Nipple (plumbing)

This article is about the fitting used in plumbing and piping. For other uses, see nipple (disambiguation).

In plumbing and piping, a nipple is a fitting, consisting of a short piece of pipe, usually provided with a male pipe thread at each end, for connecting two other fittings.

The length of the nipple is usually specified by the overall length with threads. It may have a hex section in the center for wrench to grasp. A "close nipple" has no unthreaded area; when screwed tightly between two female fittings, very little of the nipple remains exposed. A close nipple can only be unscrewed by gripping one threaded end with a pipe wrench which will damage the threads and necessitate replacing the nipple, or by using a specialty tool known as a nipple wrench (or known as an internal pipe wrench) which grips the inside of the pipe, leaving the threads undamaged. When the ends are of two different sizes it is called a reducer or unequal nipple. A barrel nipple or a pipe nipple is one which is usually made from pipe and is threaded only at both ends.

Threads used on nipples are BSP, BSPT, NPT, NPSM and rarely^{[citation needed]} Metric.

See also

• Coupling (piping)
• Piping and plumbing fittings
• Street elbow

Further reading

• ASTM A733-03 Standard Specification for Welded and Seamless Carbon Steel and Austenitic Stainless Steel Pipe Nipples.
• ASTM B687-99(2005)e1 Standard Specification for Brass, Copper, and Chromium-Plated Pipe Nipples.
• ASME B1.20.7 Hose Coupling Screw Threads, Inch. (Quote: The normal sequence of connections, in relation to the direction of flow, is from an externally threaded nipple into an internally threaded coupling)