Connect An Air LineConnect an air line ...continued More than a few folks have asked questions about the process of connecting their air compressor to their air tool or air using application. These pages are in response to those questions. If you just landed on this page and you are seeking information about how to connect an air line, you may want to read this page first: Connect An Air Line - Page 1. Air Line Connector
In the photo above, and as noted on the previous page, the white circle surrounds the part of the connector that inserts into the coupler. The part of the connector that is surrounded by the white square is the method of connecting that connector to something. This thread would screw into, for example, the air supply port of your air tool. To do that, you would need to make sure that the connector thread was the same thread size as the port in your air tool. If you aren't quite sure about what that means, Here is a page about NPT sizing and air fittings. Connector TypesAlong with making sure that the connector thread is the same size as the port into which you try to thread it, you have to make sure too that the part of the connector that is circled in white is the same make and style of the coupler into which you try to insert it. It's easy to become confused, and few things are as frustrating as trying to insert a connector into a coupler that it isn't made for. There are varying qualities of connectors and couplers (the cheaper ones tend to leak if there's even a bit of sideload) yet for us DIY users, cheap ones are usually OK. My advice is to find out when you buy your compressor what type of coupler and connector comes with the kit, and purchase a bunch more of that same type at that same time, and don't ever have any other brand around. As a general rule you will need many more connectors that you will couplers. I have a connector threaded into everyone of my air tools so that I don't have to go looking for one when I want to use another tool. Putting It TogetherOK... you've got a discharge coupler on your air compressor. You have an air tool with the correct connector threaded into the tool's air port. How do you connect the discharge coupler on your compressor to the air tool? You will use an air tube or air hose. Since the difference between the two is well documented on this website, why not go read about hose here? Into one end of your air hose you will install an air connector, and into the other and air coupler. The connector inserts into the discharge coupler on your air compressor. The connector that you have already inserted into your air tool(s) can then be inserted into the coupling on the air hose or tube. Voila! When you insert the hose connector into the discharge coupler on the compressor, air can then flow through that coupler, through that connector, and into your air hose. Since you have installed another checked-coupler at the other end of the air hose, the compressed air can only fill the hose and cannot flow further. It's not until you insert the connector into the coupler on the hose that the compressed air can actually flow into the air tool. What stops the air then? Inside the air tool is a valve that's normally closed. It's you pushing on the air tool button or pulling the air tool trigger that allows compressed air to flow through the tool and perform whatever work that it's supposed to do. And that folks is how you connect an air line from the compressor to your air-using application.
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