Stainless on Stainless Fittings?

814jeffw

Active member
Just looking for anyone else's experience with stainless fittings and leaking.

I bought a Titan 5518E SS hose reel,..when I rigged it with the supplied stainless swivel and the end cap for the side that's plugged off,..I had a rough time getting them not to leak. I mean I was tightening them with much muscle,Ha,Ha,..and they just wouldn't stop dripping. Well,..after re-installing each fitting a few times with new tape and paste I finally got it to stop.

The stainless elbow that comes out of the spool as the outlet never did stop leaking,..it leaked and I'm not even the one that installed it. I couldn't get it to stop so I replaced it with a galvanized fitting and it was effortless to install without leaks. Galvanized will be fine here,..especially since I use it for my roof cleaning manifolds and it holds up really well,..so DS'ing isn't gonna hurt it.

Anyone else ever have issues with stainless on stainless and leaks?

* Lots of credit to the stainless manifold in the Titan,..the way I was leaning on the swivel and the end cap to get them to stop leaking it never tweaked or twisted. Was very frustrating having to lean on it that way,..I've never had that issue with other materials.

Jeff
 
I use a quick set two pot adhesive called ARALDITE. Supposedly formulated for the aircraft industry. It takes about 5 minutes to go off and it doesn't glue the fittings together that tight that you can never get them undone. Everything does need to be dry when applying.
Comes in a two tube pack. you just squeeze out equal quantities of each mix well and apply.
 
I just bought a titan reel and am experiencing the same problem. The elbow drips.. The wind handle... No problem on swivel end tho...
 
I just bought a titan reel and am experiencing the same problem. The elbow drips.. The wind handle... No problem on swivel end tho...

Hey Tom,..as I said above,..I never did get the elbow to stop dripping. Even after multiple efforts with tap and paste. I think in part that I was afraid of putting so much strain on it that I would have twisted the pipe or crack the weld. So maybe it could have been tightened more,..but I had already wrenched it to what I consider serious torque,Ha,Ha.

Replaced the stainless elbow with a galvanized one and was a simple tighten and done. Not even excessive torque. Not sure if it's the way the threads are cut or what,..but I've never had the issues before.

Jeff
 
Jeff, when you look at the threads from the side there should be a taper, the beginning of the threads should be smaller and where they stop should be larger, kind of like a funnel but not that extreme, if it is not tapered then it will be hard to get it to stop leaking as that is not regular pipe thread (npt).

I always put 5 or 6 turns of teflon tape on all metal fittings and they don't leak, was taught this by the pump mechanics at the refinery and they showed us testing on why to do it this way.

I would look at the fitting and if it is not tapered I would send a picture or a video to the manufacturer to make it right.

You see the non-tapered fittings in the sprinker and irrigation parts at the home depot and lowes, I have used those parts before and put a lot more teflon tape on them to get them to stop leaking where metal tapered fittings (npt) only take 5 or 6 turns of teflon tape.

I have never had good luck with pipe dope on high pressure fittings.
 
Hey Christopher,..Thanks,....the parts I was using was what came with the reel. The elbow was pre-installed by Titan,..and it leaked from the start,..and as I said,..couldn't get it to stop,.so I replaced it. I never have an issue with pipe dope on high pressure with galvanized,..but maybe different with stainless?

Jeff
 
The key is to apply the tape with the thread. If you wrap it against the thread, you'll shread the tape as soon as you start tightening it. My titan reel leaked everywhere, especially the swivel until my grandpa told me to do that and it worked.
 
Well.. I was able to get the elbow to stop after 3 more tapings.. Lol. The handle still leaks a drip here and there. Very disappointing and frustrating seeing it was brand new.
 
Well.. I was able to get the elbow to stop after 3 more tapings.. Lol. The handle still leaks a drip here and there. Very disappointing and frustrating seeing it was brand new.

That's good,..If I were you,..I'd remove the handle once more and put some dope on top of the tape,..the dope may stop the small drip.

I agree, it is frustrating, I hated having to put so much effort into trying to get something done, that has never been an issue before. Felt like I was gonna snap something,Ha,Ha,..

Jeff
 
Pipe wrench on the pipe, body weight pushing down on the handle. I had to have my employee push down on the handle while I held the pipe wrench, he's not small. We had the reel mounted first, gave us some support.
 
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