BSP to NTP adapters

[cannonfodder]

For some reason I am having a hard time finding some fittings. I need to convert bsp to ntp. I need a 1/8 BSP male to 1/8 NTP female adapter, a 3/8 BSP male 'T', a 3/8 BSP female to female coupler and a 3/8 BSP female to 3/8 or 1/8 NPT anything.

The 1/8 adapter is so I can hook a NTP boiler pressure gauge to a BSP boiler line. The 3/8 adapters are so I can put a T in line with my rotary pump, then run to a NTP brew pressure gauge.

I would appreciate any pointers.

[HB]

The stock answer is usually grainger.com, but FittingsAndAdapters.com has a friendly and informative website. For example, this table of Male BSPP To Female Pipe sounds like one of the fittings you seek.

(If you are using copper tubing, I wonder if it would be easier to use flare fittings and don't bother with adapters...)

[Ken Fox]

The stock answer is usually grainger.com, but FittingsAndAdapters.com has a friendly and informative website. For example, this table of Male BSPP To Female Pipe sounds like one of the fittings you seek.

(If you are using copper tubing, I wonder if it would be easier to use flare fittings and don't bother with adapters...)

I've had good luck with fittingsandadapters.com also. This is where I got the 1/8" BSPP plugs that have been used to make the boiler probes for the TCs used in my PID'd Cimbali Juniors.

ken

[jrtatl]

fittingsandadapters.com is now out of business. I ordered some fittings from them back in January. Order never shipped. Email does not work. Phone number does not work. Fax number does not work. Luckily my credit card was never charged.

An internet search revealed others who were actually burned by them in December 2005. Credit card charged, but no merchandise shipped. I think the bad reviews are piling up at Yahoo Stores.

[cannonfodder]

I have tried Grainger, no luck with their online catalog. I have a business account with them. They are close by so I could just drive down the street and get the parts. I will have to pull out the big book catalog and search the old way. I will check McMasters while I am at it.

The 1/8 adapter is relatively easy to find. Quite common in automotive applications, hooking npt gauges to foreign made cars. The 3/8 adapter is the tricky one. The boiler pressure gauge is the only one I need to get the system working. I am getting a new Pstat so I will have to adjust the boiler pressure. I can always to do a PF mounted brew pressure gauge but inboard is so handy.

[Ken Fox]

fittingsandadapters.com is now out of business. I ordered some fittings from them back in January. Order never shipped. Email does not work. Phone number does not work. Fax number does not work. Luckily my credit card was never charged.

An internet search revealed others who were actually burned by them in December 2005. Credit card charged, but no merchandise shipped. I think the bad reviews are piling up at Yahoo Stores.

I just called them; there is an answering machine asking for a message. If they were truly out of business and had been out of business for several months, I doubt they'd still have phone service. I also doubt that Yahoo would allow them to maintain their yahoo merchant storefront. My own googling both in groups and on the web produces no posts such as you refer to about people being burned. Reseller Ratings has no information on this company or for that matter their other company, hoses and fittings or adapters (forget the exact name).

ken

[jrtatl]

Well, my calls went unanswered. My faxes too. Same for my emails.

Here is a link to the customer veviews:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/merchrating/user_rv.html;_ylt=Air6HhrJyVhptUTk.fn3cLAbFt0A;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bTQ0OXZjBHNlYwNzcg--?merchant_id=10203994

[Ken Fox]

Well, my calls went unanswered. My faxes too. Same for my emails.

Here is a link to the customer veviews:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/merchrating/user_rv.html;_ylt=Air6HhrJyVhptUTk.fn3cLAbFt0A;_ylu=X3oDMTA2bTQ0OXZjBHNlYwNzcg--?merchant_id=10203994

Thanks for the link; I wasn't able to find reviews on the Yahoo site but I guess I didn't look hard enough.

This is all very strange. When I ordered from them around 2 years ago, someone answered the phone, and my order was shipped out immediately. The prices were quite cheap and I was entirely satisfied.

