JIS H 3300 Copper Alloy Tube Buyer's Guide: Alloys, Tempers, Standards & How to Source from a Mill-Direct Manufacturer

Why JIS H 3300 Is the Go-To Standard for Copper Alloy Tubes in East Asian Projects

For seamless copper and copper alloy tube used in plumbing, heat exchangers, refrigeration, marine service and general engineering, JIS H 3300 is one of the most widely specified standards in East Asia. It covers a full family of materials — pure coppers, brasses, leaded brasses, tin and aluminum brasses, copper-nickel alloys and phosphor bronzes — under a single document, with a consistent set of dimensional, mechanical and inspection rules. For an EPC or OEM buyer whose supply chain stretches across Japan, China, Korea and Southeast Asia, that consistency is the main reason JIS H 3300 keeps showing up on datasheets and purchase orders. The current edition aligns dimensional tolerances and test methods with parallel ISO and EN standards so a JIS-ordered tube can be cross-referenced to BS 2871, GB/T 8890 or EN 12451 with a controlled degree of substitution, and the standard is harmonized with JIS H 0502 for eddy-current inspection. The marking rules require manufacturer name or trademark, material code, dimensions and heat number on every shipped length — the four fields that make field traceability possible once the tube has been bent, swaged or soldered into an exchanger bundle or a marine pipe run.

For B2B buyers, the practical question is not whether to specify JIS H 3300 — it is which alloy code, which temper designator and which inspection package match the service envelope, and how to keep the order inside the same quality plan as the rest of the project's piping. The rest of this guide walks through the alloy map, the temper language, the cross-standard mapping, and the seven RFQ items that separate a mill-direct jis h3300 copper alloy tube shipment that drops into the fabrication schedule from one that triggers a re-issuance.

The Alloy Map: What Each JIS H 3300 Material Code Actually Means

JIS H 3300 organizes copper and copper alloy tube into six families. The material code printed on the tube is the single most important data point in any procurement specification, because the same nominal "copper tube" can mean six different things in service. The families and most commonly specified codes: pure copper (C1020, C1100, C1220 — Cu ≥ 99.90%, used in plumbing, medical gas, refrigerant, electrical); brass Cu-Zn (C2600, C2700, C2801 — Cu 60–71% / Zn balance, used in sanitary, decorative, low-pressure fluid); leaded brass (C3140, C3501, C3604 — Cu 57–90% / Pb 1.3–3.7%, used in free-machining components and fittings); tin and aluminum brass (C4430, C4621, C6870 — Cu 60–79% with Sn or Al addition, used in condenser, heat exchanger, seawater); copper-nickel (C7060, C7150 — Cu 86.5–90.5% / Ni 9–33% / Fe 0.4–1.8%, used in marine piping, desalination, offshore); and phosphor bronze (C5111, C5191 — Cu 93.5–95.5% / Sn 6–7% / P 0.1–0.35%, used in instrument springs and wear-resistant parts).

The first decision on a jis h3300 copper alloy tube RFQ is metallurgical, not dimensional: C1220 for plumbing (brazes without hydrogen embrittlement), C4430 or C6870 for heat exchangers (tin or aluminum inhibits dezincification), and C7060 / C7150 for marine piping (nickel-iron-manganese resists seawater impingement). The wrong code is a service failure that no eddy-current test at the dock can fix.

Reading the Temper Designator: Why "C1220-O" and "C1220-H" Behave Differently

The second decision on a JIS H 3300 order is the temper. Temper controls the tube's yield strength, elongation, hardness and residual stress, and it is set during the final anneal or cold-draw pass at the mill. The standard uses a letter-number convention; the most common tempers in B2B orders are O (annealed, soft), OL (light annealed), 1/2H (half hard), H (hard) and EH (extra hard). The mechanical-property bands a B2B buyer should expect at the receiving inspection: C1220-O is tensile ≥ 200 MPa / elongation ≥ 40% (plumbing, ACR, medical gas, expansion loops); C1220-OL is ≥ 220 MPa / ≥ 35% (refrigeration, slight forming); C1220-1/2H is ≥ 250 MPa / ≥ 20% (general bending, flange forming); C1220-H is ≥ 290 MPa (straight-length structural, electrical); C2801-O is ≥ 315 MPa / ≥ 30% (decorative, deep-drawn); C2801-H is ≥ 370 MPa / ≥ 15% (fasteners, machined parts); C6870-O is ≥ 345 MPa / ≥ 35% (condenser, seawater service); C7060-O is ≥ 275 MPa / ≥ 30% (marine cooling, desalination). Two practical points on temper: an O-temper C1220 can be expanded, swaged and bent without annealing between operations, while an H-temper C1220 must be stress-relieved if the bend radius is tight; and brazed or soldered joints in H-temper tube carry higher residual stress around the heat-affected zone, which is why refrigeration and ACR specifications almost always call out O or OL temper. A jis h3300 copper alloy tube order that omits the temper letter is incomplete — the mill will default to O on copper and C2801 brass, but on the brass and bronze families the default is not always what the buyer's fabrication shop actually needs.

