Wrong Half Inch Fitting? Understanding 1/2 inch Tubing Compatibility

Are you stuck with 1/2" (half-inch) fittings that won't work with your tubing? Adam explains why and demonstrates how to fix it.
Find each fitting type here:
Compression - www.dripdepot....
Barbed - www.dripdepot....
Perma-loc - www.dripdepot....
Drip Lock - www.dripdepot....
Reducing Fittings:
- Compression Reducing Coupler: www.dripdepot....
- Loc-style Reducing Coupling: www.dripdepot....
- Loc-style Reducing Tee: www.dripdepot....
- Loc-style Tubing Reducing Cross: www.dripdepot....
Fitting Clamps - www.dripdepot....
Explore our selection of Drip Irrigation Kits: www.dripdepot....
Helpful Links
1/2" Fitting Compatibility Guide: help.dripdepot...
Fitting Buying Guide: help.dripdepot...
Shop our selection of easy-to-install Drip Irrigation Kits: www.dripdepot....
How to Design a Drip Irrigation System: • How to Design a Drip I...
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
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[@abda9212]

This is actually a very important aspect that is often ignored by tubing suppliers.

[@dripdepot]

Agreed! I definitely see too many retailers selling tubing without providing any information on the various diameters of tubing and how that relates to compatible fittings. Maybe one day we'll see LDPE used in irrigation standardized like PVC pipe is, that would pretty much eliminate most of the confusion.

[@Dhi-fe5eu]

I never knew their were different sizes until I tried to connect them with a connector. 1 would fit 1 would leak. Now I have to remove the smaller tubing. Would be nice if their was a reduced coupling for the .70” O.D. That connects to let’s say .63” O.D.

[@dripdepot]

@@Dhi-fe5eu I sent a reply to your other comment, but just in case thought I'd reply here too -- this fitting here may do the trick for you: www.dripdepot.com/perma-loc-tubing-reducing-coupling-perma-loc-sizes-three-eigths-inch-500-series-by-half-inch-600-series

[@rmeineke]

Good grief. I have struggled with this incompatibility for YEARS! Thanks for the cogent explanation -- I think I finally understand. Just went through my box of supplies and threw out anything that was green. This kind of content is why Drip Depot is one of my favorite KZbin channels. It is also why I only ever shop at Drip Depot for my modest, home garden drip irrigation needs. THANKS!

[@dripdepot]

Thank you for the great feedback (truly)! If you ever have any questions just let me know :)

[@howlingwolff1]

Very helpful. I thought I was losing my mind with hoses "almost" the same size.

[@dripdepot]

So true! What makes it even more confusing is PVC pipe is standardized, so 1/2" PVC pipe will always use the same fittings. Either way, glad the video was helpful, thank you for the great comment!

[@alliecoleman242]

👋 hi! New to all of this and thought I was just dumb! Saving my sanity! Thank you!

[@dripdepot]

You're very welcome, I'm glad you found the video!

[@deserttrainguy3235]

Always a crap shoot when leaks happen. I have a supply of all sorts of fittings in case I screw up with the sizing logic. Hope to avoid multiple trips to Ace or Lowes, but many time it takes two trips. Less strength in may hands these days makes these leaks longer to fix than they used to. Thank you for this video.

[@dripdepot]

You're very welcome, thank you for the comment as well! For diminished hand strength, I've found the Drip-Lock fittings work really well -- they're a "bite" style fitting, so you just give the tubing a little push into the teeth -- much easier than a compression or even barbed fitting, I use them a lot on systems for friends and family.

[@nicholasmarshall3191]

Just found this channel. Love it!

[@dripdepot]

Thank you, and I'm glad you're here!

[@yeahrightmate]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I am living in the Philippines where everything is done the way it was 50 years ago in the rest of the world and these brass compression fittings is what a lot still use when they are upgrading from the old GI pipes to what they call high pressure pipe but nobody uses a proper tool to do the job. They use a cigarette lighter to heat the pipe and then use the corner of the lighter to flare it and then after a few attempts at it you get it to seal. I have searched everywhere for a flaring tool for PVC but I only can find for brake lines so I don't know if this will work or not.