Since most of what this place sells is very cheap, I'd bet the average order is less than $50, more likely less than $20. I can't believe that there is intentional fraud for a place selling small cheap obscure plumbing fittings with small average orders. More likely, it seems, is that the company went bust, or there were multiple owners with a falling out, or the owner died or became ill. The charging for orders might well be something that Yahoo does for the merchant automatically as part of the Yahoo Stores arrangement. If something bad befell the company, Yahoo could have continued to charge for orders placed that were not fulfilled, at least for a while. Since the complaints seem to date back to January, with none more frequent, I'd have to guess that either customers have been scared away (but they'd have to find those reviews which isn't that easy), or Yahoo has shut down the site for order placement purposes, but for some reason left the webpages up.

In any event, I'd find another supplier. I don't know if Mcmaster.com has what the OP originally was seeking, but they have an enormous inventory, terrific service, and dirt cheap shipping and handling fees on small orders.

ken

[erics]

Here are my three sources for adaptors - I hope I'm telling you something new:

http://www.hoseandfittings.com

http://www.fittingsandadapters.com

http://mdmetric.com

Now you would think I would be partial to Maryland Metrics (and they are good guys) but I have purchased most of my "stuff" from hoseandfittings.com

Eric S.

edit - I almost forgot: http://www.parker.com/

Their website is a touch difficult to navigate BUT I am lucky in that their local distributor here in Maryland has gotten me all the BSP to SAE 37 degree fittings I could want.

[DavidMLewis]

For some reason I am having a hard time finding some fittings. I need to convert bsp to ntp. I need a 1/8 BSP male to 1/8 NTP female adapter, a 3/8 BSP male 'T', a 3/8 BSP female to female coupler and a 3/8 BSP female to 3/8 or 1/8 NPT anything.

When I installed my Techno, I got stainless NTP/BSPP adapters from http://www.mcmaster.com/. They were from the Parker instrumentation catalog when they came.

Best,
David

[erics]

And lo and behold - another source of thread adaptors, which I never would have guessed, is Omega Engineering - Page A-132 in their big Temperature Handbook and maybe on their website at http://www.omega.com

All the adaptors you would need - BSPT, BSPP, & NPT


Eric S.

[cannonfodder]

Interesting, I have ordered from Omega before. Unfortunately, my metric pressure fitting took 4 months to make and deliver, but I may try them anyway.

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

[Java Man]

I need an adapter so I can replace the plastic tubing currently used in my plumbed-in connection (Wega Lyra). But I can't tell exactly what threads are needed on the espresso machine side of the line.

The current connection uses threads that measure 0.638" OD, but I can't measure the pitch precisely because there are only 6 threads on the fitting and I can't get my calipers into the roots of the threads. It's either 19 or 20 TPI, and the threads look parallel rather than tapered.

The current setup is like this, and I want to replace the red parts:

Espresso machine >> braided SS flex line with oddball threads >> adapter >> barbed hose fitting with water hose clamp >> plastic line (250 psi) >> barbed hose fitting with water hose clamp >> braided SS flex line with 3/8" NPT threads.

I need an adapter to convert to this:

Espresso machine >> braided SS flex line with oddball threads >> adapter (male oddball threads (0.638" OD, 19 or 20 TPI) to male 3/8" NPT) >> braided SS flex line with 3/8" NPT threads.

Thanks to those who posted previously about sources of adapters, but what I need is information on exactly what the oddball threads are so I can get the right adapter.

Anyone know of an online source of thread tables so I can look it up?

Thanks,

Rick

[barry]

The current connection uses threads that measure 0.638" OD, but I can't measure the pitch precisely because there are only 6 threads on the fitting and I can't get my calipers into the roots of the threads. It's either 19 or 20 TPI, and the threads look parallel rather than tapered.

as has been noted innumerable times both here and a.c, you most likely have BRITISH STANDARD PIPE PARALLEL threads on your espresso machine, as the vast majority of european made machines use these fittings.

