Plumbing Fittings Help?

[WithOrWithoutU2]

So I purchase a bunch of stuff to move up to a 3" column (modular). I have a 3x2x3 tee that I will use for VM reflux. I purchased a 2" gate vale the has NPT female. To connect to it I bought two 2" male adapter. The gate valve just arrived. I am laying out the pieces and trying to loosely connect everything. When using light pressure. the connectors threads don't seem to be wanting to connect to the gate valve. It seems if I were to screw them in they would strip. I've only tried light pressure so maybe I just need to slap a little Teflon Tape on it and use a little elbow grease.

Here are the links to what I bought. Should these fit? Or have I yet again bought parts that simply do not fit together. I swear this whole plumbing thing on what fits to what is overly complicated so people keep spending money by trial and error to get it right! I've got so many parts that we not the right fitting, etc.

If I have the wrong parts, any suggestions on how to connect 2" copper pipe to this valve?

https://www.amazon.com/Female-Thread-He ... 953&sr=8-3

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Elkhart-303 ... le-Adapter

Thanks

[still_stirrin]

The reviews for the adapter also commented on poor thread cutting. So...”buyer beware”.

But, an option (not without cost) would be to buy a thread die and “chase the threads” on the adapter.

I suspect that the original adapter manufacturer did not use the proper thread taper required for a NPT fit. The valve is NOT straight threads, so a standard pipe (tapered) thread would be correct.
ss

[Demy]

I can't see the second link with firefox, in the meantime try to slightly force the 2 parts (use only your hands), if the thread is not the same you will notice because you will not be able to screw them, you could also contact the seller of the parts and ask that type of thread they have, or get the tool that measures the thread, they are lamellas with a shape of the various threads.

[NineInchNails]

Apparently both are NPT (National Pipe Thread). I would do all the soldering you need to do first otherwise it can potentially harm thread tape if you solder after installing the fitting into the gave valve.

I'd clamp the valve in a vice. Use thread tape on the fitting, turn it left/loose until you feel the thread skip. Now turn it right/tight and once you know the threads started to catch, use a wrench and tighten it down well.

I really don't think you need a 2" gate valve at all. I think it's unnecessarily large and expensive. My 1" valve only needs 13-18 half turns and the valve is approx half way open. For a 2" valve, you would likely only need it to be less than 1/4 the way open. For that reason I'd recommend a 1" valve. During normal operation you will never need 75% of that 2" gate valve's capacity to open. Even if you were to run in pot still mode, the vapor path doesn't have to be that wide open.

I bought a similar 1" gate valve for my still, but the version I bought was 'weld type', no threads. I had 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp ferrules welded to both sides. I also used a 2" x 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp concentric reducer that way I didn't have to mess around with threaded fittings & adapters.

I used a 2" tee as shown in the pic. The idea was that it will cause the vapor path to be reduced, vapor to speed up and to create a slightly higher pressure zone at the the take-off valve.

[WithOrWithoutU2]

I had 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp ferrules welded to both sides.

FINAL VM 2 in Tee.jpg Gate Valve Welded.JPG

I can't tell from the picture, but does the 1 1/2 half ferrule fit into the 1" gate valve well enough to solder? I can't weld so I'd have to hire that out and minimum cost for any welding job around here is $75.

[NineInchNails]

I had 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp ferrules welded to both sides.

FINAL VM 2 in Tee.jpg Gate Valve Welded.JPG

I can't tell from the picture, but does the 1 1/2 half ferrule fit into the 1" gate valve well enough to solder? I can't weld so I'd have to hire that out and minimum cost for any welding job around here is $75.

That's a good question. No, the 1-1/2" ferrules butt to the face of the valve. If you look up the specs, ID of the valve's weld socket and the OD of a 1" ferrule, they may fit just like you inquired, but I'm not sure. The valve I have is Sharpe 1" CF8M socket weld stainless steel gate valve. I found them for $20, but I don't remember where.

Yes, I've noticed that fabrication shops like to charge for a 1 hr minimum even if it's only a 5 min job. That's why I don't bother with them. If you call around to the local welding supply companies, they will usually know of one of their customers that have a shop of their own that will weld stuff for you for cheap. I did that and found a local guy who welds race car frames professionally. He's done a LOT of welding for me and does a fantastic job.

I just checked and there's a lot of these valves on eBay. Couldn't find any on a quick Amazon search.

[NineInchNails]

With a quick search, 1" ferrule's OD is 25.4mm which is 1".

The ID of a 1" weld socket appears to be 34.1mm which is 1.34"

Doesn't sound like a good fit if what I found online is accurate. That's probably why I ended up using 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp ferrules. They fit perfectly for butt welding.

[NineInchNails]

It just occurred to me that you could use a Tri-Clamp to 1" NPT adapter and solder that directly into a socket weld gate valve. 1" NPT pipe measures 1.315" OD. The thread should give a lot of surface area for a good, strong solder joint. I would only be concerned if the overall length of the each fitting would make the valve unnecessarily long.

[WithOrWithoutU2]

NIN...Thanks for the info.

I ended up going to the local big box and got two new 2" adaptors. Nether seem to fit nicely, so I am going to assume it is the threading on the valve and return it.

I am now reconsidering which size valve to go with on my set up. I know I want to go 3x2x3 off the tee. This gives me some versatility as my PC is a 2" shotgun.

[NineInchNails]

Yeah I would definitely ditch the 2" valve. Stainless is quite hard and copper is soft, especially if you anneal it. Thread tape lubricates. If you crank it tight, the copper conforms to the stainless threads very easily. I don't recall ever having a problem with imperfect threads not working. I've had stubborn threads that leaked, but more or less thread tape usually fixes that. I've got a 2" shotgun too. I used a 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp 90 elbow and had a 2" end cap with a hole in it TIG welded to the elbow to make my own reducer elbow. That's a cheap way to adapt to the shotgun with out an excessive amount of adapters or extremely expensive adapters.

[WithOrWithoutU2]

Yeah I would definitely ditch the 2" valve. Stainless is quite hard and copper is soft, especially if you anneal it. Thread tape lubricates. If you crank it tight, the copper conforms to the stainless threads very easily. I don't recall ever having a problem with imperfect threads not working. I've had stubborn threads that leaked, but more or less thread tape usually fixes that. I've got a 2" shotgun too. I used a 1-1/2" Tri-Clamp 90 elbow and had a 2" end cap with a hole in it TIG welded to the elbow to make my own reducer elbow. That's a cheap way to adapt to the shotgun with out an excessive amount of adapters or extremely expensive adapters.

Well I have very few fabrication skills and less tools. I am slowly acquiring both but mainly just for soldering at this point. So prefab parts is what's best for me at this point. So I think I am going to solder a 2" ferrule off the tee. Then take a 2" to 1.5" Tri-clamp reducer as you suggested. I will take the into a 1.5" tri to 1" NPT Male reducer into a 1" gate valve (NPT). Hopefully the new valve and 1.5 to 1" npt reducer actually screw in nicely. Back out of the valve is just reversed to a 2" elbow I already have and then into my shotgun. Just need to worry about weight of it all off the tee. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I figure a clamp to a telescoping pole would work if necessary. Something like this. They actually have clamps for pipe that attach. https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/7 ... gJ-kPD_BwE

The 3x2x3 tee will allow me to also play around with CCVM as well as cap the Tee and come off it for pot mode runs. I got 10 of 3" copper pipe that I will cut to 3', 2' and 1'. This will let me play around with different set ups and test things out.

I'll post pics when done of the various configurations. Thanks for the help to ALL.