Interchanging and Intermixing Swagelok with other Brands

There is a lot of information regarding intermixing and interchanging Swagelok tube fitting components with non-Swagelok brand tube fitting components.

The following are some important things to keep in mind.

• No Commercial Design Standard
  - Unlike other types of fittings, no commercial design standard exists for tube fittings. So each tube fitting manufacturer has their own design and makes them to their own standards.
• Attempts at a Commercial Design Standard fail
  - For over 75 years Swagelok has developed processes and lean operations to create the industry standard in tube fittings. In order for other manufacturers to replicate that they would need to commit to the expense and quality standards, and they are unable or unwilling to do that.
• Commercial Performance Standards
  - There are no commercial design standards, however, ASTM F1387, prohibits intermixing unless authorized by the manufacturer. Swagelok does not authorize intermixing.
• Tube fitting tests of intermix do not cover all the bases
  - Nobody has replicated a statistically valid, rigorous test methodology comparing their tube fittings with Swagelok’s. See our Product Test Reports.

The Swagelok Policy on Interchanging and Intermixing

Over the years, we have become aware of many manufacturers with products, which purport to be interchangeable and intermixable with Swagelok-designed products. We do not believe that any manufacturer can reliably, repeatedly and uniformly replicate the products of another manufacturer. For this reason, we believe that interchanging and intermixing component parts made by different manufacturers can result in unpredictable performance and increased costs. We believe also that this is an unsound practice and can be dangerous in critical applications. Even though products made by others may look like Swagelok fittings, they have not been made according to Swagelok engineering documents nor have they benefited from our proven process control in manufacturing. This process control has come from knowhow and technology developed through over 60 years of specialization and commitment to the manufacturing of high-quality fluid system components. For all of these reasons, intermixing and interchanging of components from other manufacturers with Swagelok components voids the Swagelok limited lifetime warranty and responsibility for product performance.

Questions? Email or call 866.901.0151.