Compressed air line components

What this work involves

Every workshop that owns a compressor owns an air line, and the line is what decides whether the tool on the end of it does its job. Air has to get from the receiver to the point of work at something close to the pressure it left at, it has to be capable of being shut off at the machine rather than at the compressor, and any tool has to be able to come off the line without the whole shop stopping.

These are general compressed air components. Nothing on this page is specific to vehicles. The same non return valve sits on a tyre shop's compressor and on a furniture workshop's, and a hex nipple has no idea what trade it is in. We make them because we have made air line parts for the tyre trade for twenty years, and the parts turned out to be the same parts.

Air Flow products for this work

• 
  Air Compressor Non Return Valve 1/2 Inch (NRV)

  Holds the tank's air in when the pump stops. Vertical pattern, 1/2 inch, mild steel.

  Item code AF-026
• 
  Air Compressor Non Return Valve 3/4 Inch (NRV)

  The 3/4 inch non return valve, for a larger compressor discharge. Metal casting with a brass cap and a threaded side port.

  Item code AF-025
• 
  Ball Valve 1/2 Inch - Air Line Shut Off

  Quarter turn ball valve for shutting air off at the tool or the drop leg. 1/2 inch male one side, barbed hose tail the other.

  Item code AF-052C
• 
  Single Wheel Valve 1/2 Inch - Air Line Hand Wheel Valve

  Hand wheel valve where the flow needs trimming rather than simply switching. 1/2, 3/8 and 1/4 inch, barbed outlet.

  Item code AF-052
• 
  Steel Nipple Reducer - Hex Nipple, Male to Male

  Male to male size changes between one thread and the next, in five combinations from 3/4 x 3/4 down to 1/2 x 1/4 inch.

  2 item codes
• 
  Air Quick Coupler Set - SH20 Coupler & PM20 Plug

  SH20 coupler and PM20 plug in 1/4 inch, so a tool can be changed without shutting the line down.

  2 item codes
• 
  Swivel Connection Router

  Brass nut on a metal male end, 1/2 inch, so the hose turns with the tool instead of winding up behind it.

  Item code AF-AG1
• 
  Air Hose Pipe 5 Layer - High Pressure 8.5 & 10 mm

  5 layer air hose in 8.5 mm and 10 mm, printed WP 60 kgf/cm2 and BP 180 kgf/cm2, supplied coiled with connectors fitted.

  2 item codes
• 
  Pneumatic Push-in Fitting / PU Hose Roll & Coil

  Push-in straights, elbows, tees and Y connectors with PU hose in rolls and recoil coils, for light runs to a bench or jig.

  Item code AF-PU
• 
  Air Blow Gun

  The commonest thing on the end of a line: 1/4 inch inlet, trigger lever and a bent metal nozzle.

  Item code AF-061

How they are used

A line starts at the compressor, where a non return valve holds the tank's air in when the pump stops. From there it runs in pipe or hose to wherever the work happens, dropping down to each machine or bench.

At each drop, a valve lets that one leg be isolated: a hand wheel valve where the flow needs to be trimmed, a quarter turn ball valve where it just needs to be on or off. Hex nipples and reducers make the size changes between one thread and the next.

At the working end, a quick release coupler lets a blow gun, an impact wrench or a spray gun be swapped in seconds. A swivel keeps the hose from winding itself up as the tool is turned. Push-in fittings and PU hose are for the light, tidy runs that feed a jig or a bench rather than a heavy tool.

Who this is for

Anyone commissioning, extending or repairing a compressed air system. In practice that means air line installers and pipe fitters, compressor service engineers, plant and factory maintenance teams, and the owner of a small workshop plumbing in a first compressor.

The trades vary far more than the parts do: fabrication and welding shops, furniture and carpentry, textiles, packaging, printing, plastics, general engineering, and the tyre and vehicle workshops the range grew up in.

Choosing between them

Size everything from the port it is going into, not from the part being replaced, in case that one was already adapted.

Our non return valves are offered in 1/2 inch mild steel and 3/4 inch, and the wheel valve in 1/2, 3/8 and 1/4 inch with a barbed hose outlet. The nozzle ball valve is 1/2 inch male with a barbed tail and is marked DN15 on the body. Hex nipples and reducers cover 3/4 x 3/4, 3/4 x 1/2, 1/2 x 1/2, 1/2 x 3/8 and 1/2 x 1/4 inch, male to male. Quick couplers are the standard SH20 and PM20 pattern in 1/4 inch, so they mate with couplers already in the shop.

Bore matters more than people expect on a long run. A hose too narrow for the tool costs pressure over its length, and an impact wrench that will not shift a nut is very often the line rather than the gun. The air hose and line sizing calculator below will tell you what a given run costs you before you buy it.

Browse the full range

The products above come from these parts of the catalogue - each one holds the rest of the range for that job.

• Pneumatics & Air Line
• Workshop Tools

Useful alongside this

• Air hose and line sizing
• Pressure converter
• Choosing a pressure gauge