Well, I'm sure this is because I'm a total noob when it comes to AN fittings that it took me several tries to figure this out. I thought I'd share my saga for those that haven't gone through it yet.
I'm not necessarily planning on running EFII, but I thought it couldn't hurt to put in an extra bung in the tank for fuel return. I bought extra VA-141 fuel flanges from Van's and figure I would just cap them off for now.
I had a little trouble figuring out which AN fittings to buy on Van's website so I thought I'd do some research and concluded that I just needed a 3/8" pipe to nipple adapter and a cap to seal it off. I referred to Section 5 and several web sources and concluded I needed an AN816-6D. Ordered it from Spruce for about $8 each - they didn't fit. I didn't even consider that it's a 3/8" fuel line, but the pipe fitting in the bung is what I eye-balled to be 1/2". The AN816-6D has 3/8" on both ends.
So, more online research, and I confidently concluded that I needed an AN816-6-8D to transition from the 3/8" tube (the -6) to the 1/2" fuel flange (the -8D). This was a little harder to find, but Skygeek showed them in stock for about $10 a piece and I ordered them. Skygeek must have not really had them in stock because it took the 2 weeks to ship them. I knew before I even pulled them out of the little paper wrapper it was not the right part. The 3/8" nipple was correct, but the pipe end was huge! What am I missing here? NPT pipe size is what I was missing.
NPT sizes are discussed in Section 5, and I just didn't pay enough attention. It shows 3/8" NPT as closer to 5/8" OD. I confirmed that's what my fuel flange measured. So then why wasn't the original AN816-6D correct? 3/8" nipple and 3/8" NPT, right? No - standard transitions apparently are downsized on the pipe side. So, an AN816-6D is really the same as an AN816-6-4D. I guess everyone probably knows that except me.
So finally figured out that I need an AN816-6-6D and Spruce carries those. 3/8" nipple to a 3/8" NPT. The part arrived today, and it fits! A month-long saga of AN fittings has ended. The parts aren't expensive, but I was paying almost as much in shipping every time I ordered the wrong one. I was getting frustrated.
Hopefully this will save someone out there some heartache. And maybe I just got lucky finally and someone else can better explain the sizing of pipe to nipple transitions.
I'm not necessarily planning on running EFII, but I thought it couldn't hurt to put in an extra bung in the tank for fuel return. I bought extra VA-141 fuel flanges from Van's and figure I would just cap them off for now.
I had a little trouble figuring out which AN fittings to buy on Van's website so I thought I'd do some research and concluded that I just needed a 3/8" pipe to nipple adapter and a cap to seal it off. I referred to Section 5 and several web sources and concluded I needed an AN816-6D. Ordered it from Spruce for about $8 each - they didn't fit. I didn't even consider that it's a 3/8" fuel line, but the pipe fitting in the bung is what I eye-balled to be 1/2". The AN816-6D has 3/8" on both ends.
So, more online research, and I confidently concluded that I needed an AN816-6-8D to transition from the 3/8" tube (the -6) to the 1/2" fuel flange (the -8D). This was a little harder to find, but Skygeek showed them in stock for about $10 a piece and I ordered them. Skygeek must have not really had them in stock because it took the 2 weeks to ship them. I knew before I even pulled them out of the little paper wrapper it was not the right part. The 3/8" nipple was correct, but the pipe end was huge! What am I missing here? NPT pipe size is what I was missing.
NPT sizes are discussed in Section 5, and I just didn't pay enough attention. It shows 3/8" NPT as closer to 5/8" OD. I confirmed that's what my fuel flange measured. So then why wasn't the original AN816-6D correct? 3/8" nipple and 3/8" NPT, right? No - standard transitions apparently are downsized on the pipe side. So, an AN816-6D is really the same as an AN816-6-4D. I guess everyone probably knows that except me.
So finally figured out that I need an AN816-6-6D and Spruce carries those. 3/8" nipple to a 3/8" NPT. The part arrived today, and it fits! A month-long saga of AN fittings has ended. The parts aren't expensive, but I was paying almost as much in shipping every time I ordered the wrong one. I was getting frustrated.
Hopefully this will save someone out there some heartache. And maybe I just got lucky finally and someone else can better explain the sizing of pipe to nipple transitions.