. Even if you do get it apart, it may well end up damaged in the process, or just lock up again...it's a tosser.

 

[brooksbrew]

I think I'm just going to accept the fact that it is a permanent connection now. If i cut it off I'd be spending about 7 bucks (IIRC) on a new ball lock disconnect. I decided that for that price I can just buy a second gage, which I did

 

[Deadalus]

I was having some difficulty myself over the weekend with a ptc connection (more than one actually). It seemed to help that I "reset" the collar by pulling the tubing side out again with no pressure on the collar. The collar is then fully extended from the fitting, then depress again. It didn't work perfectly though.

And be careful with the Duotight removal tool...it's a little bas%^#d. I wasn't paying attention and the locking mechanism opened and while being completely frustrated with the tiny little collar made for pixie fingers I changed my grip on the tool. The parts still weren't separating but I started to feel something pinching me and looked down to see the pointy blade embedded in my finger. The stupid little fork will break soon anyway and it can go back to strictly being a tubing cutter.

 

[brooksbrew]

I was having some difficulty myself over the weekend with a ptc connection (more than one actually). It seemed to help that I "reset" the collar by pulling the tubing side out again with no pressure on the collar. The collar is then fully extended from the fitting, then depress again. It didn't work perfectly though.

And be careful with the Duotight removal tool...it's a little bas%^#d. I wasn't paying attention and the locking mechanism opened and while being completely frustrated with the tiny little collar made for pixie fingers I changed my grip on the tool. The parts still weren't separating but I started to feel something pinching me and looked down to see the pointy blade embedded in my finger. The stupid little fork will break soon anyway and it can go back to strictly being a tubing cutter.

Hi! Yes I did pull it out again in the hopes of resetting it first as well, but no luck. Maybe the fact that its metal on metal somehow makes it dig in more. Oh yeah, I don’t trust the tubing cutter/ removal tool for that very reason. I have been using the komos draft multi tool actually (which incedentally doesn’t fit over regulator connection nuts ). It is way safer for Duotight removal tho.

 

[Deadalus]

Oh I hadn't seen that one from Komos, price is great but too bad it isn't fitting the regulator. The price is good, I'd still consider getting one for the duotights. Good to know about trying to reset even if it wasn't working. I was on the fence about how effective it was.

I got one of these multitools over the winter that I like for kegs but it's a bit more expensive ($15).j I couldn't get the link to post but it can be found on the FB Marketplace "Homebrew Corny Keg Wrench". [Actually link is under the picture but not sure it would work if not logged in to FB..]

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/461524142213769/?ref=saved&referral_code=null

 

[brooksbrew]

Oh I hadn't seen that one from Komos, price is great but too bad it isn't fitting the regulator. The price is good, I'd still consider getting one for the duotights. Good to know about trying to reset even if it wasn't working. I was on the fence about how effective it was.

I got one of these multitools over the winter that I like for kegs but it's a bit more expensive ($15).j I couldn't get the link to post but it can be found on the FB Marketplace "Homebrew Corny Keg Wrench". [Actually link is under the picture but not sure it would work if not logged in to FB..]
View attachment 819261https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/461524142213769/?ref=saved&referral_code=null

As somebody said before, an adjustable (crescent) wrench works really well too (as long as it fits into the space between the two fittings).

 

[DonT]

What no one mentioned is that it helps to push the tubing in at the same time as the coller and THEN pull it out...

 

[Bobby_M]

And twist the tubing at the same time.

 

[brooksbrew]

I did try doing these last couple of things (push in tubing at same time as collar before pulling tubing out and also twisting) but no luck. I think this is just something that may happen occasionally due to it being a metal piece that I’m attaching (stem of the gage). Thankfully they’re not too expensive so I just bought a second gage so I can use it elsewhere. Thanks y’all.