In this tutorial, we’re going to guide you on exactly how to hook up your recently purchased air compressor to your recently dental turbine unit for practicing for the bench test. With the help of this guide, you will see that connecting a turbine to compressor is not a difficult thing to do.

Make sure to checkout our guide: Creating the Perfect Starter Bench Test Kit

Let’s Get Started!

The Turbine unit comes with a hose with free-ends. One end is connected to the turbine unit, and the other to the compressor.

1. Hooking up your Dental Turbine Unit

[Click here if you need to buy a dental turbine unit]

  1. Unscrew the nut from the back of the turbine unitAir Compressor Connection
  2. Insert the nut through the free-end of the tubeNut Through Hose
  3. Push the tube into the fitting on the turbine – push all the way until part of the tube gets slightly fatter to accommodate the fitting
     compressor to dental turbine unit
  4. Screw back the nut in place until securedental turbine unit

2. Hooking up your Compressor

[Click here if you need to purchase a compressor]

Compressor-to-Turbine-Connector: For connecting a turbine to compressor, you’ll need to create a connector which looks like the one below. To make it, you’ll need to purchase two separate parts that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. I’ve included images with part numbers as well as the relative location of where each part is in Home Depot (they are in separate departments). You’ll also need to purchase some Teflon Tape to prevent air from leaking. Wrap a few layers of teflon tape around the threads of Piece #1 before screwing on Piece #2.

Piece #1 – Brass Hose Barb
Purchase Online

purchase air compressor
Brass Hose Barb. Part #LFA-96
purchasing air compressor to dental turbine unit
air compressor to dental turbine unit
Location at Home Depot

Piece #2 – 1/4″ Steel Plug
Purchase Online

air compressor to dental turbine unit
1/4 inch Steel Plug, SKU 989-757
Connecting a Turbine to Compressor
Connecting a Turbine to Compressor
Location at Home Depot (In Tools near Air Compressors)

Teflon Tape
Purchase Online

Connecting a Turbine to Compressor

2. Push the slender end into the tube all the way

3. Now let’s hook it up to your compressor. Locate the quick release connector on your connector, hold it back, and connect it with the quick-release on the tube before letting go – you might need to turn it right and left a bit before you feel they come together.

practicing for the bench test.

4. You’re done!

 hook up air compressor to dental turbine unit for practicing for the bench test.

5. Adjustments

For adjustments to pressure, which ultimately affects the speed that your hand-piece will spin at, you’ll need to set the pressure to an appropriate amount to power your dental turbine unit just the right amount. A few folks have asked us what is the ideal pressure to set the air compressor pressure gauge at (the one in the picture above). Our recommendation is that you don’t allow the outgoing pressure from the air compressor to be higher than about 30 psi. This will prevent over-pressuring your turbine unit and most importantly help to protect your hand-piece from wearing out too fast. Thus, even if you try to turn you turbine unit to a higher psi than 30, the output from the air compressor will keep it at 30 psi or below.

For how to adjust your air compressor’s pressure gauge, check out this video:

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