# industrial vs. automotive air compressor fittings



## woodypecker (Aug 6, 2016)

Hello all, recently I was in Home depot and noticed that there were two different types of air compressor fittings. one was listed as industrial, and the other was automotive. is one fitting better than the other? Thanks


----------



## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I think they are equally good. I use automotive because occasionally a friend or I borrow a tool and we all use the same connectors.


----------



## u2slow (Feb 9, 2012)

Regardless of the style, the fitting _size_ and hose need to be large enough for a hungry tool. 1/4" fittings don't cut it for a beefy 1/2" impact gun.


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Just make sure you get all of the same kind. They also make "high flow" versions that are bored out more to supposedly flow more air for high demand tools.


----------



## woodypecker (Aug 6, 2016)

so I guess the automotive types allow more air flow? if so, would this be too much if I'm using a brad nailer for woodworking? would the nail go deeper into the wood? Thanks


----------



## Mordekyle (Dec 3, 2020)

woodypecker said:


> so I guess the automotive types allow more air flow? if so, would this be too much if I'm using a brad nailer for woodworking? would the nail go deeper into the wood? Thanks


No, it would be regulated at the compressor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## woodypecker (Aug 6, 2016)

thanks.


----------



## HuckPie (Nov 15, 2020)

woodypecker said:


> so I guess the automotive types allow more air flow? if so, would this be too much if I'm using a brad nailer for woodworking? would the nail go deeper into the wood? Thanks


There are two sizes of automotive, 1/4" and 3/8".


----------



## u2slow (Feb 9, 2012)

I don't know what Home depot is calling automotive or industrial. The size is not about the NPT thread. 

M fittings they didn't flow enough for my big gun. T did the trick, but difficult to find. Then I switched to V style (also high flow), which also fits M.


----------



## HuckPie (Nov 15, 2020)

u2slow said:


> I don't know what Home depot is calling automotive or industrial. The size is not about the NPT thread.
> 
> M fittings they didn't flow enough for my big gun. T did the trick, but difficult to find. Then I switched to V style (also high flow), which also fits M.


Who said anything about the thread size?
I'm talking about the ID of the air passage.
"T" style come in 1/4" and 3/8".


----------



## woodypecker (Aug 6, 2016)

Ill check when I stop by H.depot.


----------



## u2slow (Feb 9, 2012)

My apologies... never been able to find a T in anything but the larger 3/8 body. Many brands do a terrible job labelling a fitting size; merely listing the thread size only.


----------



## HuckPie (Nov 15, 2020)

Another advantage of using 3/8" "T" style is that it makes your compressor, hose,
and tools incompatible with everybody else's stuff, because they all use "I/M".


----------



## ZoeuLX (Feb 10, 2021)

I had to use two air compressors, and I can say that they are about equally good. I used them both to fill my tires with air. The first thing I used was an industrial air compressor, which did its job well, and I can't say anything bad about it. Later, our workshop received new equipment from Automation USA along with a new automotive air compressor. I haven't used it before, but I can say that it does its job just as well as the industrial air compressor. I think they have some differences, but they did not appear to be important. Perhaps I would choose the automotive air compressor as it is a more recent model.


----------



## mike44 (Feb 3, 2021)

woodypecker said:


> Hello all, recently I was in Home depot and noticed that there were two different types of air compressor fittings. one was listed as industrial, and the other was automotive. is one fitting better than the other? Thanks


Milton makes fittings that take either industrial or automotive. I use industrial because the compressor came with it.
Other than that I do not think it matters.


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Here's a pic of the high flow (HF) tool end air spud next to a standard brass industrial type. My only high flow need is to use a rubber tip blow gun to pop out the beads when I am installing tubeless bicycle tires... sort of a mini version of what you see at the car tire shops. More air flow makes it easier. But I am not sure these make a lot of difference. And I don't have any way to measure air flow accurately.


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

And the other thing I wasn't sure about until I tried it for the first time yesterday is that the HF female coupler also accepts the standard flow Industrial spuds. That was a relief. I didn't need to go and change the spuds on all my other tools.


----------



## RTrepairguy (Nov 24, 2021)

In my opinion, both choices are good. So you can pick whichever fits the budget. It's the size of the hose and the fitting that you must take into consideration, whether it is 1/4 or 3/8"


----------