BSPP 3/8" is 19tpi. US NPT 3/8" is 18tpi.

you can use NPT in BSPP if you apply a liberal amount of teflon tape to the threads before fitting.


if you must have an adaptor, then mcmaster or maryland metrics are your best bet.

http://www.tapshop.net/bsp_etc/index.htm

[Java Man]

as has been noted innumerable times both here and a.c, you most likely have BRITISH STANDARD PIPE PARALLEL threads on your espresso machine, as the vast majority of european made machines use these fittings.

BSPP 3/8" is 19tpi. US NPT 3/8" is 18tpi.

Thanks, Barry.

As you noted, I've seen many posts on this before, but it appears that my current adapter does not conform to the spec for BSPP.

I understand 3/8" BSPP has a major diameter of 0.656, while the adapter that threads into the Wega-supplied braided SS water line measures 0.638. It makes a sound, leak-free seal. I thought thread tables may reveal exactly what animal this is.

Rick

[barry]

I understand 3/8" BSPP has a major diameter is 0.656, while the adapter that threads into the Wega-supplied braided SS water line measures 0.638. It makes a sound, leak-free seal.

bspp doesn't seal on the threads, so some slop is allowable. it's possible that your adaptor is just a slightly out of spec 3/8" bspp. in fact, i would operate on this assumption absent any information to the contrary, given the very low likelihood that it is a non-standard thread. find another fitting on the machine which is 3/8" bspp and see how well the hose and/or adaptor fits.

[Java Man]

The weird thing about the current double male adapter is that the OTHER end measures 0.656 rather than the 0.638 at the oddball end. That's why I thought it must be some other standard. But the link you provided shows no other thread standard as close to this oddball as 3/8 BSPP, so I've ordered an adapter from McMaster Carr and we'll see what happens.

Thanks,

Rick

[erics]

Hey Java - here's a good thread identification guide for you:

http://mdmetric.com/tech/tict.htm

Before I crunched some numbers on the calc, I would have said your "oddball" thread is a 16 mm (but it doesn't work out) and this would have been very unusual BUT for the fact that the double male adaptor for the Brewtus OVP is 12 mm on one end and 1/4 BSPP on the other.

Seems like the "good end" of the adaptor is either 3/8-18 NPT or 3/8-19 BSPP. For sure, 3/8-18 NPT measures 0.656 on the "small end." I must be missing something but why not keep the adaptor in the machine and go from there?

Eric S.

[barry]

i had a thought that the small end might be 1/2" compression, but i can't seem to find any tables for those threads (i think they might be SAE).

[Java Man]

Eric S,

I plan to keep the adapter in the "chain" from machine to filter.

I hope to make it:

Wega>>original Wega braided ss line>>oddball end of exising adapter/BSPP end of existing adapter>>new BSPP/NPT adapter>>3/8"NPT braided ss line>>filter.

This meets my objective of taking the existing plastic tube with barb fitting/waterhose clamp ends out of the line. I'll feel a lot better about that. Last week a PVC line to the humidifier in our HVAC system blew off in the basement. Luckily I heard it and shut off the water supply before there was any damage. But after vacuuming ~ 40 gallons of water out of the basement, I want to fix my espresso connection for good. I can't imagine what damage 40 gallons of water would do in our kitchen.



Barry,

I originally thought I'd replace the existing adapter that has those oddball threads. But if I leave it in the system, I won't need to worry about the oddball threads. They fit perfectly into the Wega-supplied braided SS line. The other end of the existing adapter is BSPP, and I've ordered a new BSPP female/NPT male adapter to bridge between the existing adapter and my standard 3/8" NPT braided SS line connected to the outflow side of the filter. This looks as though it should work.

Thanks,

Rick
Having a wet/dry shop-vac around is always a good idea.