Air line couplings aaaaahhhhhh....

[alanambrose]

Hmmm,

I can't make sense of the apparent panoply of air line couplings. I have recently purchased a compressor and a tiny pencil grinder from Germany and also a Fogbuster kit from US (although sourced from Sorotec Germany). I need to get some kind of splitter and an oiler for the die grinder. I guess the compressor and die grinder have some kind of Euro fitting and the Fogbuster some kind of US fitting - none of the manufacturers specify which kind - they just seem to assume you'll know. Most of the UK-available stuff seems to be BSP, of course.

How do I make sense of this stuff ? :) - I've tried a bunch of reading and web browsing - all I'm finding is more connector types - which isn't helping any. For instance for 'Euro' connector, I find this:

30443

- which is really not helping. Some advice?

TIA, Alan

[m_c]

The UK style you can find by search for PCL air connector, as it's probably the most commonly used.
Some people do prefer the Euro/German styles (I can't remember their proper names)

I will say if you do go PCL, buy genuine PCL, as there are a lot of cheap copies, that quite frankly are no where near as good, and will fail/ start leaking with little use.

In terms of fittings, nearly all air tool fittings will be some variation of BSP. 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2" depending on the tool. But it may also be described as G1/4, G3/8, or G1/2, which is just BSP with the inch bit dropped, and a G added to magically make it metric.

[routerdriver]

Once upon a time I worked in a building where each of the fiefdoms had their own preferred coupling for airlines.Not only was there PCL and Euro,a sizeable minority of the air tools had Broomwade couplings.Lots of us had convertors of one sort or other.

[Colin Barron]

Ring pcl they are in the UK, they have a technical dept. Screwfix stock PCL fittings

[magicniner]

Some advice?

TIA, Alan

Pick a locally available connector which you like and use it on all your air stuff, the later high flow PCL fittings are good.

[alanambrose]

Thanks for the advice. FYI, for anyone needing the same info, the Fogbuster, although US designed, has metric setscrews, euro couplings and 1/8th BSP threads - I'm not sure whether Sorotec are supplying a 'Europeanised' version.

Alan

[alanambrose]

For anyone playing along - here's most of the varieties of just the PCL range:

30457

And I think I'm going to standardise here on PCL XFs as that's what the tools I have here have already.

Alan

[alanambrose]

Just to add a little bit of spice, whereas page 19 of PCL's catalogue (above) shows 'XF' and 'Euro' with distinct profiles ... PCL likes to call one range of their connectors 'XF-Euro' - go figure.

[Ollie78]

To add to the confusion some of the many fittings have cross compatibility as well.
I had a most confusing spreadsheet I found listing almost every combination.

I recently added a hardline air system and decided to make everything PCL XF quick connectors ( my kremlin sprayer requires the extra flow rate anyway) for simplicitys sake.

A quick note that coupling prices vary a great deal, one place might be cheaper on male 1/2 inch but more expensive for femele 1/4 inch no idea why.
Machine mart are quite expensive (but convenient) , also screwfix. I found cotswold engineering the cheapest overall for my total order.

Ollie

[alanambrose]

Ah thanks, I was also searching for some push fit connectors today for the 6mm tubing that comes with a fogbuster and found Cotswold had the ones I want.

Ollie, care to write a coupla sentences to describe your hardline? I think I may be headed that way at some point...

TIA, Alan

[Ollie78]

Hi Alan.

For the hardlines I used the 15mm John Guest Speedfit tubing and fittings. It works the same as the plumbing but is made of blue nylon tube with black fittings.
Super easy to install.
I have a couple of moisture trap regulators on some bits and some unregulated ones. All outlets are pcl xf female.
It is not the cheapest but it is easy to fit and adapt later if you need to.

Ollie

[alanambrose]

OK ta, I may just copy that :)

Alan

[alanambrose]

OK Ollie, I promise this will be my last question..

Have you found any source or short hoses or a way to make your own. I mean from the outlet to the machine? I see in the US they can buy some hand crimps and use ferrules, but I can't see any such here except for £1K crimping machines?

TIA, Alan.

[m_c]

Airline hose of whatever variety you prefer.
Reinforced clear stuff is OK, but oils will cause it to eventually go brittle/weaken, and daylight can cause it to perish. Typical black rubber hose is more durable, but needs more clamping force. There are more fancy hose types, but not really worth it unless you have money to burn to make things look pretty.

Pigtail fittings. They should be a tight(ish) fit in the hose. If they drop in to the hose with little effort, they're too small. They should take a bit of effort to push into the hose. If they simply drop in, you're to struggle getting the crimp tight enough to stay on and seal.

Oetiker/O/Ear clips.
Exact name depends on supplier, but a search for Oetiker clip, will show up the basic one with two opposing crimp points, or the slighter more complex one with a single crimp point.
The banded type with the single crimp point do provide a better crimp, as they avoid the hose bunching up under the crimp point(s).
You need whatever size is a tight fit before crimping. If the clip is rattling around on the hose before crimping, it'll likely not crimp tight enough, and quickly/eventually blow off, depending on exactly how loose the crimp is.
You can use generic hose clips, but they're a pain on hoses you're handling regularly, as they nearly always catch your hands.

Oetiker crimp pliers. They can be done with generic side cutters, but they're not ideal as they don't crimp parallel. A set of end cutting pliers/pincers work, but you don't want a set that are too sharp.


Off course, the other option are proper hose swage crimps, but then you're into needing a proper swaging machine with suitable dies.

[Ollie78]

OK Ollie, I promise this will be my last question..

Have you found any source or short hoses or a way to make your own. I mean from the outlet to the machine? I see in the US they can buy some hand crimps and use ferrules, but I can't see any such here except for £1K crimping machines?

TIA, Alan.

I bought a 25 meter roll of the rubber hose with internal 10mm bore. I used some plastic trimming shears to cut the hose cleanly.
Then I used the pigtail type fittings and some small jubilee clips and made up several short hoses.
The hose has 2 threaded ends so this saved 2 fixings as the female quick connects screwed straight on.
No fancy stuff required.

Ollie

[alanambrose]

For anyone else following along, I found that these guys:

https://www.wfsupplies.co.uk/

( work_force_supplies_ltd on eBay )

- would make me up some custom hoses with properly crimped ends and 1/4 BSP male fittings on each end.

Also, I ordered some manifolds from Ali:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000575811571.html

These are for the inevitable lines required for compressor -> manifold near mill -> multiple air tools near/on mill. I'm leaving the hard line set-up for another day. At that time I'll place manifolds in another couple of places in the workshop with a similar set-up. Also, I plan to use 24V AirTac solenoid valves for simple CNC control of the fogbuster etc.

Alan