Camlocks difficult to close

[mckay75]

I'm in the process of switching all my hoses from quick disconnect to high flow camlocks (which are a bitch to stretch of 1/2" silicon hose btw). Majority of the camlocks I picked up were from OBK when they had their 20% off sale....and the final few bits I picked up from Everwood. The ones from Everwood will not close properly on any of the existing connects that I have. I can get one side closed...but it is extremely difficult...and the 2nd side is just loose and will move open and close freely...so not making a proper seal.

Has anyone run into this before?

[Swine]

I experienced this once.
It could be a couple of things:
- tolerances in the connectors
- tolerances in the seals

With my issue, I used a different seal I had kicking around that had been used before and it worked.
I suspect OBK and EW have different suppliers, so there is a big chance of tolerances being off in the connectors themselves. I know it should be an industry standard, but when buying from over seas (China) our suppliers run this risk, therefore we have the risk. If all from same spot (OBK or EW) then the risk is much less, but when mix and match, it is there, as much as I wish it wasn't.

I would try boiling a seal, remove from boil as quick as possible and put right in the connector and try to get it closed. This might mold the seal enough to allow repeated use going forward.

Good luck!

[Headgear Brewing]

From OBK site - Note Regarding "Fit":
Some may find that occasionally the male and female camlocks can be a little more difficult to connect than usual from time to time. Specifically, that it can take some more effort to close the locking cam arms. In many cases this can be attributed to manufacturing tolerances from lot to lot. Something as simple as the thickness of the gasket can affect how much pressure is needed to push on the cam arms.

[mckay75]

Thanks for the info gang...after looking at them again...I noticed the ones from Everwood did have different gaskets compared to the ones from OBK (red silicon vs white). I'm going to try what you suggested Swine and boil and try to get it to seal...fingers crossed.

[ConanTroutman]

Everwood has replacement camlock gaskets if you think swapping them out to match would help out at all. I suppose it'll depend on which ones are having trouble closing fully.

[mckay75]

Everwood has replacement camlock gaskets if you think swapping them out to match would help out at all. I suppose it'll depend on which ones are having trouble closing fully.

Yeah its the ones from Everwood not playing nice with the ones I got from OBK.

[RossBee]

Had issues with mixing cam locks between the two suppliers. Decided to stick with one supplier and turf the rest, not worth the trouble. Sorry Dave.

[HotBreak]

I have had that problem before. Once you heat them up once they will close much easier