Someone help me out of air connector hell
Discussion
I lived for many years in blissful ignorance of air connectors and the various standards and sizes.
Even after I bought a cheapo compressor a while back from Lidl or somewhere like that, all the tools it came with played nicely.
The hose connector end looks like this;
The male end of a tool that fits looks like this;
That was all great until I decided to buy a decent accurate tyre inflator (branded Sealey but I think made by PCL) which is a different standard. The threaded end is like this which is 1/2 inch as far as I can tell:
I've bought a few connectors that looked like they might do the job but everything either has been wrong one way or the other. Either the threaded bit is right and the male bit is wrong or vice-versa.
None of it helped by me not knowing what the various connections are called.
Shirley there must be some magic adaptor or connector out there?
Even after I bought a cheapo compressor a while back from Lidl or somewhere like that, all the tools it came with played nicely.
The hose connector end looks like this;
The male end of a tool that fits looks like this;
That was all great until I decided to buy a decent accurate tyre inflator (branded Sealey but I think made by PCL) which is a different standard. The threaded end is like this which is 1/2 inch as far as I can tell:
I've bought a few connectors that looked like they might do the job but everything either has been wrong one way or the other. Either the threaded bit is right and the male bit is wrong or vice-versa.
None of it helped by me not knowing what the various connections are called.
Shirley there must be some magic adaptor or connector out there?
Edited by swisstoni on Wednesday 27th July 18:21
The quick connect fittings on Lidl\Aldi tools are "Euro" air connectors, and afaik the threads are 1/4" BSP on those.
If the PCL airline you have is 1/2" BSP, something like this would probably do what you need, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-SA1-1214F-Female-A...
A plumber's merchants is a good source of similar adapter bushes, just take the bits in with you, they're usually very resourceful in cobbling something together.
Failing that, nothing wrong with adding a short "whip" of hose to the tool itself, and ending that with whatever ends take your fancy.
Here's a remarkably helpful eBay listing that shows some other options, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EURO-AIRLINE-FITTING-Air...
If the PCL airline you have is 1/2" BSP, something like this would probably do what you need, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-SA1-1214F-Female-A...
A plumber's merchants is a good source of similar adapter bushes, just take the bits in with you, they're usually very resourceful in cobbling something together.
Failing that, nothing wrong with adding a short "whip" of hose to the tool itself, and ending that with whatever ends take your fancy.
Here's a remarkably helpful eBay listing that shows some other options, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EURO-AIRLINE-FITTING-Air...
One essential piece of knowledge would be that with pipe and hose fittings the actual size does not equal the stated size. I guess the sizes refer to the inner bore of the hose/pipe and not the thread size.
The physical size will measure 1/4" larger than the size it is called. Eg if a thread physically measures 1" than that is a 3/4" fitting.
In your example you say that the threaded hole is 1/2" so that is actually a 1/4" thread and needs a 1/4" male threaded fitting to screw into it.
As for the quick release there are load of different types, which are different depending on which country you are in or what country the item was made in. and each manufacturer may even call it something different!
From one of the catalogues under my work bench comes this:
It looks to me like it maybe a Euro series 25 male coupling
The physical size will measure 1/4" larger than the size it is called. Eg if a thread physically measures 1" than that is a 3/4" fitting.
In your example you say that the threaded hole is 1/2" so that is actually a 1/4" thread and needs a 1/4" male threaded fitting to screw into it.
As for the quick release there are load of different types, which are different depending on which country you are in or what country the item was made in. and each manufacturer may even call it something different!
From one of the catalogues under my work bench comes this:
It looks to me like it maybe a Euro series 25 male coupling
Thanks all. Even knowing what these things are all BSP of some sort is a help.
I'm going to give the 1/2 to 1/4 BSP adaptor a go first - in theory that should screw into the new inflator and I can then screw the 1/4 BSP connector from the old tool into that (and I know that fits the hose reel end).
I'm going to give the 1/2 to 1/4 BSP adaptor a go first - in theory that should screw into the new inflator and I can then screw the 1/4 BSP connector from the old tool into that (and I know that fits the hose reel end).
Well I know you must have all been on tenterhooks wondering how this cliffhanger worked out;
The Screwfix item did the trick in the end so thanks to who suggested that - I'm sure some of the others would have worked too.
The big thing, as pointed out, was the nomenclature of these fittings - it refers to the internal diameter, NOT the thread size!
I hate to think how long, and how many useless online purchases it would have taken, for me to have worked it out otherwise, so thanks.
The Screwfix item did the trick in the end so thanks to who suggested that - I'm sure some of the others would have worked too.
The big thing, as pointed out, was the nomenclature of these fittings - it refers to the internal diameter, NOT the thread size!
I hate to think how long, and how many useless online purchases it would have taken, for me to have worked it out otherwise, so thanks.
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