Aim of this article is to provide a review of general features of ISO 16028 quick hydraulic couplings and to briefly speak of main advantages offered by product series available in Faster’s portfolio.
What is an ISO 16028 Coupler?
ISO 16028 couplers are items compliant with the aforementioned International Standard, which specifies the interface dimensions for interchangeability and performance requirements for hydraulic flat face quick couplings. This is one of the most popular types of quick hydraulic couplings; the main reasons why end users prefer to install these items are for sure lack of fluid spillage after disconnection and ease of cleaning, both strictly related to the flat face design of the sealing valves; the connection and disconnection mode is also pretty comfortable and user-friendly and has certainly contributed to the grown of popularity over the years. Most consolidated applications for this type are: mobile construction equipment, hydraulic tools, vehicles, Oil & Gas and industrial equipment.
Types and dimensions of ISO 16028 Couplers
ISO 16028 covers a range of sizes going from 1/4" to 1”. Several manufacturers offer also other sizes (most frequently 1-1/2” and 2”), but mutual interchangeability between different brands should be carefully checked when it comes to these sizes because it’s not ensured by an international standard.
Installation and Maintenance of ISO 16028 Couplers
To clean the external surfaces of quick hydraulic couplings before each connection is the best way to prevent the ingress of contaminant particles and debris into the circuit; hence that can be seen as the golden rule of periodical maintenance and an essential condition to reduce likelihood of leaks and machine downtimes and to maximize service life. Flat surface valves of ISO 16028 couplers allow an extremely easy and effective cleaning, facilitating maintenance task in charge of end users.
Why choose Faster’s ISO 16028 Couplers
In Faster’s product portfolio there are several series compliant to ISO 16028 standard that suit any kind of applications. All of them meet or exceed performance requirements set by the standard and ensure full dimensional interchange with equivalent series produced by other manufacturers.
FFH and 3FFH in particular can be considered best-in-class series with reference to the excellent features of mechanical resistance (maximum operating pressure of 35 MPa / 5000 PSI with a real 1:4 safety factor) and corrosion resistance (Zn-Ni surface treatment) not to mention the excellent flow characteristics. Further, 3FFH parts allow to hook up easily the two coupler halves when there’s trapped pressure on one side of the hydraulic circuit: that’s quite a frequent condition on Construction Equipment, Forestry and Industrial applications.
But there’s more than that actually: Faster offers other ISO 16028 series meeting additional specific needs too.
The installation of FSH couplers allows to avoid permanent deformations affecting couplers surfaces which derive from high frequency pulsing pressures; this phenomenon is usually known as “Brinelling” and its most common example is the wear visible on male half couplings hooked up to hydraulic hammers.
Further, for all of the sizes covered by ISO 16028 a stainless steel series (2FFI), suiting coastal and marine environments as well as every context expected to be corrosive to metals is also available; the use of this version is also largely recommended when dealing with fluids like water or water glycol mixtures.
Finally, Faster’s portfolio of ISO 16028 quick hydraulic couplings includes also extra small (1/8”) and extra large (3”) sizes, to allow easy, clean and quick connection of any hydraulic and pneumatic line.