Cam Lock Fittings - How and Where to Use

[Ghs57]

This year, I am switching over to cam lock fittings on my hoses, pumps and tanks. They are great connectors; quick, easy to use, pretty much idiot proof. There are a few practical considerations though. Each connection must have a female "cam lock" fitting and a male "adaptor" fitting. On fixed units such as tanks, you can install either a cam lock or an adaptor on the drain fitting. Whichever one you use, whatever you connect to it (hose, pump, RO) must have the opposite fitting attached.

All my cam lock fittings are the same size, and I want to be able to use hoses and pumps interchangeably between all units. So I tried to work up a plumbing diagram which would give me the most flexibility. I could use cam locks on both ends of all hoses and adaptors on the tanks and pumps. But there are many situations where I connect my pump directly to the tank fitting, so two adaptors are not going to connect together. Also, are the hoses on the RO treated as a hose, or is the RO a pump?. So I modified my diagram to use cam locks on the inlets to all units, and adaptors on the outlets. This is better, but there still are situations where two similar fittings can't join together. In those cases, my option is to make an adaptor from two cam locks or two adaptors (similar fittings on either end of the adaptor). Another option is to have dedicated hoses and pumps for specific operations, but then you lose some flexibility.

I'm curious about how others have used these fitting and what your best practices are.

[Bricklayer]

I seem to have good luck putting all of the “male “ camelock fittings on pumps, tanks. RO inlet feed , pump outlets
And all my connector hoses or drain hoses have the female ends on both ends. Seems to work for me. I’m not gonna lie. I do have a small adaptor I made with 1 male connector on each end to connect 2 if need be. But since most Camloks are threaded there is always a way to quick fix it if need be.

[Bucket Head]

I have all the female fittings (with the levers) on my pumps (both inlets & outlets) and tank outlets. I have all the male fittings on my hoses. That way there is no chance of the levers getting broken while being dragged on the ground, thrown in the truck, etc. I made up a few female x female "adapters" to put hoses together if need be. This set up has worked very well for me over the years and it doesn't matter which end of the hose I have in hand- it will always hook to the pump.

Steve

[Ghs57]

I like both of your options. I've tried to work it out both ways, and they do work most of the time. Like you guys said, you kind of need an adaptor or two when it just doesn't work for some particular instance. One nice thing with these treaded fittings is that I can try one setup, and if it just doesn't work out, try another. Everything I have has been setup to the same tread size.

[Bricklayer]

It’s whatever works for you. I like keeping the female fittings on the hose end because the levers have more room to pull back to seal the camlock. I had it the other way before and found that the lock levers sometime didn’t close all the way because they were hitting something.
They are great fittings. I use them for everything.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We use cam locks for all our pumping. We also have the female ends on our hoses. We have 3 hoses. One 25’ hose with 1” cam locks on each end that goes from the pump outlet to the pump line. That line gets hooked up once a year and stays with the pump line. One 25’ hose with a 2” to 1” cam lock to attach to our totes on one end and a 1” cam lock on the other that attaches to the pump inlet. Then we have a shorter 10’ hose with a 1” cam lock on one end to go on the pump outlet with the other end open that empties to the haul tank in our trailer. Those are the two hoses we use to pump our 3 woods totes. Tiger flex hose rules too in case you’re wondering.

[Bucket Head]

Yeah, whichever set up works better for you is the way to go. Everyone's pumping situation is a little different from the next guy's. Trying different things and seeing if they work, or work better, is part of the fun of syrup making.
And I second the Tigerflex hose comment! It's awesome stuff. I should have changed over to it sooner. It would have saved a lot of hose wrestling!

Steve

[GramaCindy]

Tiger flex???? Oh man. I really need some of that stuff. I'm sick of wrestling hoses.

[motowbrowne]

First of all, I don't know which setup is best, but I've pondered it myself as well.

Second, check these guys out. They sell stainless camlock fittings for cheaper than most places sell plastic ones. And, if you follow the link below, you'll see where they have some cool adapters, such as a male to make and female to female adapter.

https://www.proflow-dynamics.com/products/camlock-fittings/special-cam-and-groove-couplings.html

Warning: they are in Corona California, but i think it'll be okay.

