Hose Barb Fittings: Things You Should Know

A barb fitting or a hose barb is a component that is attached to a hose or a tubing. In technical terms, a barbed fitting is described as “a connection that is held in  place with the help of continuous circular grooves around a hollow tube carrying air or fluid.” These fittings are reliable, convenient, and provide excellent value and performance. Thus, they are widely used in flow control applications. What are the benefits of using barb fittings? What are its applications? To get answers to these questions, please read the following post.

Functions and Benefits of Hose Barb Fitting

Hose barb fittings have a number of benefits and several functions, some of which are listed below:

1. Barbed fittings are considered high value system component options.
2. These fittings are more economical compared to other types of fittings.
3. With the help of these fittings a seal is created between the fittings and the tubing.
4. Hose barb fittings can be made from different materials which helps increase the chemical compatibility of these fittings.
5. The barb fittings are easy to install and require little maintenance.
6. Barbed fittings are responsible to deliver a secure connection between a tube and a hose. This connection is resistant to pull-off as well as blow-off.

Considerations While Selecting the Right Hose Barb Fitting

Hose barb fittings come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Here are some of the most important design considerations for buying the right barbed fitting:

1. First and foremost you should consider the inner diameter of the tubing. This will help you in choosing the right hose barb fitting for your application.
2. Secondly, you should determine the hardness of the material. This can be done with an instrument called a durometer.
3. Next, consider checking the operating conditions of the hose fitting which includes environment as well as the process.
4. Decide whether you want to go with a single barb or multi barb hose fittings based on the requirement of your application. Each type has its own pros and cons.
5. You should also check the material’s chemical compatibility. This helps you determine which material’s chemical composition is suitable for your hose barbed fitting’s application.
6. Always check the ease of installing a barbed fitting. If you find it difficult to install a barbed fitting to a tube, then you should consider replacing the fitting with a more appropriate one. This will eliminate the chances of leaks and failures.
7. Sudden variations in the pressure of fluids or gases contained in the tube may cause it to expand. This expansion of the tube results in loosening of the barb grip. Therefore, always consider the performance of hose and barb fitting connections in cases of tube expansion.
8. For instance, you have a soft tube and a sharp barb. When you try to pull the tube, it contracts and makes it difficult to detach from the barb. In such cases, there are chances of the tube tearing and causing leaks and failure. Therefore, it is recommended to use a shallow barb fitting with a stiff tube.

Applications of Hose Barb Fittings

Several advantages of barbed fittings make them an ideal choice for a number of applications. Following are a couple of major applications of hose barb fittings:

• These fittings are used with rubber or plastic tubing having maximum internal pressure up to 150 psi.
• Hose barb fittings are used when hose clamping is required.

Norwood Screw Machine can provide Hose Barb Fittings of the highest caliber for all your applications that match your customer’s requirements.