Pneumatic fittings

Feb 16, 2026 Last reply: 5 months ago 2 Replies
A

I'm building some 3D filament storage boxes (£5ea for cereal boxes vs £30ea for "proper" ones sold by the manufacturer of a popular filament dryer).



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These use "PC4-M10" pneumatic fittings to feed some 4mm PTFE tubing, with the 1.75mm filament passing through that.



The M10 part of the name supposedly refers to a 10mm thread, but I think they're not metric, but a bastard child of 1/4" NPT (USA national pipe taper) thread so approx 10.4mm in reality, other people say that NPT is British (surely it would be BSPT in that case?) or M10x1.0 super fine thread.



The connectors are easy to find, because everyone from the 3D printing side calls them "PC4-M10" but it seems that's like saying RJ45 when you technically mean 8P8C.



Anyone work with them in their real pneumatic usage and know the actual thread?



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T

I can recommend this one, as they use the same boxes and have a container for dessicant:

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(the comments link to some improved files which are worth using)

I ended up not buying the Polydryer and just using the 3D printer bed for drying - 8 hours under a cardboard box at 70-80C works very well. I put a $1 mini hygrometer on top and watch the temperature with the 3D printer camera - you can see the act of drying as the moisture level stays stable as the water comes out and then drops.

They supposedly come in both M10 x 1.0mm thread and M10 x 0.9mm thread versions. Regular M10 nuts are M10 x 1.5mm thread which is why they won't fit.

Brake pipes often use M10 x 1.0mm, and a supplier of automotive parts (braking, cooling, vacuum systems etc) lists:

PC4-01 (R1/8" BSPT) PC4-G01 (G1/8" BSPP) PC4-02 (R1/4" BSPT) PC4-G02 (G1/4" BSPP) PC4-03 (R3/8" BSPT) PC4-G03 (G3/8" BSPP) PC4-M10x1.0 (M10 x 1.0mm)

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Theo

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A

I noticed that version first, but decided on the other one as it seemed to use less filament (for stacking and the polydryer adapter plate) also I'm not bothering with the printed labels and holder. I have desiccant in my containers.

I've got a spool of PETG on the go, but it's starting to print with little bubbles/pinholes every few cm, so I put it on the dryer for a couple of hours, the RH in my house is about 45-48% at the moment, the RH in the container went down to 10% and has stayed there for 2 days.

I had already taken the chance on a bag of M10x1.0 nuts, they arrived this morning and are correct, I would have preferred half-nuts but didn't find any to order.

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