Convert the plate's units before they go in an RFQ.
A nameplate built in Japan, Germany or Scandinavia routinely reads in MPa, m³/min or Celsius; the desk reading it may think in bar, GPM or Fahrenheit. That is why the maker pages on this site ask for plate figures exactly as printed: hand conversion is where the identifying figure most often gets lost between the plate and the request. This tool does the arithmetic precisely, as a cross-check on your own reading rather than a replacement for it.
It converts units. It does not identify a part, a model or a machine, and it is not a substitute for the number and unit exactly as printed on the plate — send both.
bar · mbar · MPa · kPa · psi · kgf/cm²
The unit most often behind a misread compressor, boiler or hydraulic nameplate. Type a value into any field; the others update. Convert like with like: a gauge figure (bar g, psig) stays gauge and an absolute figure (bar a, psia) stays absolute — moving between the two means adding or subtracting atmospheric pressure, which no unit factor does. A plate marked kg/cm² means kgf/cm², the technical atmosphere (at).
m³/h · m³/min · L/min · L/h · US gpm · Imp gpm · CFM
Pump, compressor and separator throughput. CFM (cubic feet per minute) is the customary air-flow unit on North American compressor and blower plates. The gpm field is US gallons; an Imperial (UK) gallon is about 20% larger, so an Imperial gpm figure typed in here comes out wrong. Nm³/h and SCFM refer to reference conditions that differ between conventions: convert the number, keep the N or S prefix, and do not treat the two as exact equivalents.
°C · °F
Coolant, exhaust, cargo and provision-room set points. These fields convert readings, not differences: a 10 °C rise or alarm deviation is 18 °F (multiply by 1.8, no +32), so do not run a temperature difference through them.
N·m · kgf·m · kgf·cm · daN·m · lbf·ft · lbf·in
Bolt and fastener torque figures from a maker's overhaul manual or torque wrench setting sheet.
kW · PS (metric hp) · hp (mechanical)
Engine, pump and compressor drive ratings. Metric horsepower (PS, sometimes CV or CH) and mechanical horsepower (hp) differ by about 1.4%, so state which one the plate uses rather than writing just “HP”. A generator figure in kVA is a different quantity: kW = kVA × power factor, so take both figures from the plate instead of converting one into the other. Where a low power factor is the question rather than the conversion, the power factor correction calculator gives the capacitor kvar to raise cos phi from its present value to a target, with the line current before and after.
Questions about using converted numbers in an RFQ
Does this tool identify my part or model?
No. It converts a number from one unit to another using fixed physical constants. It has no knowledge of any maker's model range and makes no claim about what equipment a figure belongs to — that identification still comes from the nameplate, the serial number and photographs.
Which unit should I actually send with an RFQ?
The one printed on the plate, exactly as printed, with its unit stated. Use this tool to check your own understanding of that figure, not to relabel it — a converted value is a cross-check, not a replacement for the original reading.
Why do so many nameplates use MPa or m³/min instead of bar or GPM?
Unit convention follows where a machine was engineered and built, not where it ends up in service. SI-derived units such as MPa and m³/min are standard on plates from many manufacturing countries; bar, psi and US gallons per minute are common elsewhere. Neither reading is wrong — they describe the same physical machine in different, equally valid systems.
Can rounding here cause a wrong part to be ordered?
The conversion factors are exact to at least seven significant figures; each result is shown to at least four, and the copied text marks the figure you entered and lists the others as converted values. For a safety-relevant setting — a relief valve, a survey-recorded pressure — always carry the original plate figure through to the order and treat the converted value as a sanity check, not the figure of record.
Send both, and the request identifies itself.
A converted number is a cross-check on your own reading, not evidence on its own. Attach the nameplate photograph, state the original figure and unit, and add the converted value if it helps — Vessel Core checks all three against each other before a quotation goes back.
