Plumbing fitting dillema ..

Ok, my Gal bought a decorative shower set from Ebay that was made in China ( Of course ) . The plumbing fitting is not regular pipe thread , not sure what it is actually. Looks like a straight thread of some kind, maybe British ? Close to 1/2 but not right, screws in a couple turns and jambs. Funny shape to the teeth / pitch. Anyway, it looks like this is meant to mount via a wall "fixing plate" , but what is the thread on that ? lol Wondering if I can adapt to NPT somehow or can some one help identify. I can definitely fab something up and braze the fittings , but wanted to see if you guys have any clever ideas, thanks.
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It sure looks like straight thread, and even if you could find something with the same thread, how are your going to seal it?

I assume one end screws into your shower head, and has a rubber gasket to seal it (or you can make an O ring work, if it has a flat seat in the shower head). Should be pretty easy to saw off the other end and braze a proper NPT piece on to mate to your water supply pipe.
 
Yes it is a sealing washer on the other end. I was thinking of running a 1/2 die over the existing threads and then screw it into a regular pipe thread fitting as far as it would go, then braze the two together. My thinking is that it would then be a nice strong joint.
 
I wonder if it's 1/2" IPS thread. Been looking at putting a drinking fountain head on a hydrant for my kids and a lot of them are 1/2" IPS. Never have figured out just what that is.
AaronSEIA
 
Would it be out of the question to take it to an actual plumbing supply house? I'm always a little bit let down when I've come up with a clever way to solve a problem, only to learn that there's a fitting I can get for a couple of bucks that takes care of it, but sometimes I remember that I've got no shortage of problems and that buying my way out will let me get on to the next one.

Stan
 
possibility it is a compression fitting and uses a brass ring on the pipe with a compression nut or the type of fitting that a faucet hookup hose screws on. my suggestion is go to a plumber or at least a big box construction supplier like home depot, lowes ect. & see what fits
 
I just Goggled it, and NPT and BSP are both 14 tpi in 1/2 and 3/4. Not sure what the problem is, measure what the diameter is and compare it to a chart available on the net.
 
Yeah , I tried that route, spent an hour at Menards and another at the local hardware store, nothing fits . It is something out of the ordinary, at least for this country.
 
Apparently the shape of the teeth is different, and wont seal. One website I was on specifically stated to never use BSP and NPT together.
 
And just about everywhere else. Wikipedia says BSP is the standard in almost every developed nation except the U.S. It's like metric.

When are those stubborn jerks going to quit resisting and do it our way?

Stan
 
When in doubt....Make the fittings yourself, I have had to in tight situations. I have had to make aluminum adapters that had a tight fit in a parts washer at an old employer.
 
I did that same thing trying to get swing fittings for the three inch center holes on the claw foot tub downstairs. I ended up with a combination of PEX and things I had rethreaded. My advice is run a tap over it and then use a PEX type joint that has a rubber gasket. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I ended up with washing machine or toilet flexible line running to it. Those have the cone shaped gasket and don't have to screw on really far. I think I even cut some of the threaded fitting on the hose off. It was the biggest headache of the whole bathroom redo.

If I had to do it all over again I would get on eBay and order fittings from China to get to PEX and then use that. What a mess.
 
Sounds like 1/2 BSP, also known as British pipe thread. If it were mine I would be either heading over to McMaster.com for a mating fitting or simply tape it up and thread it into the 1/2 NPT female. I have done that a few times with good results, one is on my post hole auger hyd motor and it hasn't leaked a drip with 2500psi so I would think shower water should be fine unless you realy like a harsh shower! A general word on Teflon tape tho, for years I had mixed luck with sealing pipe fittings especialy plastic threaded ones that I use extensively in my maple syrup operation pipeline, there is a fine line between tight and cracked and often they would leak no matter how many wraps of Teflon tape. Then one day when ordering some fittings from McMaster I happened to need tape as well, I balked at the mil spec blah blah tape at 4 dollars a roll when I usualy got a 5 pack for less than that at the big box store. But I ordered it since I wasn't heading to the store anytime soon, well what a surprise, its like a whole different material, it stretches more, doesn't shred, is thicker and boy did it cut down my troubles with leaks. Never again did I buy a roll of cheap tape at the store.
 
I still have several rolls of gore-tex tape. None better anywhere. Probably 3x the thickness of cheap crap.
 
Yea for years I thought pipe tape was pipe tape, but now I know there is many options and thicknesses! And for stainless fittings make sure you use the stuff with nickel in it to prevent your expensive fittings from galling together and destroying themselves
 
I would simply braze the appropriate brass thread or PEX barb on it with silphos and be done with it.
 
what does the inside of fitting look like... will it let copper pipe go inside fitting ....then soldier.......dewy
 

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