VCR Metal Gasket Face Seal Fittings

A VCR metal gasket face seal fitting is a make-and-break instrumentation connection. It seals by compressing a replaceable metal gasket between two beaded glands, which are drawn together by a rotating female nut turning on a male nut. The result is a leak-tight, low-particle metal-to-metal joint built for ultra-high-purity gas, vacuum and analytical systems. Crestflo manufactures these metal gasket face seal fittings, glands, nuts and gaskets, in 316/316L stainless steel and high-nickel alloys. Both imperial and metric sizes are available, and parts can be electropolished and oxygen-cleaned on request. On this page, "VCR" refers to the metal gasket face seal fitting used in high-purity fluid systems; it has nothing to do with a video cassette recorder. VCR® is a registered trademark of Swagelok Company. Crestflo fittings are independent, dimensionally equivalent metal gasket face seal fittings, and they carry no affiliation with, endorsement from, or sponsorship by Swagelok.

Also Specified As: Metal Gasket Face Seal, VCR Coupling, Gland & Nut

Across gas-panel drawings, purchase specs and instrumentation catalogs the same connection is called many things. Engineers and buyers commonly specify it as a metal gasket face seal fitting, a metal face seal fitting, a gasket face seal fitting, a high-purity or UHP face seal fitting, or a vacuum face seal fitting, and by subtype as a VCR fitting, VCR face seal fitting, VCR coupling, VCR union or VCR connector. Component call-outs include the VCR gland or body, the male gland and female gland, the male nut and female (rotating) nut, the retainer or retaining nut, and the VCR gasket in 316L, nickel or silver-plated form. All of these designate one entity: the metal gasket face seal fitting detailed here, the metal-gasket subtype of the wider face seal fitting family whose O-ring counterpart is the VCO O-ring face seal fitting.

What Is a VCR Metal Gasket Face Seal Fitting & How It Seals

A VCR-type fitting is built from two glands, a metal gasket, and two nuts. Each gland carries a raised, coined bead. The metal gasket sits captured between the two beads, and a male nut paired with a rotating female nut clamps the halves together. As the nuts tighten, the two beads bite into the softer gasket and plastically deform it, forming a leak-tight, metal-to-metal-through-gasket seal. The threads only draw the joint together, they carry no sealant and play no part in the seal itself.

A compression tube fitting grips and seals on the tube's outside diameter with a ferrule. A VCR fitting works differently: it seals on a flat face against a replaceable metal gasket, so you can break the joint and remake it with a fresh gasket without disturbing the tube run. Because the seal forms on a fresh gasket at a flat face, this style generates very few particles. There's no thread sealant to outgas, no dead volume trapped anywhere, and each service remakes cleanly with a new gasket.

That's why the VCR metal gasket subtype has become the standard for ultra-high-purity and vacuum work, while the elastomer O-ring VCO subtype covers economical, frequently-opened medium-purity lines. For the broader family comparison, see the face seal fittings hub.

VCR Fitting Components: Male Gland, Female Gland, Nuts & Retainer

A metal gasket face seal fitting comes together from a matched set of glands, nuts and a gasket. That's what lets a gas panel or sampling manifold be built entirely from one alloy family, with heat traceability held in common throughout.

Interface and bead geometry follow the standard VCR-type gland form. Grades and finishes can be customized to the specification required. The VCR gland, male nut and female nut come either as individual parts or as matched gland-nut-gasket assemblies.

VCR Gasket Options: 316L, Silver-Plated, Nickel, Retained & Blank

Crestflo makes the gasket the seal element, and it's the VCR component that turns over fastest in the field. The company stocks metal gaskets in stainless and high-nickel grades, both retained and unretained versions, plus blank gaskets for isolating a line.

A retained gasket sits in a retainer ring, which makes one-hand assembly possible in gas panels. An unretained gasket works better for open bench work. Always fit a new gasket at each remake; it's what keeps the seal leak-tight. Gasket grades and plating can be customized to whatever the application requires.

VCR Fitting Configurations: Union, Elbow, Tee, Cross, Weld Gland & Bulkhead

Metal gasket face seal fittings come in the full standard VCR configuration set. Each one's made to order, in whatever alloy and end style your system calls for.

Standard family shapes are built to order. Send the engineering team your configuration list and end style, and they'll get you a build quote.

VCR Fitting Sizes (1/8″–1″) & Metric Tube Equivalents

VCR metal gasket face seal fittings come in the common instrumentation sizes, with metric tube ends to match each one. The 1/4 VCR fitting is what you'll typically find on a gas panel. Crestflo stocks both imperial and metric.

Tube-OD values follow standard tube tables. Metric ends come in 6, 8, 10 and 12 mm. Gland series identifiers and the full ordering code are proprietary to each build, so please request the ordering-code guide and VCR fitting dimensions from Crestflo's engineering team via the RFQ form.

VCR Fitting Materials: 316L Stainless, Inconel, Hastelloy, Monel & Titanium

For ultra-high-purity gas and vacuum service, stainless steel VCR fittings in 316/316L are the standard choice. Aggressive or corrosive process gases call for high-nickel and corrosion-resistant alloys instead. Every alloy is available across the full VCR line, and each one links to its own material page, where you'll find composition and property data.

Crestflo supplies VCR fittings in stainless steel and corrosion-resistant alloys only, never carbon steel, brass or aluminum. For help choosing a grade, see 316 vs 316L and the high-purity semiconductor selection guide. Origin is India. US and European melt is available on request, and full material traceability comes with it.

