Why Is Tube Fitting Intermixing & Interchanging a Problem? A New Swagelok Video Explains

Some manufacturers claim their products are interchangeable with Swagelok-designed products. But using hybrid tube fittings can be dangerous, especially in critical applications.

Our team at Edmonton Valve is often asked about interchanging or intermixing — the practice of removing a component from a Swagelok tube fitting and replacing it with one from a different manufacturer.

If your facility stocks fittings from more than one manufacturer, for example, swapping out components may seem like a good way to save time or money.

But "interchanging and intermixing tube fitting components can lead to unpredictable performance, higher long term costs, unintentional environmental releases causing environmental harm, and potential safety hazards," Swagelok says in this new video:

Watch this video posted by Swagelok on May 1st, 2023. Learn more by getting our Swagelok Fitting Installation & Troubleshooting Resource Collection:

Swagelok has over 200 patents for its proprietary tube fitting design. But no commercial design standard exists for tube fittings. Design standards for tube fittings vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. It follows that a hybrid, or intermixed, tube fitting will have components that aren't designed to work together. An intermixed or interchanged fitting is a new unknown design, explains Swagelok.

Field data shows inter-mixed fittings leak at a higher rate than non-intermixed fittings. “Experimental tests and finite element analysis has shown that the swaging and sealing mechanisms of fittings are different despite seeing geometric similarities," say researchers in a Journal of Engineering Design article titled Intermixing Twin Ferrule Tube Fittings-Is it Safe?. "It was evident that no two companies produced components to the same dimensional or metallurgical specification and that pressure testing alone should not be used as the only means of validation."

Intermixing also voids a component's Canadian Registration Number. A memo by the Technical Standards & Safety Authority, a branch of Alberta Boiler Safety Authority, says “it is certainly not ABSA’s position to suggest that it is alright to inter-mix components from different manufacturers…. The user of such a hybrid would be assuming a significant safety liability, in addition to contravening the (Safety Codes) Act.”

Behind every Swagelok product and solution is the Swagelok Limited Lifetime Warranty—widely regarded as among the industry's strongest. But intermixing or interchanging Swagelok tube fitting components voids Swagelok's Limited Lifetime Warranty.

"Avoiding intermix and interchange is a best practice promoted by numerous fluid systems, standards, organizations, and specifications," Swagelok adds. "Single sourcing your tube fittings from one reliable supplier is a good way to avoid potential interchange and intermix, even by accident. When only one brand is available, technicians can't mistakenly combine components from two different manufacturers."

Consider these resources for information about our fabrication and assembly capabilities, and to download our Tube Fitting Installation & Troubleshooting Collection. 

If we can help you in any way, please click below or call 780-437-0640 7:30am-5pm. For 24x7 On-Call Technical Support call 780-237-7109.

Also see:

• Refurbishing & Re-Using Swagelok Tube Fittings (Photos, Video, PDF)
• When Tube Fitting Material Should Not Match Tubing Material (Part 2)
• Swagelok Tube Fitting Advantage Still Strong after 67 Years