Shoebox Tubing Replacement

[shamu]

My F8 Shoebox is leaking at the tubing fittings. Checking with Ocolabs for replacement but wondering if I can get away with using microbore hoses. Was thinking that the threads in the cylinders and crank block were 1/8 NPT but not sure. Does anyone know what may work with microbore? The picture is one of the tubes from my compressor.
Thanks Ray

 

[Impact701]

My thought is, the reason those are steel is because of the heat generated.
I know they get pretty hot on my Shoebox compressor

 

[cahil_2]

Would brake lines and fittings work?

 

[rcs9250]

Would brake lines and fittings work?

I just did a google search of “typical auto brake line burst pressure” and the screen shot below shows the answer I got.
Well with in the range of the shoe box.
But if you go that route maybe research the line you choose for burst pressure.

McMaster Carr has an excellent selection of high pressure lines.

 

[shamu]

I have located the tubing, it's the crimp fittings that are the challenge

 

[rcs9250]

I have located the tubing, it's the crimp fittings that are the challenge

McMaster Carr or if you have a hydraulic shop nearby.
You want a swage type fitting. They are designed for higher pressures. Check the pressure rating when researching.

 

[Revoman]

drcs9250​

I have contacted Swagelok recently to investigate the OCO Labs connector, which is the same as the F-8/10 from way back when.
They have a very specific sort of connector that requires a specific tool to 'crimp' them onto the tubing. I have not been able to locate said fitting and Swagelok, nor a close competitor has said fitting. The black hard-plastic washer and O-Ring are of course secondary to the actual 'crimp' style fitting.
With your obvious Swagelok background and experience working for Swagelok, I might anticipate that you could possibly identify said fitting? It appears that the fitting could be a two-part that one pushes into the other and the crimp is mad
e in that fashion other than the normal compression style.
I have tried via my company contacts, and no one yet can identify.
Any idea?

 

[shamu]

I really appreciate your input guys. I plan to purchase the tubes from OCO Labs. Looks like the best way to go

 

[rcs9250]

drcs9250​

I have contacted Swagelok recently to investigate the OCO Labs connector, which is the same as the F-8/10 from way back when.
They have a very specific sort of connector that requires a specific tool to 'crimp' them onto the tubing. I have not been able to locate said fitting and Swagelok, nor a close competitor has said fitting. The black hard-plastic washer and O-Ring are of course secondary to the actual 'crimp' style fitting.
With your obvious Swagelok background and experience working for Swagelok, I might anticipate that you could possibly identify said fitting? It appears that the fitting could be a two-part that one pushes into the other and the crimp is mad
e in that fashion other than the normal compression style.
I have tried via my company contacts, and no one yet can identify.
Any idea?


View attachment 514999View attachment 514998View attachment 514997

I am not familiar with that fitting. I retired two years ago. I asked my brother who was an engineering tech in Custom Solutions if he had ever seen that design but he had not.

 

[Revoman]

rcs9250​

It LOOKS like a Phastite connector, but when I called, they said "Nope."
Guess I'll continue searching. The caps that came with the fittings are imprinted with "PMI, Eir, PA", so I searched that without any luck yet.

 

[sb327]

https://ph.parker.com/us/en/product-list/permanent-ferrule-less-tube-fittings-phastite-series

Dave

 

[rcs9250]

https://ph.parker.com/us/en/product-list/permanent-ferrule-less-tube-fittings-phastite-series

Dave

Yeah, I looked that up in Google too and saw that same thing. Looks expensive. But then so are Swagelok fittings.

 

[sb327]

I doubt it can be found on the shelf at a dealer very easily. It is definitely on the specialty end of the spectrum.

Dave

 

[Revoman]

sb327​

rcs9250​

Yep, those are the Phastite fittings that Parker stated were NOT the same as the ones depicted in my previous thread. Those fittings, as do the OCO Lab fittings, require a special tool to set the part in place on the tubing. It's an immovable piece and the male threaded portion slips completely over that part. I'm thinking that there are actually two pieces to that barrel fitting with one side pushing into the other side to make that immovable joint, just like the Phastite barrel does. There is really no sealing at the barrel itself, it only there to tighten the O-Ring for the actual seal.
They are supposedly made to be removed many times in order to rebuild/reseal the cylinders.
I would imagine that both the plastic black washer and the duro 90 O-Ring are NOT a part of the actual fitting, but added by Tom Kaye for sealing purposes.
By the way, I bought two of the 9" pieces of the 'U'-Bend tubing (even though I have some) and had those special barrels and fitting added from OCO Labs....those two pieces cost $60....then they added another $30 just for shipping!!
Talk about expensive!
Attached is the drawing that I created for OCO to build them to my F-10....they didn't have the end to barrel dimension.

 

[sb327]

They do look similar but, yeah, Parker only listed down to 1/4” and this is 1/8”…

Quite a little special fella indeed. Ridiculous how much you were charged. I purchased my shoebox used and it doesn’t use that style.

Mine pictured below, not sure if it came that way or if someone changed to it but it works fine.

Dave

 

[rcs9250]

They do look similar but, yeah, Parker only listed down to 1/4” and this is 1/8”…

Quite a little special fella indeed. Ridiculous how much you were charged. I purchased my shoebox used and it doesn’t use that style.

Mine pictured below, not sure if it came that way or if someone changed to it but it works fine.

DaveView attachment 515232

That swage fitting in your photo is readily available from McMaster Carr. I used a bunch of them sometime back in 1/4” and 1/8” when I built a flow bench for servicing scuba regulators. They worked perfectly.

 

[Revoman]

sb327​

Yeah, it was a ridiculous charge.
I have an older version of the Box (chain driven) that was donated to me, and it has that very same connector with the 'rubber' nipple looking seals.
I parted that Box out to keep what was compatible with the F-8 and 10 and gave the rest of the parts away here on AGN. Those two parts are some that I kept.
Some here was asking why a tank whip wouldn't work, that's a good idea and I'm not sure why it wouldn't work as long as there is no/little heat transfer to the 'plastic' section.

 

[shamu]

From your parts list it shows Yar-lok fittings. Are these available?

 

[Revoman]

shamu​

Those are the high-pressure side of the main block, and they will work for that connection. However, I don't believe that they can be taken apart many-times like the ones from the original F-8/10 and now OCO Labs.
Then there is the other end of the tubing, which as a different size female thread at each cylinder. Those Yor-Lok fittings are likely too long to fit within the cover housing because they are not as compact as the ones that I'm searching for.
The Yor-Lok fittings have some sort of a 'rubberized cone' seal (pics by sb327, above) that I don't believe will last if taken apart more than a few times.
I got the Yor-Lok fittings information from OCO Labs and again, they are NOT the same as the F-8/10 fittings.
McMaster-Carr has them though, yes.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

mike

 

[Revoman]

I actually need to update that Shoebox parts spreadsheet to reflect this newer information.
I'll get to that soon.

mike