What is the difference between the two digit, Japanese standard (JIS) design code and the four digit, North American Design design code?
A – The difference between the JIS and North American standard is threading, either on port connections or bolts. The threading for the North American standards follows an NPT (National Pipe Thread) or Unified standard. The threading on the Japanese standard follows JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) type which is very similar to BSPT (British Standard Pipe Tapered). Generally a customer can simply re-use existing bolts to make the JIS and North American Standard interchangeable. Otherwise, adapters can easily convert between the threading standards for port connections. In some cases, where an item doesn’t have any threaded ports or mounting bolts, there is no difference and the North American Standard design may not even be available. For more on JIS, click here.
