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Pipe Fittings & Valves
Where the hose ends and the pipe begins
Brass and steel pipe fittings, ball and gate valves, nipples, bushings, unions and the sealants that make them hold. The rigid side of a system, stocked alongside the flexible side so both halves come from the same building.
Why We Stock It
Every hose ends at something rigid
Almost no hose assembly exists on its own. At one end or both it connects to a tank, a pump, a manifold or a run of pipe, and that side of the system needs fittings just as much as the flexible side does.
What tends to happen otherwise is a trip here for the hose and a second trip somewhere else for the bushing that adapts the port, the union that will let you break the joint next time, and the valve that should have gone in ahead of it. Two trips for one job, and the second one usually happens after discovering the problem halfway through.
So the pipe side lives on the same shelves. Nipples, couplings, bushings, unions, elbows, tees, caps and plugs in brass and steel, valves in the types that actually get used, and the sealant to go with them.
Where a fitting has to translate between pipe thread and a hose end, that is covered on hydraulic fittings and adapters, and on the large bore transfer side on industrial fittings.
Valves
See what happens inside
Pick a valve type and work it. The mechanism explains why one suits shutting a line and another suits controlling flow, which is the distinction most people get wrong.
Ball valve
A drilled ball rotates a quarter turn between fully open and fully shut. Open, the bore through the ball lines up with the pipe and flow passes almost unrestricted. It is the fastest and most positive shutoff of the four, and the handle tells you its position at a glance.
- Operation
- Quarter turn handle
- Best for
- Isolating a line quickly, on or off
- Do not use for
- Throttling, it erodes the seat
Sealing
Tape and dope, done properly
Tapered pipe thread seals on the thread itself, which is why it needs help. Most of the leaks we hear about come from these five things.
Fittings
The shapes that solve most problems
Nipples and couplings
Nipples add male thread where you need reach, couplings join two male ends. Close nipples, short nipples and cut lengths cover almost any gap between two fixed points.
Bushings and reducers
Step a port down or up a size without redesigning anything around it. The single most useful fitting on the wall and the one people most often make a second trip for.
Unions
Lets a line come apart without unscrewing the whole run. Fit one wherever something will need removing again, because the alternative is dismantling six joints to reach the seventh.
Elbows and street elbows
Forty five and ninety degree turns, with street versions carrying a male end on one side to save a nipple and a joint. Fewer joints is always fewer leak points.
Tees and crosses
Branch a line, feed a gauge or add a drain. Reducing tees take the branch down a size without an extra bushing hanging off the side of it.
Caps and plugs
Caps go over a male end, plugs go into a female one. For blanking a port during a repair, capping a run for testing, or sealing something off for good.
Materials
Four choices, one decision
Corrosion resistant, easy to machine and the usual choice on water, air and smaller bore transfer. Softer than steel, so it does not suit lines that get knocked about or over-tightened.
Strong and inexpensive for higher pressure and gas work indoors. It rusts if it gets wet, so it belongs on dry runs rather than anything exposed.
Steel with a zinc coating for outdoor and wet work where black iron would corrode. Not the answer on every medium, so say what is going through the line.
The choice near salt, on food and beverage lines and where the chemistry attacks everything else. Costs more, lasts far longer in those conditions, and does not seize the way corroded steel does.
Before You Buy
Common questions
For isolating a line, a ball valve almost every time. It shuts positively in a quarter turn, the handle shows its position, and it does not seize from sitting in one place for years the way a gate valve can. Gate valves still have their place on larger bore and in situations where a slow close matters, but for general shutoff the ball valve is the better tool.
You can, and it will not last. Left partly open, flow accelerates past the edge of the ball and erodes the seat, so the valve stops sealing properly when you do want it fully shut. For controlling flow use a needle or globe valve, which are built for it.
Clockwise, looking at the open end of the male thread, so it tightens with the fitting rather than unwinding. Start a thread or two back from the tip and use two or three wraps. Tape over the end tears off and ends up inside the system.
No, and it causes problems. Those seal on a machined cone or a flat face with an O-ring, and the threads only hold the joint together. Tape adds nothing, prevents the faces seating properly and sheds material into the circuit. Tape is for tapered pipe thread only.
Mechanically yes, and it is done constantly. Be aware that brass is the softer of the two, so driving a steel male hard into a brass female can split it, particularly with too much tape acting as a wedge. In wet conditions the two will also corrode at the joint over time.
Yes. Everything here is sold individually. If a single bushing is the difference between finishing a job today and coming back tomorrow, that is exactly what this counter is for. Ask at either shop or through the contact page.
Get It Sorted
Bring the port, not a guess
The fitting it screws into settles the size and the thread in seconds. Get the pipe side and the hose side on the same visit rather than making two.