hose

I don't think my Badger hose has a gasket at the fitting end. I'll check and make sure though.

Two tips:

1) Teflon Tape! Very important. You can pick it up in the plumbing section of virtually any hardware store. It is very thin tape made of (or coated with) Teflon and is used specifically for threaded connections. Tear off a short piece and wrap a single layer around the threaded portion of your connection (it isn't sticky but it will sort of adhere to the thread) then screw it back together. Virtually no air leaks guaranteed.

2) Soap. Put a little soapy water on the threaded connections. The one that is leaking will blow bubbles.

There is normally a rubber washer between the adaptor and the compressor fitting. However, I just checked my Badger hose, and it doesn't have one! The end of the adaptor is domed. I guess the idea is that the domed brass adaptor will be compressed slightly onto the compressor fitting, kind of like an "olive" on a plumbing fitting. This type of fitting needs to be cranked up with a spanner (wrench) to make a good seal. Hand tight will leak.

I don't actually use the Badger braided hose as I find it too heavy. I use a vinyl hose instead, which does have a rubber washer.

The thread sealing tape is actually PTFE tape, a very thin white plastic tape. Used for plumbing fittings. Use it on every metal-to-metal fitting, even tapered ones. The only time you don't need it is if the fitting has a rubber washer.

Cheers

QUOTE: Originally posted by clockworks999 The thread sealing tape is actually PTFE tape, a very thin white plastic tape. Used for plumbing fittings. Use it on every metal-to-metal fitting, even tapered ones. The only time you don't need it is if the fitting has a rubber washer.

Teflon is the Dupont name for PTFE by the way for those who were not aware of that.
I just found that out a few days back.

Mike

Can't say enough good things for Teflon (or PTFE) tape. In bagpiping we also use it to cure leaks. All the mounts and ferrules tend to change with temperature and season so we'll always be found with a roll or two in our pipe case.

As for threaded fitting and airbrushing, same deal. It will actually do two things for you. First of all, it will help to seal any small leaks around the threads themselves. Secondly, it makes removal of fittings MUCH easier. The metal won't ever stick to itself the way it sometimes can and you should be able to release fittings without mangling the connectors. The tape is great stuff - and costs all of about $0.60 cents down at the local hardware store.

Bri~

I got it figured out now... thanks for the help gents. I had the teflon tape figured out, but was trying to get away with finger tight.

As a follow up question, I don't have a lot of space right now, so I was planning on disconnecting everything to get it out of the way when not in use (hence only fingertight). How well does the tape hold up over multiple tightenings/loosenings?

Thanks.

Teflon tape is very delicate. It won't stand more than one or two re-tightenings at best before you will need to replace it. Even then you are proably pushing your luck. You will see why the first time to you take the fitting apart. It shoud really be replaced every time.

Something I saw Paddy Moloney (of The Chieftains) do with his bagpipes when they played a concert here in January was he used an industrial air hose quick dis-connect fitting. These were made for air hose applications and will fit on your compressor and air hose. Then it's just a quick snap and you're connected or un-connected. I imagine you'll find them in just about any hardware store.

Bri~

When you apply teflon tape, be sure that you start wrapping from the second or third thread from the outlet of the fitting. If you don't, little pieces of the tape will break off and go down stream. Not usually a problem with liquids but in a pneumatic (airbrush) system can plug or jam things up. The FAA bans the use of teflon tape in pneumatic (vacum instruments) systems on aircraft because it only takes a very small piece of teflon to lock up the gyros in a flight instrument. (can make life real interesting during a hard IFR approach, let alone the 500 to 1000 bucks its going to cost to get the instrument working again). Understand it isn't life threatening and not going to cost you near that much to get a new one but the hassle of having to tear the thing down every few minutes until you get the lines cleaned out can be easily overcome by taking a couple of extra minutes when you assemble the system.

I think the hose is domed because it is multi-purpose. It can connect to regular compressor fitting and also to I think a tire valve adaptor.

I got two new Badger hoses and they both leak even after using teflon tape.

hungfarlow - I got my hose to be leakproof (at least over the short interval I tested it)... Try checking the following things:

1) Is the tube coming out of the nut squarely? It tends to want to come out cockeyed, which causes a leak between the domed part and the nut.
2) Is the nut completely tightened (i.e. with a wrench)?
3) Have you checked the other joints? If you have a water trap mounted downstream, make sure that's closed up tight.

Best of luck to you.

QUOTE: Originally posted by hungfarlow I got two new Badger hoses and they both leak even after using teflon tape.

That's odd, I bought three new Badger 8' hoses with the quick-connects on them and they don't leak at all. If you have tightened them with a wrench as ckfredrickson asked and they still leak at that joint then I would put more teflon tape on there.
Many people, myself included, tend to only put a wrap or two of tape around the fitting, but many times that is not near enough. Putting three or four complete wraps around the fitting is sometimes what it takes to get them to seal properly.

Mike