Bulkheads and fittings American vs. European compatibility

[Vlad Jovanovic]

For anyone living in Europe and ordering bulkhead fittings or PVC adapters from the USA, (like I had from Aquatic Eco Systems), be aware that the PVC pipe you buy in the EU is 1.608 millimeters larger (outside diameter) than American Schedule 40 PVC pipe.

This means that without modification, there is no way to fit your European pipe into an American fitting, be it a threaded male adapter, a bulkhead, a coupling or whatever.

I had to take each and every fitting/bulkhead and put them on a lathe and shave off the 1.608 millimeters to get things to work. You could shave the pipe, but the wall thickness of the adapters/bulkheads are thicker than the wall of the pipe. Plus by shaving the fittings, this insures that should you in the future need to change out a piece of pipework (standpipe for instance) you wont need to keep going back to the lathe in order to do so. 

Also, do not combine threaded US and EU parts either, (and expect the to hold water/air) as the ISO and NPT are not quite compatible. (Things will appear to fitted to the hand and eye but there is a very small difference in the angle of thread between the two parts that causes leakage).

[TCLynx]

Oh, good point.

I wonder if they make any special adapters that would help?

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Something like that sure would come in handy, that indexing valve doesn't quite lend itself well to being put on a lathe :)

If they do make adapters, they sure don't sell 'em here :) ...so for the indexing valve, I'm making the adapters myself....

The whole US/Europe compatibility thing has been a giant PITA... from nails, to screws to 2x4's...naturally, all the specs in the Friendly's manual are written with folks in the US in mind. I knew from the start that it would pose certain difficulties but man oh man it just never ends  

 

 

[TCLynx]

Well, a few mm here and there are not going to make a big difference in design but when you buy stuff from over seas ya gotta make sure it will fit an work with your electricity and stuff.

 

It's interesting that the plumbing sizes are mostly the same in OZZ, but they just call them by the metric numbers.  I never even realized that Europe was using totally different sizes.

[Stephen Corbett]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#plastic-pipe-fittings-and-pipe/=eprtnn

There are some ready made US standard/ metric adapters here. I can't figure out how to link you directly to the right page but if you search "metric to inch adapters" you  should find it. They aren't inexpensive but then neither is making them yourself. I'd be surprised if there aren't resources for adapters in Europe as well it's just finding them. You might try identifying industries that use USA equipment and ask where they get adapters.

Vlad Jovanovic said:

Something like that sure would come in handy, that indexing valve doesn't quite lend itself well to being put on a lathe

If they do make adapters, they sure don't sell 'em here ...so for the indexing valve, I'm making the adapters myself....

The whole US/Europe compatibility thing has been a giant PITA... from nails, to screws to 2x4's...naturally, all the specs in the Friendly's manual are written with folks in the US in mind. I knew from the start that it would pose certain difficulties but man oh man it just never ends  

 

 

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Thanks Steve, I found the "metric to inch adapters" page, and boy, you said it, they sure aren't cheap! Good to know that they make them though...

Lucky for me, making them myself doesn't cost me anything but time (occasional frustration) and a short walk/drive to my cousins machine shop :)

Thanks again for the link, those guys seem to have A TON of products ...