The Death of Horatio

[The_Lone_Stiller]

Rip Horatio. So sad. I used to talk with him quite a bit years ago. Light years ahead he was. He will be missed.

[Soxhlet]

man, poor guy. This one one reason not to use triclamps on co2 systems, high pressure closures should always be used.
condolences to his friends and family.

[Soxhlet]

@hambread

I’ll say it over and over. The nut is literally considered the “fastener” on these triclamps. The fastener should be the strongest part of the clamp - not the weakest link. Silicon bronze (in comparison to stainless steel) has a higher tensile strength, lower modulus of elasticity while maintaining nearly the same hardness, and better corrosion-resistance. Brass, however, offers lower tensile strength and less corrosion-resistance (especially when exposed to salty water) than stainless steel.

So the bolts are stainless, and the nuts are bronze. They do this because a SS nut would gall on the SS bolt, or you’d have to use globs of anti-seize. This combo was chosen because it wont rust/gall, otherwise using a normal steel nut on an ss bolt would work, but be prone to rusting.

[Soxhlet]

inch lbs homie! inch lbs!

@pangea

ask @hambread what happens to brass nuts at 20 foot lbs of torque, or look through the threads I posted and see how erroneous and dangerous that max recommendation when using brass is!

[Frankenstein]

RIP I remember watching Horatio on hash church. He was an innovator it’s really sad to hear. This almost happened to me using a Sweet Leaf extraction unit. Brass nut on recovery chamber broke sent the column into my chest and face. Fractured one of my ribs ripped my lower lip in half and shattered 5 teeth. Everyone needs to stop using these nuts.

[Waxplug1]

Should double nuts be our new standard? I occasionally look at the threads and some look worn out. I always wonder how close they are to giving out

[The_Lone_Stiller]

+1 for double nuts

[Dred_pirate]

Asme standards use SS nuts with anti seize. And the double bolt clamps

[hambread]

Take note that many suppliers (brewing and botanical extraction) explicitly stated they use brass nuts on 13MHP clamps.

As for double nuts, most would need longer bolts as well, and we’d need to measure clamping force rather than torque on the nut.

[SISU]

He was a great guy, always happy to answer my stupid questions. The industry needs more people with his creative mindset and generosity. He was a shining example of how you can globally impact an industry with some simple equipment in your shed. RIP

[Cheebachiefextracts]

Adds +13 recovery points for active 30 for passive

[MagisterChemist]

What a way to go is right. At least it didn’t get caught on camera and become a safety GIF. This certainly brings to mind the importance of pressure codes. CO2 fails through pneumatic expansion so it is especially devastating.

[Demontrich]

I was thinking of safety wiring them like in racing.

[pangea]

@Soxhlet

inch lbs homie! inch lbs!

I know right! Thats the whole issue, when clamp mfg have there listed pressure ratings with the following tid bit: “Pressure ratings assume wing nut tightened to 20 ft/lb of torque.”

Just like krunchbubble back in the day the dangerous wrong logic is that tightening more makes it safer.

The standard should be to not use and shame the use of brass nuts, not to double them up.

[roiplek]

@Cheebachiefextracts

in hindsight I’d like to say he rode the stainless steel rocket home

i don’t think it’s acceptable to romanticise that he ripped himself apart due to improper use of equipment and apparently missing safety protocols. it could have been someone else getting killed so in fact, himself getting headsmashed by his own contraption is a sad, yet preferable outcome for this situation.

[Curious_Roberto]

What’s considered low pressure and what’s high pressure?

Are hydrocarbons considered low pressure?

For low pressure applications, is brass ok?

[Cheebachiefextracts]

No one tried to romanticize anything… it’s just a saying stop trying to start drama in threads it’s not needed.

[randlerimper]

RIP, very sad to hear.

Since the topic is brass nuts, what is the best ones to use? How often do you guys change all of yours out?

Why not use SS nuts and just replace more often to prevent rusting etc?

[pangea]

Reading both of these threads thoroughly will provide the most insight on nuts for our use, and answers your questions with detailed explanation.

My terpenator just exploed under about 73 PSI

Silicone Bronze Nuts

[roiplek]

@Cheebachiefextracts

a dream us all can only imagine

“if you can dream it, you can do it.”