Ultra-High-Purity Finishes: Electropolish, Passivation & Oxygen/UHP Clean

Gas-panel and semiconductor engineers turn to VCR metal gasket face seal fittings when only ultra-high-purity components will do. They're often specified as UHP fittings, or simply high-purity fittings, built for the cleanest gas lines in the business. High-purity work calls for a particular finish, and that's what these fittings get: electropolish for a smooth, low-particle wetted surface, passivation for corrosion resistance, silver anti-galling plating on the threads, and oxygen or ultra-high-purity cleaning. Oxygen cleaning follows ASTM G93 and CGA G4.1. High-purity finishing, in turn, references ASME BPE. Standard UHP electropolish targets a low surface roughness, following SEMI and ASME BPE practice. Specify your Ra target on the RFQ so there's no guesswork. Cleanroom double-bag packaging for particle control is available on request. Pair the fittings with matched electropolished tubing and orbital-weld fittings for a complete, high-purity assembly.

Finishes per applicable standard; customizable to requirement.

VCR Ratings, Leak Integrity, Testing & Traceability

A VCR-type metal gasket seal is fully metallic, so it works anywhere from high vacuum through positive-pressure gas. The pressure and temperature rating you can actually hit depends on size, gasket and grade. Ratings follow the applicable standard, and everything can be customized to what you need.

Metal gasket face seal fittings get specified for helium leak-tight service in UHP and vacuum systems. A widely published integrity target for this category sits around 1×10⁻⁹ std cc/s helium. That's a standard industry value, and we'll verify it against your specification on request.

Testing covers hydraulic proof, burst and impulse, pneumatic, vibration, thermal cycling and vacuum. Helium and vacuum leak testing round it out, along with positive material identification (PMI). In-house NDT is standard practice here. Destructive testing goes out to ISO/IEC 17025-accredited labs, and third-party inspection is available whenever you ask for it.

Crestflo holds ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 certification, along with PED certification, and meets the approvals standard to instrumentation fittings. Each part is stamped with a heat or lot number, so full material traceability isn't in question. EN 10204 MTC 3.1 ships as standard; 3.2 is available on request. Datasheets and CAD are there for customers who ask.

VCR Fitting Installation & Make-Up

Installing a VCR metal gasket face seal fitting is a clean, repeatable job. Seat a new metal gasket (or a retained gasket assembly) between the two beaded glands, thread the female nut onto the male nut by hand, then tighten to the specified make-up. Make-up is defined either as a turn-past-finger-tight count or a torque value, and it varies by size and gasket, so request the VCR make-up chart for your sizes rather than guessing.

Use a fresh gasket at each remake to keep the joint leak-tight. Silver-plated gaskets and silver anti-galling plating cut the risk of thread galling on stainless glands under repeated service.

For general make-up and gauging technique, see ferrule installation and gauging and the thread identification guide.

VCR Vacuum Fittings: Semiconductor, Hydrogen & Analytical Applications

Crestflo leak-tight, low-particle metal gasket joints are the connection of choice wherever purity and seal integrity call the shots. That includes semiconductor gas delivery and gas panels, where a VCR fitting is often specified as a semiconductor gas fitting. It also covers high-purity and specialty gas distribution, high and ultra-high vacuum systems, hydrogen service, analytical and sampling systems, aerospace and defense, and pharmaceutical and biotech high-purity lines. Want matched components? Pair VCR fittings with high-purity regulators, grab-sampling systems, and sampling cylinders.

VCR Fitting Interchange & Swagelok Alternative

Crestflo's metal gasket face seal fittings are dimensional equivalents intended to interchange with existing VCR-type face seal fittings on the standard gland-and-gasket geometry, backed by ASTM F1387 performance qualification. VCR® is a registered trademark of Swagelok Company; Crestflo is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Swagelok, and Crestflo parts are described as interchange or equivalent, never as genuine or compatible product. To confirm size-by-size interchange for your incumbent part numbers, request your Swagelok VCR® cross-reference from our engineering team at the cross-reference desk, or read the Swagelok alternative narrative.

Why Crestflo for VCR Face Seal Fittings

Crestflo manufactures and supplies VCR metal gasket face seal fittings to customers across the US. It's the instrumentation division of an export house that's been in business for four decades, one recognized by the Government of India, with a solid delivery record in the Middle East and now a real foothold in the US market for drop-in instrumentation fittings. VCR fittings from Crestflo are engineered as drop-in replacements, backed by ASTM F1387, and they come in both imperial and metric sizes. The alloy range runs deeper than what most commodity sellers offer. Every part gets electropolish and oxygen/UHP-clean finishing, plus a heat-number MTC. Standard items ship from ready stock. Specials are made to order, with delivery running 6 to 8 weeks. Small MOQ and private-label programs mean a company can standardize a gas panel or sampling system without waiting on a major supplier's lead time. We Engineer Confidence.

Request a Quote for VCR Face Seal Fittings

Send sizes, configuration (union, connector, elbow, tee, cross, weld gland, bulkhead, cap or plug), alloy, gasket material and finish for a fast quote, order a sample, or set up a distributor, OEM or private-label program. Request a quote · request a sample · private-label program. US sales: sales@crestflousa.com · +1 346 594 9005 · Houston, TX. To confirm brand interchange, request your Swagelok VCR® cross-reference from the cross-reference desk.

Reviewed by the Crestflo Engineering Team

Frequently Asked Questions: VCR Metal Gasket Face Seal Fittings

Related Products & Resources

• Face seal fittings (VCR & VCO)
• VCO O-ring face seal fittings
• Orbital-weld fittings
• Electropolished tubing
• High-purity regulators
• High-purity semiconductor selection
• Swagelok cross-reference
• ASTM F1387 standard