[maple flats]

Just pick a method and use it. In my 2 hose sizes I have a few adapters, a double male and a double female fixes that. Unless all of your hoses reach from source to destination in one piece I thing those hoses should be one male and one female on the ends, but that's just my thinking.
Where to buy, I've used ProFlow Dynamics and Brewer's Hardware, both carry SS cam locks. I have switched about 90% of my plastic cam locks to SS. I will have all changed to SS before next year. Since you do not pump hot thru those hoses I think you could also go with Aluminum cam locks. On my hot syrup hoses I use sanitary fittings, SS (tri-clover from Brewer's Hardware) and silicone hose for anything under pressure, if no pressure, like on my re-circulation line I use braid re-enforced vinyl..

[jrgagne99]

For tank and pump outlets, I use female. For pump and RO inlets, I use male. My tiger hoses are all one end male and one end female, which allows me to daisy-chain hoses without the need for adapters, if necessary. In hindsight, I should have used the opposite conventions to be more anatomically intuitive. :-)

[Super Sapper]

I follow what we have been doing at work for almost 40 years. Male on discharge side of pump and on outlet of tanks. Female on suction side of pump and inlet to tank or lines. All hoses have both male and female so they can be connected for longer runs. Having the male to male and female to female adaptors is a good idea also as sometimes they are necessary.

[Ghs57]

Just pick a method and use it. In my 2 hose sizes I have a few adapters, a double male and a double female fixes that. Unless all of your hoses reach from source to destination in one piece I thing those hoses should be one male and one female on the ends, but that's just my thinking.
Where to buy, I've used ProFlow Dynamics and Brewer's Hardware, both carry SS cam locks. I have switched about 90% of my plastic cam locks to SS. I will have all changed to SS before next year. Since you do not pump hot thru those hoses I think you could also go with Aluminum cam locks. On my hot syrup hoses I use sanitary fittings, SS (tri-clover from Brewer's Hardware) and silicone hose for anything under pressure, if no pressure, like on my re-circulation line I use braid re-enforced vinyl..

I went with plastic this time, but really like those stainless fittings. Those sanitary fitting look great also. I need to look at Tiger Flex hose too.

[Ghs57]

I follow what we have been doing at work for almost 40 years. Male on discharge side of pump and on outlet of tanks. Female on suction side of pump and inlet to tank or lines. All hoses have both male and female so they can be connected for longer runs. Having the male to male and female to female adaptors is a good idea also as sometimes they are necessary.

This is what I'm trying now. I'm not 100% setup yet, as some of the fittings were on backorder and just came in.

[Lensman]

I started adding these onto my lines but one issue I’m having is if the line has some leverage on it the cam lock will start to unlock itself. Usually happens to my on my portable pump that isn’t always in the same place or starts to move around. I don’t know if there is some way to pin the locks on or something....

[Ghs57]

I started adding these onto my lines but one issue I’m having is if the line has some leverage on it the cam lock will start to unlock itself. Usually happens to my on my portable pump that isn’t always in the same place or starts to move around. I don’t know if there is some way to pin the locks on or something....

Some cam locks have a pin to keep them locked. Some are self locking. Most of the ones I've seen with pins were stainless (but not always), and a little more expensive (in the short run). It may also depend upon the size of the fitting, with smaller diameter ones not having the locking pin. The ones I bought do not have pins. Now I wish I had gone with SS, but they are working fine for now.

[wmick]

I started adding these onto my lines but one issue I’m having is if the line has some leverage on it the cam lock will start to unlock itself. Usually happens to my on my portable pump that isn’t always in the same place or starts to move around. I don’t know if there is some way to pin the locks on or something....

I find the ones with the locking pins are a real pain in the butt.... Especially when things get wet and froze, and trying to wear gloves and work in the dark.... I haven't got to figuring out how to remove them yet, but I will... Seems to me that a zip-tie or bungee-cord or piece of string around the handles might be a better solution.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Look up the Gatorlock brand of cam lock fittings. Not sure where my buddy got them but they are self-locking and work great. Much better than pins and still lock.