Why do plumbing fittings never fit?

[TenOunce Tone]

I bought a 40mm pvc pipe from bunnings. I had some elbows left over from Masters. They dont fit. Both 40mm.. go figure. So i go to masters and buy a 32 mm pvc pipe, a couple of elbows and a few other bits. These all fit. They dont fit the bunnings bought stuff or the stuff frm the plumbers shop..

It seems to me that each manufacturer use different tollerances or non standard metric tape measures!!

When will this maddness end, I doubt i am the first to notice this problem.

I suggest if your working on a hb or wb or other piece of equipment get all your fittingings at one place to save yourself the frustration.. the cost saving is not worth the frustrations

Cheers Tone

 

[TTKooAu]

I bought a 40mm pvc pipe from bunnings. I had some elbows left over from Masters. They dont fit. Both 40mm.. go figure. So i go to masters and buy a 32 mm pvc pipe, a couple of elbows and a few other bits. These all fit. They dont fit the bunnings bought stuff or the stuff from the plumbers shop.

It seems to me that each manufacturer use different tollerances or non standard metric tape measures!!

When will this maddness end, I doubt i am the first to notice this problem.

I suggest if your working on a hb or wb or other piece of equipment get all your fittingings at one place to save yourself the frustration.. the cost saving is not worth the frustrations

Cheers Tone

Hi Tone,
All of the PVC fittings are made to a standard and should fit, it's just that there are different classes of fittings. Storm Water, high pressure etc. Each class can have totally different o.d.'s or i.d.'s but they fit within their class. The size, or 'bore' is nominal, hence 40mm NB (Nominal Bore) etc.
I get your frustration though, especially when some numbat ' just looking' kind of guy picks up a 50mm from one box and drops it in a 50mm box down the aisle.

TT

 

[Digger Danny]

I had the same problem with copper tubing and compression fittings, bought from to different shops and the job resembled a drippier system. Fixed the problem after buying it all from one shop.

Cheers, Rob

 

[20x]

i spent a couple of hours at bunnings the other day working out a new configuration for new mods for my HB, I found that most fittings fitted in the 40mm supply but trying to reduce down to 25mm was a nightmare.

i was going backwards and forwards from the irrigation to the gardening section and to the pressure pvc section trying to see if even using threaded combinations would work but that just kept changing my design and was becoming pretty ugly looking. lol

i understand exactly what you mean tone!

 

[BrisJoe]

You will find that most of the sub60mm pipes and fittings at bunnings are high pressure pipe, compared to regular water pipe which will throw your fittings out. It would be nice if everything was universal but it's not

 

[richo966]

try being a plumber mate people give you old stuff and say fix it or they bring stuff back from Italy or france I hate it when people bring out box of different fittings and think that I can work miracles i hate old plumbing fittings not worth the time buy every thing from same shop or you may have problems i build what i need in shop dry fit every thing together in shop that way your not missing any thing

 

[condor22]

There may be another explanation, (tongue in cheek) but I do not know for sure.

It depends upon where stocks are supplied from, in particular if one is actually a "hard" metric size, ie 40mm + or - whatever, and, the other is a different sourced "soft" conversion from original imperial sizes.

The only other thing could think of, is that is deliberately done to force you to buy all of what you need from one or the other of the stores, which is wrong

They can get away with it this way, if both use the same nominal size and the same + or - tolerance (let's say + or - 0.2 mm) and, Bunnings fittings where always near top tolerance and Masters were always at bottom tolerance then the smaller fitting will never fit the bigger pipe. But, to us, they seem identical specs.

If you have a vernier caliper, I'ld be interested to know what the exact size of the bits that don't fit, are !

 

[Digger Danny]

Condor 22 I think you may be right with the first one.

Cheers, Rob

 

[hardyakka]

I bought a 40mm pvc pipe from bunnings. I had some elbows left over from Masters. They dont fit. Both 40mm.. go figure. So i go to masters and buy a 32 mm pvc pipe, a couple of elbows and a few other bits. These all fit. They dont fit the bunnings bought stuff or the stuff from the plumbers shop.

It seems to me that each manufacturer use different tollerances or non standard metric tape measures!!

When will this maddness end, I doubt i am the first to notice this problem.

I suggest if your working on a hb or wb or other piece of equipment get all your fittingings at one place to save yourself the frustration.. the cost saving is not worth the frustrations

Cheers Tone

Hi Tone,
All of the PVC fittings are made to a standard and should fit, it's just that there are different classes of fittings. Storm Water, high pressure etc. Each class can have totally different o.d.'s or i.d.'s but they fit within their class. The size, or 'bore' is nominal, hence 40mm NB (Nominal Bore) etc.
I get your frustration though, especially when some numbat ' just looking' kind of guy picks up a 50mm from one box and drops it in a 50mm box down the aisle.

TT

Spot on TT

Hardyakka

 

[20x]

is there a 40mm or 25mm pressure fitting that swivels to adjust pipe angles or will I have to use a piece of non-calapsable pipe?

 

[Diggerdude]

TT had the correct answer.

DD

 

[Mackka]

Ah to be a plumber! I could charge like a brain surgeon.

 

[Sparra]

I'm a Plumber but always seem to be scratching to make ends meet,robbing peter to pay paul type of thing....And I also shudder when people buy ebay rubbish and expect me to work miracles with it...

 

[gcause]

Tone we feel your pain brother we have all been there

 

[condor22]

My plumber owes me one,

His young mate was rolling down a sand hill and lost the plumber's Zippo. Yes only a lighter, but it was engraved, so had sentimental value.

He asked me to get the GPX5000 and try find it. I did, 1st target 30 seconds in.

Nice to know I have credit with a Plumber, but not sure I want him doing surgery in my brain lol.

I grew up with imperial, changed to metric and then worked for defence who use both. As an engineering designer and even though Australia went metric in 1966, we still have problems with hard and soft conversion fit in many areas of measurement.