[@dripdepot]

What timing, I was just talking to a colleague about this exact topic this morning using flame or a heat gun to soften PVC to mold it into a different shape, often a bell-end like you're describing here. The consensus was it works, but it's not ideal -- the heat will break down the plastic a bit, weakening its structural integrity. It might not ever cause a problem, but it could due to that weakening. We were discussing it, because it's also very common to do here in the states -- it's not best practice, but still gets done fairly regularly. Google results are likely quite a bit different in the Philippines than they are here, but I had the best results searching for "PVC Flaring Tool" and "Plastic Pipe Flaring Tool." Not all the results were relevant, but I got more that way than other search terms :)

[@oldgamer1330]

@@dripdepot Yes it does not look like anybody bothers with a flaring tool so I think I will just avoid those type of fittings. Thanks for your help, Cheers.

[@jimmys7985]

Welp that would make sense why I cannot get my tubing into the green compression sleeve. How stupid but appreciate you pointing this out

[@dripdepot]

You bet! And yep, those green inserts are for 0.620" OD tubing, so that's almost certainly the cause. Perhaps we'll see the tubing industry standardize at some point like PVC, where all Schedule 40 has the same outside diameter, it would definitely make finding compatible fittings easier.

[@jimmys7985]

@@dripdepot well from what it seems I do have the correct size but this thing isn’t close to going on. Even tried using a lighter to head the hosing up and it won’t fit 😂

[@dripdepot]

@@jimmys7985 Interesting, you do have the 0.620" outside diameter tubing? If so, it could just be the general ornery-ness of compression fittings, they notoriously stubborn unless you're someone using them all the time and getting used to them (and even then, there will be moments lol). Jimmy, this might sound a little counter-intuitive, but if you have confirmed your tubing is 0.620", try doing this when your tubing is very cold -- why cold? When tubing is warm, it expands, when it's cold it contracts. Since you need to fit the tubing into the end of the compression fitting, it can work better when it's contracted and thus a little bit smaller (with barbed fittings the heat trick is definitely the way to go though).

[@jimmys7985]

@@dripdepot any recommendations on the compression hose swivel attachment? Can’t stop this thing from leaking

[@dripdepot]

@@jimmys7985 Happy to help! Ok, do you know what diameter of tubing you have in decimal inches? I can pin down a compatible and easy (much easier than compression) to use hose swivel x tubing fitting, all I'll need is either the actual outside diameter or inside diameter of that tubing (both preferably, but I can infer the OD or ID from just knowing one of them). Do you have any calipers? If so, that's the easiest way to measure ID/OD. If not, do you have a link to where you purchased the tubing (or did you get it from us?)? I can check the specs if it wasn't purchased from us and likely pin down its actual diameter :)

[@TapiocaSpoon]

How can I measure O.D. and. I.D of my existing "1/2 inch" tubing? Can you recommend a particular tool for this purpose?

[@dripdepot]

The best tool I've found for this is a pair of digital calipers -- it doesn't have to be the expensive kind either, there's digital calipers available for under $10 fairly regularly. There's lot of other uses for them too, they're great at accurately measuring things that are too small for measuring tape, so you'll be able to use them for more than just measuring tubing :)

[@yeahrightmate]

Hi, do you know anything about 1/2" high pressure PVC tube (PE) that uses brass flare nut fittings and if so what tool is used to flare the tube.Thanks.

[@dripdepot]

The tool used is actually often just called a "Flaring Tool." Searching google for "Flaring Tool" brings up a lot of results, you might want to try more directed searches like "PVC/PE Flaring Tool" or "Plastic Pipe Flaring Kit" and variations of those to see if you can locate one that will work with your pipe. With all that said, unless you specifically need to use brass flare nut fittings, you could consider going with a different fitting type so you don't have to flare the end of the pipe -- primer/glue slip fittings make a nice permanent connection. This can vary depending on application of course, but I wanted to mention it just in case :)

[@breideochannel4590]

PLEASE help with this if anyone can!? So if you have tubing with (OD) is 0.620 in. (ID) is 0.520. in! I need to connect a threaded/swivel connection of 1”, 1-1/4, 1-1/2. Basically, trying to connect my drip irrigation tubing to my submersible pump! The pumps multi-connection piece Isn’t compatible with sizing, as it is now. So what can I do to connect The submersible pump to the drip irrigation tubing. (Without spending hundreds more)

[@dripdepot]

You bet, happy to help, there's a good chance this can be done with just a couple adapters :) Is the 1", 1-1/4" 1-1/2" optional adapters that came with your pump? If so, the 1" option is going to be the easiest to get connected to since 1" adapters are the most common. Reply here and let me know if the pump has male or female threads at the outlet and if it's a 1" connection (or one of the other sizes), happy to see what we have to get your tubing connected -- we do carry some fittings for 0.520" ID tubing, and at least two of them are threaded (one male, one female), so all we'll need to do is adapt where you'd like to connect the tubing over to a correct sized Threads x 0.520" ID Tubing connection.

