mfairleigh
Plastic
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2020
My first post here and I hope such a basic question isn’t deemed silly here.
I have an air compressor that is leaking at the outlet fitting. This fitting is a 1/4” brass nipple, splined (not threaded) into an aluminum manifold. The leak is between the brass and aluminum. The nipple has some type of epoxy on it, apparently used as a sealant, that has failed.
The manifold is no longer available so if I screw this up the whole machine is ruined.
My thought was to drill & tap for a 3/8” to 1/4” brass reducer, then nipple out from there. But that will mean cutting the old nipple off at the manifold, drilling out the rest of the nipple, then drilling up to 9/16” for the 3/8” pipe tap.
I’m concerned about the drilling procedure. Should I increase the hole in small steps, or one big Hail Mary bite? With two different materials I’m concerned about not being able to keep the hole straight. Specialty bit(s)? Overthinking this?
I’m trying to follow photo instructions. The arrow points to the location of the leak. While there appears to be a gap between the nipple and the manifold, it’s no more than 1/16” deep so new sealant won’t get enough grip to hold pressure.
I’m losing sleep on this one so any advice will be appreciated!
Mike
I have an air compressor that is leaking at the outlet fitting. This fitting is a 1/4” brass nipple, splined (not threaded) into an aluminum manifold. The leak is between the brass and aluminum. The nipple has some type of epoxy on it, apparently used as a sealant, that has failed.
The manifold is no longer available so if I screw this up the whole machine is ruined.
My thought was to drill & tap for a 3/8” to 1/4” brass reducer, then nipple out from there. But that will mean cutting the old nipple off at the manifold, drilling out the rest of the nipple, then drilling up to 9/16” for the 3/8” pipe tap.
I’m concerned about the drilling procedure. Should I increase the hole in small steps, or one big Hail Mary bite? With two different materials I’m concerned about not being able to keep the hole straight. Specialty bit(s)? Overthinking this?
I’m trying to follow photo instructions. The arrow points to the location of the leak. While there appears to be a gap between the nipple and the manifold, it’s no more than 1/16” deep so new sealant won’t get enough grip to hold pressure.
I’m losing sleep on this one so any advice will be appreciated!
Mike