Tri-Clamp: What and Why

 

What is Tri Clamp? Why use it?

Tri Clamp (also known as Tri Clover) is a tubing connection system that allows making sanitary interconnections in stainless steel fluid transport systems. It is commonly found in the food processing, dairy, wine, and beer brewing industries, where hygiene is critical and any space, crevice, thread, or gap which can harbor bacteria must be avoided. They are easy to assemble, disassemble, and clean.

A connection is made using a hinged clamp to connect two lipped flanges, with a gasket between them to make the seal. One great thing about Tri Clamp connections is that there is no female and male side of a connection – both sides have the same flange type and are fully interchangeable.

At the homebrew scale Tri Clamp can be frequently found on fermenting equipment, where sanitation is critical. Sanitation is less critical on the “hot side” – everything is boiled – but they still provide the following advantages:

• Rapid setup and breakdown of brewing equipment
• Easy to clean: no threads or obstructions​
• Easy to ensure a seal – no teflon tape required​
• No male / female fittings – all fittings can simply be connected together​
• “Plug and play” fittings allow for easy reconfiguration of brewery equipment