Fitting ID Question

MrCofDG

Hi all,

Below are 2 photos of a pipe leading into a T above my boiler. Is this some sort of union where the pipe on the left meets up with the T?? (Ignore the white circle - it's just a light bulb in the basement.)

hot_rod

it looks like a reducing bushing. I don’t think it is a union?

pecmsg

agreed reducing bushing

Steamhead

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1899932#Comment_1899932

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1899933#Comment_1899933

Correct.

MrCofDG

Ah. Thanks gents.

EdTheHeaterMan

BLACK BUSHING: ADVANCED ENGINEERING FEATURES

The black malleable iron bushing represents a remarkably refined solution to one of the piping industry’s most important challenges: reducing a larger threaded opening to accept a smaller pipe or fitting.

While it may appear to be a simple piece of threaded iron, it is actually the product of generations of metallurgical development, dimensional standardization, precision machining, and practical field experience.

Malleable Iron Construction

Manufactured from ASTM A197/A197M-compliant malleable iron, the bushing provides an ideal balance of strength, durability, and workability. It is strong enough to withstand tightening forces, vibration, thermal expansion, and long-term service, while remaining practical to install using ordinary pipe-fitting tools.

In other words, it is tough enough to do its job without requiring the equipment normally associated with bridge construction.

Standardized Thread Compatibility

The bushing meets B16.39 requirements for malleable iron fittings and uses pipe threads manufactured in accordance with ASME B1.20.1.

These carefully standardized tapered threads become progressively tighter as the fitting is installed, helping provide a secure mechanical connection and dependable seal when used with an appropriate thread compound or sealing tape.

Compact Size Reduction

By combining a larger external thread with a smaller internal thread, the bushing allows two different pipe sizes to be joined without requiring additional nipples, couplings, or adapters.

This compact design saves space, reduces the number of threaded joints, simplifies installation, and helps prevent a basic piping modification from becoming a full-scale mechanical reconstruction project.

Dependable Performance

When properly selected and installed, the black bushing provides durable, long-term service without motors, electronics, batteries, software updates, Wi-Fi, or monthly subscription fees.

It simply reduces one threaded pipe size to another with efficiency, reliability, and a level of mechanical dignity rarely achieved by any object small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

The black malleable iron bushing is more than a fitting. It is a compact monument to standardized engineering and one of the quietest yet most important achievements in the history of threaded pipe.

Steamhead

Does it also feature "obfuscation"?

EdTheHeaterMan

You know what my doctor said to me at my last checkup? "Ed you are quite sedentary"

Once I heard that, vowed then and their that I was going to do something about that!

Spoiler Warning

Go out and buy a dictionary!

mattmia2

is this what the description of the cigarette lighter in a bentley sounds like?

Intplm.

@MrCofDG That is a bushing, possibly a 3/4" x 1/2" or 1" x 3/4" bushing. It is not a union.

Union.

Bushing.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@EdTheHeaterMan description does not allow for CI bushings.

In the supply houses I usually went to bushings were usually steel (in smaller sizes) and CI in larger sizes.

Obviously inferior to the malleable bushings above LOL

Not sure I ever saw malleable bushings.