Has anyone used stainless steel tubing and pressure fittings?

[scuzzy]

As opposed to Macroline? I got this off of Amazon the other day, might try it out unless someone has a good reason not to. Or any tips/pointers?
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[scottieb]

Does it list the rated pressure? Is it for gas?

[scuzzy]

Rated for gas, liquid, etc. 2900psi for fittings. Tubing rates higher.

[shovelhead]

I bent up some for my mini mag. I'm a steamfitter, and I know how to bend. I like it because it won't break if it gets snagged in a woodsball situation.

[shovelhead]

As far as tips/pointers, you have a bender with a pretty long radius. I'd try to keep your bends to a minimum and try not to make them tight together. Also, try to keep your ends longer and cut them to fit.

[Levi]

I second shovelhead's advice. These are some I did. I ended up building my own bender because I couldn't find a reasonably priced small radius one.

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[scuzzy]

I second shovelhead's advice. These are some I did. I ended up building my own bender because I couldn't find a reasonably priced small radius one.

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Where did you source those fittings?

[DocsMachine]

Has anyone used stainless steel tubing and pressure fittings?

[crochety old man] Since before you were born, sonny!

Some of these date back to the 640x480 glass monitor days:













(That's a 3K psi tank fed to the Max Flow.)

How 'bout no fittings at all?





And I was hardlining Phantoms before CCI ever offered a kit.



Heck, how 'bout some coathangers?



Now, the thing here is, as cool and unique as hardlines are- I installed a ton of them- for most players macro is cheaper, quicker to install, easier to repair when it starts to leak, and so on. Swagelok, A-Lok, Yor-Lok and others aren't really meant to be disassembled a lot. If you're careful and keep the sealing surfaces clean- and don't overtorque- they'll give you a good long life. But if you slap things on and off at the field, eventually you'll get slight leaks- which the typical player then tries to "fix" by simply tightening it harder.

I tell guys they're enthusiasts' fittings- the kind of thing somebody who likes and cares for his marker and equipment will use. For the average player? Stick with Macroline.

Doc.

[devilzcall]

How do the „no fittings“ connections work?

[XEMON]

with the price of current fittings, those are some $$$ hangers 😜

[Grendel]

I do aluminum, brass and stainless steel gage line on several of my markers. Pretty easy to do with a little practice.

[SignOfZeta]

I make stuff out of stainless Swagelok at work all the time. To fully instrument an engine for testing we may use dozens.

For that purpose they are super reliable and easy to take apart over and over BUT I rarely see more than 20psi on most of them and they sometimes leak. It’s also important that you install them correctly, no mixing material types and brands and only torque them to Swagelok’s guidelines which are typically a number of flats on the hex. If you over tighten it the ferrule or the line can split so when something leaks simply making it more tight often doesn’t help.

For Phantoms with 800psi in that line I think the stainless ones with the o-rings like what Mike sold are probably best. If a ferrule gets dinged during R&R or crud gets tightened into it you can’t just tighten it more because and you can’t replace just the ferrule, you’ll need to remake the line and even perhaps replace fittings.

[Grendel]

I am a big fan of Swagelock fittings. I have used them a lot at work and in paintball. The fittings that Mike used were actually designed for petroleum products, not air, and did not have a great pressure rating, IIRC, 600 psi working pressure.

[DocsMachine]

How do the „no fittings“ connections work?

-There's a threaded collar silver-soldered to each end. It's basically one big elbow. This pic shows it a little better:



It's all tricky to assemble, but once you're used it it, it's not bad. Kind of a pian out at the field, though.

To fully instrument an engine for testing we may use dozens.

-Not the same class, but I used a bunch on my Olds:

Fuel line from the pump to the carburetor...



Manifold vacuum line, and along the lower edge of the pic, an oil line...



Both of which go to a "distribution block" at the back of the engine. That taps vacuum off to the brake booster, and has a tap for the vac gauge in the dash, an the other side of the block taps oil pressure off to another gauge, plus the idiot light sender.



The whole engine looked like this when I started putting the front sheetmetal on:



You can see the oil line right above the power steering pump, and some of the brake likes at the right are Swagelok stainless (plumbing in the proportioning valve, mainly.)

Doc.

[flyweightnate]

You can use smooth stainless or aluminum tubing in a macro fitting if you design your runs so it has nowhere to go, or if you get really clever and turn a groove about 3/16" from the end (depending on brand).

Everyone I know who's used Swagelok less than professionally cracks one and is driven insane trying to figure out which. A lotta pros, too. I think they own stake in the ultrasonic microphone array companies.

[Levi]

Where did you source those fittings?

Those are -3AN fittings. They are available from the performance auto parts places like Summit, Jegs, Speedway, etc. They are a flared fitting though, which makes for more work.

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