Tape or Paste fittings

[BlacknTan]

I've always used the Loctite sealant designed for the job.

But, I hate to do things over, so don't go by me!

 

[bigdeano]

Can you use the 542 on plastic? 242 is for metal only, will destroy some plastics as I found out the hard way.

 

[J_J]

LOCTITE® 542 is designed for the locking and sealing of metal
pipes and fittings

 

[davrow]

why not just buy the stuff specificly made for NPT hydraulic fittings?

Because until I joined TBN I had no idea whatsoever that such a product existed. My home plumbing needs always gladly accepted Teflon tape - I thought it was as universal as duct tape and a bigger hammer.

 

[ber72564]

Sorry to jump in here, Question 3/8" ORB female to ORB Male AG type ISO QD to Hydrauluic hose max pressure 1500 PSI. Tape or Not?

 

[Furu]

Sorry to jump in here, Question 3/8" ORB female to ORB Male AG type ISO QD to Hydrauluic hose max pressure 1500 PSI. Tape or Not?

ORB fitting never, ever tape. The O ring is the seal and thread is straight SAE and needs no lube

 

[ber72564]

Thanks that is what I thought.

 

[CJONE]

Another thing I laugh at is the fable that tape will stop up the hydraulic filters. Must be some awful small filters that those folks were using. Some industrial control valves have some small orifices that could get clogged if enough tape were to be forced into them. I don't think a tractor has such small orifices to content with and the pump is a positive gear pump which isn't going to even know when a small piece of tape that might get into the system would pass thru. As soon as the oil and the debris reaches the reservoir, it isn't going back out without going thru the filter so its journey ends there.
I wouldn't sweat if using any thread sealant on any NPT threads, if don't correctly no ends will be loose and debris only comes in the picture when the threaded fitting is removed and not cleaned properly. The same holds true for paste which most times is applied too generously.

You are 100% correct, the filters do not care and I have had a gear pump [a large one!] eat a shop rag with no damage. Come to think of it, the guts out of a filter head, the top strainer assembly, many various small parts, most of these pumps survived. Now the parts that they ate were usually stuck in the valve body. But the one that ate the rag was wound in the pressure control so tight that it had to be taken apart and cut out! what usually happens is the tape because of careless use ends up stuck in a relief valve, compensator port or pilot shift port in a valve and that causes all kinds of problems. I use both and have had 0 problems and MAYBE 5 leaks out of 100's of fittings. A lot of these are on systems that are 5000-6000psi. When we first started I was told not to use tape and had many leaks with just thread sealant so that went out the window real quick. You can't have problems like that and expect customers to be understanding when it happens more than once. CJ