A few years ago we made some Wiggins couplings for water plumbing.
 These are widely used in airliners and military aircraft as well as
 Formula
 1 race cars. They are highly reliable, long lasting Ã? and quick to take
 apart. They must be tig welded to aluminum tube. If you buy the race car
 versions they are about $100 each. We simplified them by doing away with
 the
 outer trick clamp and used a mundane hose clamp instead. We also
 standardize
 on 1.5 inch OD aluminum tubing for water plumbing. That would be the only
 size we would make.

 We are thinking of making another batch but we would need to make at least
 50 sets. Is anybody interesting in buying some of these? My guess is they
 would be half the price or about $50 a set.

 Paul Lamar

 Paul,
 I will take six.
 Blake

 OK it looks like we are getting some interest. I know Mark Steitle wants
 some more as I think he is re-doing his ES installation with a 3 rotor
 p-port.


 Paul Lamar


 Paul,

 Correct, but I don't know how many I'll need at this time.

 Mark S.

 That is OK we are almost getting enough interest for me to take the
 finacial risk. I think I figured out how to use the same part to bond or
 weld.

 Paul Lamar

Paul,

Being able to glue them together would be a big plus for many builders. I
prefer to TIG them though.

Mark S.

My new design will be a lot  easier to tig weld as it will not be a butt
joint like the old design. You won't need welding rod. Just melt them
together. One could also aluminum braze them with a low temperature flame.


Paul Lamar

Paul,
What kind of weld joint are you talking about? Â A lap joint would almost
definitely require some filler rod. Â If you have a TIG welder, filler rod
is
no problem. Â Aluminum brazing would be a good alternative if you don't
have
a TIG.

Mark

One tube inside another. Flush ends. Â Weld from the open ends.
In other words the entire wiggins coupling would slip over a 1.5 inch OD
aluminum tube. I am working on a 3D right now so when I get it done I will
up
load it.

BTW for those that are not familure with wiggins they can tolerate +/- 3
degree misalignment and +- up to an inch of length mismatch.

Paul Lamar
------------------------------

Paul,

on the original Wiggins I used 1-3/8" tubing which fit inside, and thenhad
it fillet welded on the outside.



MY KIS is grounded while I replace the Blue Mountain unit.



Bill Schertz

 From the looks of the pictures of Mark's installation it appears he is
butt welding. Obviously the old designed would work with 1.5 inch tube butt
welded and 1.375 inch tube bonded or welded. I forgot we did that. The
easiest place to weld is inside as shown in this modified earlier dwg.

What happened with the Blue Mountain? Sorry to hear that. How many hours do
you have so far? Any problems other than the Blue Mountain?

Paul Lamar



Paul,,

As shown on your sketch for the 1-3/8" tube, I would be a little concerned
with the weld area being so close to the o-ring groove.  Of course, if you
glue it with JB Weld there would be no problem.

Mark S.

Good point.
The weld bead will be tiny and I moved the O-ring groove further back away from the weld area.

Paul Lamar