[@youcantseeme2089]

I cant even find the right size tubing on your website to fit the permaloc fittings looks like you only offer the wrong soze tubing for the fittings

[@dripdepot]

Any tubing labeled 1/2" on our site will work with 1/2" Loc fittings -- all of our tubing is 0.600" x 0.700" which will work with any of the 1/2" Loc fittings. We do have some drip line that is 0.620" x 0.710", but that is also within range of the Loc fittings. The Loc fittings work with LDPE that has an inside diameter range of .590" to .630" :)

[@markfcoble]

Too difficult to order on your website. No phone number!

[@dripdepot]

I'm happy to help :) If there's an item you need or wanted to look at the specifications for, just say the word, I can link you directly to it -- if it is something you need, after that it's just a matter of adding it to the cart and checking out. Let me know, I'll be available to assist!

[@kennethjames4724]

I am having this problem right now. I am 81 years old and trying to put the half inch coupler into half inch tubing - both supplied by Drip Depot. I have used lubricant, pliers, and a lot of cussing but cannot get the coupler into the tubing even 1 mm. Nothing should be this )^&)^)&) difficult. This is not a new invention. If you sell two pieces that are intended to work together, they should work.

[@dripdepot]

Kenneth, try dipping the end of the tubing into very hot water for a few moments. This will soften the tubing up significantly, making it much easier to push on over the barb of the fitting. It should still be a snug fit (it has to be watertight!), but when hot the tubing gets very flexible. Make sure the water is HOT and leave the tubing in it for a few moments. You should notice a big difference in its pliability when you remove it from the water.

[@kennethjames4724]

@@dripdepot I used a heat gun and it helped a lot, but still struggled to get it in. It will become a part of the process I guess.

[@dripdepot]

@@kennethjames4724 It will! The first one is always the most difficult, it's mostly downhill from there as you get accustomed to it :) And a heat gun definitely works -- not sure where you are geographically, but it's probably hot enough outside where we're at that leaving in the sun for a few minutes would soften it up enough.

[@yaronhadad]

Use a flame (like with a lighter) on it for 5-10 seconds and then it's easy :)

[@dripdepot]

@@yaronhadad This is true -- we don't usually recommend it due to the risk of melting the tubing, but you're not wrong, it's definitely going to soften up the tubing significantly (and hopefully not too significantly!) :)

[@milkrecu]

This is a classic disaster of technology and trust misplaced. Is this an intentional miss use of technology? All manufacturers should look to the LONG term implications of their industry.

[@dripdepot]

In this case it's actually more about physics -- manufacturers produce these different sizes of 1/2" tubing for different applications, one of the largest of which is commercial farming. In commercial farming, vast amounts of material are used and if the physics (particularly friction loss and water velocity) call for 0.520" inside diameter tubing, they understandably don't want to spend more on 0.600" inside diameter tubing. On a large commercial project, this can translate into tens of thousands more dollars, not to mention the wasted material since the larger diameter may not be taken advantage of. I think the solution to this is going to end up being listing sizes in metric (and we're already seeing this to some degree, even in the US). Doing so pretty much eliminates this confusion, as you can grab 13mm fittings for 13mm tubing, for example. This will allow for less wasted material and at the same time eliminate the confusion in tubing and fitting size compatibility. While it's unlikely everything is going to go metric any time soon, hopefully the trend with tubing continues to catch on :)

[@asotoniu]

😳Do you guys know that there is something called the Metric System where 1 mm is always 1 mm and 10 mm is always 1 cm, and so on? Just saying. 😡

[@dripdepot]

Right!? Unfortunately, even metric tubing suffers from the same issue, where 25mm (for example) is not always 25mm -- 25mm tubing is actually 25.4mm, 15mm tubing is actually 15.9mm. Both imperial and metric work with nominal sizes -- NPS, or Nominal Pipe Size for imperial and DN, or Diameter Nominal in metric. Even the metric isn't entirely escaping the confusion here, though I will give that it might be a little easier to find a compatible fitting with metric tubing/pipe, at least so long as you know the labeled size :)

[@yeahrightmate]

Yes metric is so easy, but not in the US.