Coupler advice for new air tool user

[james dourish]

Hi everyone, just got my first air compressor and looking for a couple of bits of advice

This is my compressor and tool kit - http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-8...pressor-with-5-piece-accessory-kit-240v/48089

I also bout a load of bsp couplers & connectors - http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p68322?searchstr=air cou

Firstly can someone tell me the difference between bsp & pcl connectors ?

Second my only problem is the tyre inflator and air sprayer in my tool kit will not fit the couplers I got the small lip on the bayonet connector is to large for the coupler ?

 

[gordon stephenson]

BSP is referring to the thread form/type Pcl is just one make of couplings, there are lots more types using similar designs but not usually interchangeable with each other,

 

[james dourish]

BSP is referring to the thread form/type Pcl is just one make of couplings, there are lots more types using similar designs but not usually interchangeable with each other,

Thanks Gordon

My main problem is with the kit I got with the compressor for some strange reason half of the tools do not fit the couplers I have

The kit is the same as this, although not this particular one - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cla...0XeLVsVbV7PkbthzWV0S6s6ro-lVBWybvXRoCyl7w_wcB

The plugs on the end of the tools, do not fit my coupler - http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p68322?searchstr=air coupl

For some reason the wide lip that attaches to the coupler is to wide ?

I tried fitting my own plugs - http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p13901

But strangely they fitted the 2 spray guns, but the thread on the tyre inflator & air blow gun is smaller ?

Very confused, is it just the tyre inflator and blower that are an odd size ?

 

[Bill Edwards]

All the air tools should be using the same 1/4 BSP thread - are you sure that you're unscrewing the right part? Some of these tools have an adapter which screws into the tool itself which is a different thread to the 1/4 where the airline fitting attaches, I wonder if you are unscrewing the wrong part.

Can you post up photo's showing the couplers you have and we might be able to identify them.

 

[WorkshopChris]

The ones in the kit are probably euro style connectors the one you have is a generic PCL clone.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/14in-snap-male-adaptor/


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Air-Line-...11-/121356207159?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

[james dourish]

All the air tools should be using the same 1/4 BSP thread - are you sure that you're unscrewing the right part? Some of these tools have an adapter which screws into the tool itself which is a different thread to the 1/4 where the airline fitting attaches, I wonder if you are unscrewing the wrong part.

Can you post up photo's showing the couplers you have and we might be able to identify them.

The ones in the kit are probably euro style connectors the one you have is a generic PCL clone.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/14in-snap-male-adaptor/


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Air-Line-...11-/121356207159?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

Thanks for the replies

This is the blow gun with the plug at the bottom

This is the 3 connectors, on the left the plug from the blow gun, in middle plug from paint sprayer, on right my own plug

the thread on the middle plug from the paint gun and right plug are the same size, the thread on left plug from blow gun is smaller, I did confirm by trying to use the plug from paint sprayer in the blow gun and it was to small

Baffled why the same accessory kit would have 2 different size threads in it

 

[WorkshopChris]

That is Chinese manufacturing for you.
95% of air tools will have a standard bsp thread, either taper or parallel.
Somewhere i have a similar tire inflater and paraffin cleaning gun that have the same non standard thread they were also part of a set.
I just made up a short adaptor hose from euro to pcl.

 

[Bill Edwards]

The couplers supplied with the tools are the euro kind, the sort you have purchased are the PCL style.

The blow gun thread should be the same as the others, but clearly it isn't... I'll go with what WorkshopChris says, Chinese manufacturing


As to what to do about this?
You could stay with the euro couplers, doing this would require you to buy the female couplers. Since you've already bought the PCL ones (which are also more common) I would use PCL.

You could make up a hose as WorkshopChris did, with a pcl male and euro female to use on your two 'odd' tools.

You could replace these odd tools with ones that have the correct 1/4 thread.

If you're suitably equipped and skilled, it's possible to chop the small threaded euro couplers down and weld on a PCL coupler so it has the unusual thread size for the odd tools.

 

[ibrooks]

Personally I'd have stuck with the "euro" connectors as they are a larger bore - I find the 6mm-ish bore on the "PCL" connectors can be a bit restrictive for some hungry tools and I've stuck with the larger bore connector on the stuff that wouldn't really need it just to keep it all common.

