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AB Compressor fittings


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Are the fittings on the compressor side of things all standard? I have a badger compressor, a Paasche regulator/moisture trap, and an Iwata AB hose. When I got the Iwata AB hose, I had to wrench it onto the moisture trap fitting. Wasn't thinking at the time, but I wonder now if the thread pitch was different or something? It went on for 6 or 7 turns, but the seal wasn't seated, which is why I went to the wrench. I'm having all kinds of paint issues now, intermittent flow, etc..... I'll have my regulator set at like 30PSI, but it sure doesn't feel like 30 PSI coming out of the AB.

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Paasche regulator/moisture trap, and an Iwata AB hose. When I got the Iwata AB hose, I had to wrench it onto the moisture trap fitting.

Your Paasche regulator has standard 1/4-inch NPT fittings, which are slightly tapered pipe fittings. That's why you had to use a wrench on it. Did you use some type of teflon thread sealant on the fitting between the regulator and the compressor? Did you put some soapy water on the fittings to check for air leak?

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Your Paasche regulator has standard 1/4-inch NPT fittings, which are slightly tapered pipe fittings. That's why you had to use a wrench on it. Did you use some type of teflon thread sealant on the fitting between the regulator and the compressor? Did you put some soapy water on the fittings to check for air leak?

Admittedly, I didn't do any of those things. I had to wrench it down so far for the seal to seat, and for the hose to stop wiggling in the connector, I didn't think there was any way it could possibly leak. I'll do the bubble test tonight, I guess.

As an aside, when I was using my paasche AB with the paasche AB hose, if I had the regulator set to 30 PSI, as soon as I engaged the AB, it would drop to 15 or 10 at the regulator, and it doesn't do that anymore with the Iwata stuff. At first, I thought I had fixed it, but now I'm starting to think I actually jacked something up.

Edited by Jeff Ital
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I think all US brand equipment uses the NPT (National Pipe Thread Taper) standard, and German and Japanese use the BSP (British Standard Pipe) standard. I asked if they are interchangeable and the answer is NO.

So, the Badger and the Paasche would be NPT, and the Iwata would be BSP, you think? Chicago airbrush responded and said that all the fittings are 1/4th, but I guess that doesn't answer the question at hand.

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So, the Badger and the Paasche would be NPT, and the Iwata would be BSP, you think? Chicago airbrush responded and said that all the fittings are 1/4th, but I guess that doesn't answer the question at hand.

Well my Paasche air hose fits my Badger compressor AND my Campbell Hausfeld shop compressor, I know for certain that my Campbell Hausfeld uses standard 1/4" NPT fittings, so that means Paasche and Badger also uses the standard 1/4" NPT fitting.

I was doing research on the Sparmax TC2000 compressor and came upon this youtube video, in it he mentions Japanese (Iwata) and German brands uses 1/8" BSP fittings:

Edited by J-10
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Well my Paasche air hose fits my Badger compressor AND my Campbell Hausfeld shop compressor, I know for certain that my Campbell Hausfeld uses standard 1/4" NPT fittings, so that means Paasche and Badger also uses the standard 1/4" NPT fitting.

I was doing research on the Sparmax TC2000 compressor and came upon this youtube video, in it he mentions Japanese (Iwata) and German brands uses 1/8" BSP fittings:

The BSP (British Standard Pipe) and NPT (National Pipe Threat) are not the same, but the difference is small enough that they can be interchangable in most cases. For example, the 1/4 " are 18 threads/inch in NPT and 19 in BSP. I have had no problem mating an Iwata BSP 1/4" hose to an 1/4" male adapter from Lowes. Use gentle, persuasive force when mating BSP and NPT parts together.

Most of the airbrush parts, including hose, come from the far east. It is a likely chance that they are BSP. Most the airbrush pressure regulator that I saw in recent years have a 1/4" female for both the air in and air out port. It has an 1/8" port on the side for the pressure gauge. They should come with 2 1/8" or 1/4" male to 1/4" male adaptors. All threads are BSP if they come from Taiwan or China. Sparmax is in Taiwan and makes the Iwata compressor and hose. I am certain that the TC-2000 regulator fits my description here. Use the adaptors that come with your compressor if you can.

Most major airbrush brands, including Iwata, Grex, H&S, and the Chinese knock-offs use 1/8" BSP threads on the airbrush end. It sort of making it a industrial standard. However, the Badger, the Aztec and the Paasche are exceptions. Badger use a metric M-5 thread. I am not sure about Aztec and Paasche.

The Iwata airhose is 1/4" BSP for the compressor on one end and 1/8" BSP for airbrush on the other end.

You may be interested in a "how-to" article on compressor setup at the Iwata website.

http://www.iwata-medea.com/resources/how-to-articles/airbrush-maintenance/how-to-set-up-your-power-jet-pro/

Edited by Kei Lau
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