Swagelok Tube Fitter's Manual Updated and Revised

Major new edition now available in either softcover or as a free download

Looking for your own copy of the new and revised Swagelok Tube Fitter's Manual, look no further! If you are in our sales and service area, request a copy of the new print edition here. PDF work better for you? Request the online PDF version.

Since its debut in 1963, the Swagelok Tube Fitter's Manual has been the industry standard. It's the result of extensive field research and laboratory studies conducted by Swagelok's research and development engineers, plus feedback we've received over the years from our customers. The original author, Joe Callahan Jr., went on to become the president of Swagelok.

As technology has progressed, Swagelok updated the manual in the '70s, '80s and '90s. Now a new 6th edition is being made available, both in a softcover version and as a free Internet download.

The latest edition now includes information on metallurgy, innovations in product design, advanced manufacturing processes, and selecting tube fittings for severe service requirements.

More than fittings

The Swagelok Tube Fitter’s Manual is intended to help you avoid many of the problems encountered on tubing installation projects. The manual provides a quick reference to technically accurate design and installation information.

While the manual is primarily about Swagelok tube fittings, it also covers important aspects of tubing, valves, troubleshooting and pressure ratings. To take just one example, a tube fitting can do its job properly only if the tubing material is softer than the fitting material. So you wouldn't want to put stainless steel tubing in a brass fitting. Tubing wall thickness, proper handling, and proper layout are all covered in the manual as well.

There's also an entire chapter on the hidden cost of leakage.

The new edition maintains the manual’s respected, iconic status as “the Tube Fitter’s Bible” while positioning it as the premier multimedia reference source on tube fittings for Swagelok customers in the 21st century. To expand on the wealth of information in the manual, we added a QR code that links to important supplemental information, such as catalogues, publications, or videos.

Revised and updated

Swagelok Company has updated and revised the content five times in the past 51 years, and now the entire new 321-page edition is available both as a free softcover version or in a downloadable PDF format. The 10 chapters (and three appendices) cover the Swagelok tube fitting itself, plus tubing specification and ordering, tubing and tube fitting handling and installation, severe service, troubleshooting, special purpose fittings, testing and evaluation of tube fitting performance, pipe threads, pressure ratings, the hidden costs of leakage, valves, and more. 

As Callahan wrote in the original preface, "The well-known Swagelok two-ferrule fitting is the best tube fitting we know how to manufacture; however, proper installation and use of high quality tubing will go far to ensure leak-free connections."

No trouble

Any complex system will have its share of challenges. The manual has a whole chapter on troubleshooting to keep frustrations to a minimum.

If the tube will not go into the fitting, for instance, there could be any of a half-dozen causes from burrs on the end to simply using the wrong size tubing. If the system leaks, there is a good chance the fitting was not installed properly. The manual explains what to look for when the leak happens after initial installation, after reassembly following maintenance, and under high temperatures.

If you'd like to get this classic, all you have to do is to ask for it. You will get a better understanding of how Swagelok tube fittings work, and how to get the best performance out of them.

Additional resources

• Round 2: FAQs from Edmonton Valve's Customer Service Desk
• Swagelok Orifice Fittings – What do you know about flow control?
• 5 Best Practices for Swagelok Quick-Connects

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