PCL is a manufacturers name and even they make several different connectors. The longer connector you've pictured is what most people will assume you mean if you just say "a PCL connector" but they also do a connector range called XF which is compatible with the "euro" ones you've pictured. There is also a smaller version of the "euro" connector and the male part of those will plug into a female PCL XF connector which can be useful. I've used the smaller connectors on the gas lines on my welders as a quick disconnect for the bottles - where this is really useful it the TIG/Plasma as it means I can easily disconnect the Argon bottle and plug in the airline when I want to change from welding to cutting. You often get these smaller connectors in cheap nasty kits under the Am-Tech brand where a couple of quid will get you a socket and three or four plugs.

I do have some other connectors on stuff still so a couple of hoses in various lengths with different connectors on each end but more commonly used is a Y-piece I've got with a male euro connector on one leg and a PCL and a Schrader socket each on the other two legs.

Iain

 

[MoreWellie]

i recently looked in the back of the female euro and standard pcl connectors and was surprised how much smaller the flow space on the genuine pcl connector was

I have now ordered more euro fittings

 

[richie00boy]

The thread on the middle connector (paint gun) and right connector (PCL) are BSP. The thread on the left connector (blow gun) is NPT (American).

 

[james dourish]

Thank you all for the replies, after some of the comments I decided to do some trial and error, so I used some pcl connectors and pcl xf connectors.

A local hardware store said the thread on 2 of the tools in the kit are some strange size smaller than 1/4

However after trying all the connectors I found the reason for all the fitting problems was some of the tools came with pcl connectors, while the 2 problems tools came with pcl xf connectors.

So my only questions now are, what is the difference between pcl & pcl xf and is one type better than the other ?

 

[armalites]

Don't always assume tools will 1/4BSP threads, I've seen CP air tools in the UK that have 1/4NPT, a 1/4BSP will sort of fit but it's not right. I recently bought a Mityvac Fluid extractor and that has a 1/4NPT, I had assume ordering from a UK seller it would be 1/4BSP.

I run the standard PCL on my kit and have never found it to be an issue, adapters are dead easy to make, all you need to the 1/4BSP male on the male and 1/4BSP female on the female and screw them together(obviously using what two differnt types of coupling)

I personally think it is worth spending the money on genuine PCL fittings, on the standard PCL the sockets come in a couple of flavours, Airflow and Vertex, Airflow is designed more for fixed installation where as Vertex has a shield to help prevent them disconnecting when dragged against something(floor)

 

[MoreWellie]

I personally think it is worth spending the money on genuine PCL fittings

Good advice, I recently took some female connectors off that had been installed a while and the no name brand had a ferocious amount of rust inside whereas the PCL ones were still shiny

 

[Cobbler]

I bought a digital tyre inflated from Aldi, this had a euro coupling on it with a smaller thread, so a standard PCL wouldn't fit. I used a bit of rubber airline tube & a Jubilee clip on the euro coupling then a tube to PCL connector. That works ok.

 

[the snooper]

Thanks for the replies

This is the blow gun with the plug at the bottom

This is the 3 connectors, on the left the plug from the blow gun, in middle plug from paint sprayer, on right my own plug

the thread on the middle plug from the paint gun and right plug are the same size, the thread on left plug from blow gun is smaller, I did confirm by trying to use the plug from paint sprayer in the blow gun and it was to small

Baffled why the same accessory kit would have 2 different size threads in it

only April and we have Christmas images I like Christmas

 

[james dourish]

only April and we have Christmas images I like Christmas

No it`s just been on there that long lol

 

[ibrooks]

So my only questions now are, what is the difference between pcl & pcl xf and is one type better than the other ?

The main difference is the bore - the traditional PCL fitting has about a quarter-inch bore (6.5mm-ish) whilst the PCL XF fittings have a three-eighths-inch bore (9.6mm-ish). The XF connectors can flow more air (assuming your hose has a big enough bore and the compressor can supply enough air etc.) hence my comment that it's better for "hungry" tools i.e. tools that need more air.

If you aren't using tools that need so much air then the traditional PCL fittings are perfectly adequate and probably slightly cheaper and easier to get hold of.

Iain