My kingdom! My kingdom for some quick-disconnects!
 

UNGH ... I'm not sure that I'm willing to stomach these prices, but I may be forced to in the name of convenience and maintenance hassle.

You see ... bongs are a real hobby, and maintenance is always something you need to perform on them regularly. Unfortunately for me, this means A) turning off the pump (a given), B) unscrewing and disconnecting the hose at the top of the bong, C) blowing water through the system, out of the pump, and back into the reservoir D) turning my valve WHILE blowing (to prevent water from coming back) to stop the flow of water and keep it in the reservoir, and then E) unscrewing and disconnecting the bottom connection from res --> pump.

a hassle? Well ... in the grand scheme of bongs, this is actually much more portable than others :D lol.

Anyways ... after realizing how gunked up I had let my reservoir become over time (before just recently I had been flushing the system every few weeks ... mainly because I was making a lot of changes and it needed to happen anyways) and how much of a hassle it really was to disconnect the entire system to replace the water in the reservoir with clean stuff .... I realized I needed to invest in some quick-disconnect fittings.

The catch? Well ... it appears to be PRICE! Ungh. I was looking through www.mcmaster.com, specifically page 232, and it appears that it'll cost me 29.86 for the sockets, and 24.26 for the plugs ... when you're talking brass barbed connections that are 1/2" (the biggest they make 'em unfortunately ...). Typically, single-valve connections work in most situations, and are much cheaper ... but when you're talking about water flowing either way, you've gotta have double valved systems, and thats where the price seems to have nailed me.

Ideally, I'd like to have two sets. One for the res -> pump connection, and another from the pc -> bong connection. This would reduce my maintenance hassles to A) disconnecting pump, and B) CLICK CLICK of two quick-disconnects ... that'd be it.

I'd LOVE to have that kind of convenience .... but at what cost? Well ... according to mcmaster, that cost will be $106.44 ... BEFORE shipping!

<insert oh-jesus-why-me look here>

So I come to you guys. Are there cheaper alternatives? Some amazing nugget of info that I missed that could save me money? A better place to buy from?

Or am I stuck with what appears to be one HELLOVA fee for a little convenience?

A couple of double ended barbs will do the trick here I think... Pull the bottom one with a bucket underneath to drain the system and when it is dry remove the top barb... Done separted.

That'll be a lot cheaper than what you are thinking and if you are concerned about it coming off get yourself some wire ties/spiral hose clamps to make sure they don't come off.

Or heres a better idea... get a more powerful pump and filters on all the intake fans, (and where ever else you feel appropiate) to keep the dust out. Then you won;t have to drain it so often.

Pictures would help to visualise the problem though.


~ Boli

Naww, I could do that with my current setup, but its messy, impractical, and dangerous. I have all my electronics in one confined space and I REALLY don't want to be risking.

BTW, all the barbs have to be screwed down, which is a major hassle.

Pics to come of the actual bottom portion (my main problem), but here is a preliminary of the whole setup (I already had it)

http://www.gotkarma.net/uploads/IMG_1865.jpg

pump and valve are behind the PC there.

Sorry, hadn't gotten around to posting a picture of the pump setup.

Here it is:

http://www.gotkarma.net/uploads/IMG_2113.jpg

In order to disconnect the reservoir, I need to unscrew the top connection in the first picture (on the top of the bong), BLOW really hard through it, while there is no more water in the lines and air is going into the reservoir, I turn the red handle, and cut off water flow back into the loop, and then disconnect the connection right after. Then ... I have to wiggle and pull the connection off ... which is a pain because I either have to yank the pump around or hassle with moving the reservoir full of water.

Thats my system as of right now, and its a real PITA. :mad:

edit: in case anyone wonders, the eheim is on bubble wrap to isolate vibrational noise, and the other large dark object is the UPS

Try USPlastics.com

If you want the kind that seal themselves when you disconnect them, I think I've got a link, but it might take me some time to dig it up. Did you search here?

Otherwise, Colder or Wilson makes them.

Managed to get a direct link to what I'm looking at:

http://www.mcmaster.com/asp/framewor...36,237,238,239

middle of the page, under Barbed Hose Connection

I checked USplastics.com ... and managed to find this:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/cat...ittings&Page=1

but can't figure out for the life of me how they are supposed to work. looks too simple/cheap to be what I think they are nor do I understand the mechanism by which they would seal.

hmmmm

I'm also looking for some flowmeters too ... and they look like they'll cost me an arm and a leg too :-\ damnitall!

Karma on the page you showed the barbed hose connectors came in a pack of 5.
$25~ for 5 sockets and $20~ for 5 plugs.
That doesn't seem to bad, it's better than your $100 or am I missing something?

AndrewC

Yup ... if you look at the prices, the prices are EACH ... but you get a discount if you purchase a full package's worth ... thats why the package size is listed. So ... for example, if I buy 5, I get to pay 25.79 each (25.79x5) instead of 29.86 each.

Ok I see it now.
Dang that is expensive.:(

why not just use normal disconnects with a valve on each side? it's probably cheaper than self-sealing connectors...

Not sure I follow ...

Do you mean two of the valves you see in the picture ... (or something similar) connected to a couple of these?

http://www.mcmaster.com/asp/loadpage...22&end=223&qi=

Thats actually a good idea if thats what you meant .... hmmm

edit: hollah to Canada! :D

pretty much, something so you can stop the water from leaving the hoses while they are apart

Always a possibility ... I might just go with the clamps only (and still do that blow-through procedure) and cut out the procedure of unscrewing those god damn hose-clamps ... which is the biggest hassle.

The problem with sealing either end of the water flow right before the disconnects is that it adds plenty of crap to an already complicated system.

Thanks for the idea :D