# DIY Quick Disconnects With Flow Control



## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

I wanted to get some quick disconnects for my canister filter and the commercially available ones are terribly expensive. 20-25 dollars shipped for *EACH* one??? a bit too rich for my tastes

So I looked around for some diy versions and couldn't find any i liked. Here are some that i found....

this one i'm not too sure how that's even a quick disconnect at all... but either way it's wayyy too bulky









here's a second one. I'm wary of using brass fittings and this one doesn't offer any sort of flow control so tossed this one out









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Anyways, spent half and hour at home depot and osh and finally found the parts i needed. Total came up to be ~13 dollars which is a steal really compared to the 40-50 ish dollars i'd have spent otherwise on brand name quick disconnects, and it looks pretty nice and compact. *EVERYTHING IS PVC OR POLYURETHANE SO IT'S VERY SAFE*

Alright enough chit chat. What makes a quick disconnect quick is that you can shut off the flow on both ends and easily take the two parts apart for maintenance and cleaning. So after thinking for a bit, i decided i need a swivel fitting. If you don't know what a swivel fitting is, imagine your garden hose, you can attach the hose without having to twist the whole hose. Obviously that'd be useful here for the quick disconnect portion between the two ball valves. I wasn't able to find any 1/2 x 1/2 swivel fittings so i opted for 1/2 x 3/4 swivel fitting with a 3/4 x 1/2 male male bushing.

here's the list of parts for 2 quick disconnects for 5/8" tubing

*Stuff from OSH*
go to the irrigation/plumbing section
gray 1/2 insert MIP Adapter (03856135405 P/N 350405). It's a 1/2 barb x 1/2 npt fitting but it works for our standard 5/8" tubing. *(4)*
*only these 1/2 barb fittings will fit our 5/8" tubing, 1/2 barbs at HD don't work*

*Stuff from Home Depot*
all of this stuff is in the plumbing section/pvc pipes so it's really easy to find, the fittings are by orbit

032888071339 1/2" PVC Ball Valve *(2)*
046878533653 1/2" MPT x 3/4" FHT PVC Swivel *(2)*
046878672177 1/2" x 3/4" MPT Poly Riser Adapter *(2)*

*Assembly*
should be pretty straightforward.









































Screw them in tight! 









base without barbs comes out to be ~8-8.5"

















*Final length is ~9.5 inches*
not bad if i say so myself. now you may be wondering why I saw it's 9.5" when clearly the picture shows it's longer, that's because these barbs are LONG, I'm not counting the length of the barb inside the tubing. Observe









Thanks for reading! hope it helps someone. It's a easy 10 minute job and you save money!


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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

Neil,
How about Marinelands quick disconnects for about $16.00 + tax. Smaller and much lighter then diy. There are two sizes available; for 1/2 id hose and 5/8 id hose. These should be available at any well supplied fish store that also sells Marinelands products.
I have seen prices as low as $12.50 on Amazon.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

but factoring in shipping it's pretty expensive and the prices are for one if im not mistaken. Or do they give you two?


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## OVT (Aug 26, 2010)

Not bad. How drip proof are the valves? Even 10 drops on a HW floor are 18 drops too many.

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## rjordan393 (Nov 23, 2012)

Surely there must be an aquarium store in the bay area that has these valves. And if they charge more then $16.00, then there is a big disparity of prices between the east coast and west coast. 

They do not leak because at the quick disconnect, there are two O-rings on each end of the male connection.
However, when installing your hose, make sure the hose slips slightly under the collar as you tighten up the connection or you might have a leak.
I have these valves on both ends of my hose's. That makes it convenient to remove the hose for cleaning without getting water all over the floor. When you disconnect the valve, a few drops of water will spill out but this is taken care of by placing a towel to catch the drops.

One more thing; I place two doggie pads on the floor of my cabinet in case there's an accident while servicing my equipment.


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## jseyfert3 (Apr 9, 2012)

I designed and waterproofed my homemade stand to hold 4 gallons of water should something spill.


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

I have a big baggie filled with these valves. I saved them....because I know how much they charge. Those depot valves are terrible if the sun hits 

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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

Aquaticz said:


> I have a big baggie filled with these valves. I saved them....because I know how much they charge. Those depot valves are terrible if the sun hits
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


a baggie filled with quick disconnects? or baggie full of pvc ball valves?

these pvc ball valves are really cheap and they work well for what i need them for.

@OVT yeah I haven't had any problems with leaks so far

at one point I considered using two 5/8" ball valves but then decided against it because I have one of those commercial valves and taking off the tubes is a real PITA. Plus i always feel like I'll snap the hose barb when I'm taking off the tube. 
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=8016


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