NPT FPT MPT... why can't I find something that will thread on my Pondmaster pump

[Jonna]

I'm so friggin mad at this mish mash of sizes and threads and junk.  I think it is a plot by the manufacturers and plumbers to keep it more complicated than it has any right to be.  If they standardized this stuff then anyone could do it and you wouldn't need huge numbers of different things, you'd only need about 3 sizes and they would do everything. 

I've got a Pondmaster model 9.5B and I want to screw a hose onto the output which it SAYS is 3/4" MPT.  I've bought 3 connectors and none of them will work.  If you look at the bloody thing it is clear the threads are spaced differently but nowhere - NOWHERE - does it say what one kind is called vs the other kind nor is it possible to find a connector online without something besides the info they are giving.  I am even trying to buy a connector online and have it shipped to Mexico because I'm so frustrated with going to the hardware stores and it not working but I can't even do that!! 

what a load of garbage that there are so many different threads and sizes. It's just bloody ridiculous.  You need maybe - maybe - 5 sizes of pipe and they should all have the same damn thread and that's all you would need for anything on the planet.  This is such a rip off.  Can you tell how mad I am? 

[jasert39]

if you are in mexico any chance you are using metric threaded pvc?

[miguynmkoi]

Sorry you have to go through that, Jonna.  I know how mad you are....been there, done that, and probably will again.  Eventually I end up at a local ponding outlet and pay top dollar for the relief.

[Jonna]

Oh, it just gets better.  I took the pump and the tube and the connector I have to the aquarium/pond store here and the girl behind the counter tells me they don't have anything that will work and then she picks up what I have and just screws it together! AND, I can't pull it apart??  I couldn't believe it, plus it was a little funny and a lot embarrassing.  I came home and told Mimi not to touch it because it would never go back together again. Well, she proceeds to show me that it is not on straight which I suppose is why it is staying on.  I don't care anymore, if it holds when we put it on catty wompas then that's how it goes.  I still think it is a big rip off by plumbers and pvc manufacturers to make it more confusing than it warrants.  Oh, and while we are on metric for everything, pvc comes in inches...  whatever. 

[whiskyb]

At my local hardware store they have fitting that go from npt to garden hose.Garden hose is some weird thread only used on hoses. You might want to try a gardening center hose section

[PondmaninAL]

Jonna, Home Depot and Lowe's sells adapters to convert from pipe thread to garden hose thread and vice versa. MPT = male pipe thread, FPT = female pipe thread, and NPT = national pipe thread which is tapered. I discovered that I couldn't use PVC fittings on the intake of my pump that I got from Harbor Freight. Same problem with the drain plug hole in my poly stock tank because I want to put a valve on it.

[Otter]

what a load of garbage that there are so many different threads and sizes. It's just bloody ridiculous.  You need maybe - maybe - 5 sizes of pipe and they should all have the same damn thread and that's all you would need for anything on the planet.  This is such a rip off.  Can you tell how mad I am? 

Part of it is probably because of the international nature of the hobby, but I think the lack of standardization is mostly due to manufacturers trying to bind customers to their own line of equipment.  I'm pretty sure some of them are using threads they made up themselves specifically to be incompatible with everything else on the planet.  Show them that slime doesn't pay and refuse to buy any new equipment that doesn't use a recognizable thread. 

[Jonna]

I have the pvc that the outlet needs to go to threaded for garden hose style, then I have an end that attaches to that and is on a piece of clear vinyl tubing.  It's the other end of this tubing that needs to attach to the outlet of the pump, I can't find anything that has the same threading.  I was telling Mimi we should just glue the sucker, she wasn't amused.  I even went on the pondmaster site and couldn't figure out what I needed. 

yeah, it's a slick hustle.  I shouldn't let it get me so mad, there is a saying here in Mexico Ni Modo that basically means 'what can you do?'.  I lost my cool after my 3rd trip to a hardware store, explaining the whole thing in a language that's more difficult for me and then coming home with something that 'almost' works. 

 

[finnpond]

Yep, I'm now a firm believer in not gluing or threading any fittings if I can help it...  I'll use a rubber boot connector or flexible tubing and just O-clamp the thing to whatever it needs to go on...  There's really not that much pressure on the inlet or outlet side of my pump as it is flowing continually and I don't valve it down much, if at all...  It also allows me to take the pipe apart and rinse out my filter media with pond water from the PVC pipe that feeds the down pipe in my big filters...  Also allows for more flex for vibration issues and people treading on the the buried PVC... Home Depot and Lowe's have all kinds of rubber connector/reducers with O-clamps already in place, but I just keep my eyes peeled for rubber connectors from my kids "automotive adventures" and anywhere else I can scavenge them...

Take Care....  Dave

[Otter]

After my Aquascape pump died recently, I was getting ready to put in the backup and cursing their proprietary thread.  But the pump is an obvious rebrand, and I thought, "What are the odds that they'd have paid extra to put their proprietary thread on the pump outlet?"  Turns out it's 2" FIP.  So much for my theory about trying to lock customers into their brand.  But why on earth would they use a proprietary thread on the check valve?