Where Each Alloy Belongs: Heat Exchanger, Marine, Plumbing, ACR, General Engineering

A JIS H 3300 tube order is almost always part of a heat exchanger bundle, a marine cooling loop, a building plumbing riser or an ACR line set, and the alloy choice is driven by the fluid chemistry, the operating temperature and the joining method. For plumbing and potable water the default is C1220 in O or OL temper because phosphorus-deoxidized copper tolerates brazing without the risk of hydrogen embrittlement; C1100 is sometimes offered at lower cost but is not recommended for brazed joints in closed systems. For shell-and-tube and plate heat exchangers in fresh-to-brackish water service, C4430 (admiralty brass) and C6870 (aluminum brass) in O temper are the workhorse choices — the tin in C4430 and the aluminum-arsenic addition in C6870 inhibit dezincification, the selective leaching of zinc that turns a brass tube into a porous copper skeleton in chloride-bearing water. Where the cooling water is seawater or the cycle involves high velocities, the spec moves to C7060 (90-10 copper-nickel) or C7150 (70-30 copper-nickel); C7060 tolerates seawater velocities up to about 3.5 m/s in well-designed piping, and C7150 is reserved for the most aggressive service including offshore platform cooling and desalination plant reject streams.

For shipboard piping, JIS H 3300 C7060 tube is widely accepted as the equivalent of EEMUA 144 90-10 Cu-Ni and ASTM B466 90-10 Cu-Ni, with the iron and manganese ranges adjusted to match marine service. A mill-direct bs2871 copper alloy tube order from a UK yard will frequently be cross-referenced back to JIS H 3300 when the same hull is built across multiple shipyards in Japan, Korea and China. For fire-fighting and seawater ballast lines the alloy stays C7060; for sanitary, hot-water and HVAC loops on the same vessel the alloy steps down to C1220 or C2801. Mixing alloys inside the same pipe run is one of the most common galvanic-corrosion issues seen at class survey. For refrigerant line sets in residential and commercial ACR, the standard call-out is C1220 in O temper with cleanliness controlled to JIS H 3300 Table 6 (residual oil, particulates and moisture inside the tube); leaded C3604 should not be specified for the refrigerant-carrying line itself because of the lead addition. For general engineering components — handrails, architectural trim, machined fittings, instrument sensing lines — C2600, C2700 and C2801 brasses in 1/2H or H temper are the most common picks, with the half-hard temper giving enough ductility for the bending operations typical of architectural fabrication while keeping the surface finish bright after polishing.

Cross-Standard Mapping: JIS H 3300 vs BS 2871, GB/T 8890, EN 12451 and ASTM B Grades

International EPC and OEM projects rarely run on a single national standard. A copper-alloy tube that meets JIS H 3300 is almost always asked to be cross-referenced to BS 2871 (UK), GB/T 8890 (China), EN 12451 (EU) or an ASTM B grade (USA). The mapping the project team should lock at the RFQ stage is: C1220 ↔ CN 108 / TU2 / Cu-DHP CW024A / C12200; C1100 ↔ C 101 / T2 / Cu-ETP CW004A / C11000; C2600 ↔ CZ 106 / H70 / CuZn30 CW505L / C26000; C2801 ↔ CZ 109 / H62 / CuZn38 CW509L / C28000; C4430 ↔ CN 111 / HSn70-1 / CuZn28Sn1As CW706R / C44300; C6870 ↔ CN 112 / HAL77-2 / CuZn20Al2As CW702R / C68700; C7060 ↔ CN 102 / BFe10-1-1 / CuNi10Fe1Mn CW352H / C70600; C7150 ↔ CN 107 / BFe30-1-1 / CuNi30Fe1Mn CW354H / C71500. The materials are chemistry-close, not identical, so any substitution needs a side-by-side review of the actual MTC. Cross-standard substitution carries three risks: impact-test or hardness limits differ (JIS H 3300 does not require a low-temperature impact test on C7060 but EN 12451 does, a difference that matters for cryogenic or North-Sea service); iron and manganese ranges on C7060 vary between JIS, EN and ASTM (for offshore service the iron side is usually the binding limit); and surface-finish language differs — JIS "as-drawn" is not EN 12451 "mill finish" or ASTM B466 "standard finish", and ACR cleaning protocols are read off different tables. The gbt8890 copper alloy tube a Chinese fabricator quotes for a domestic boiler or condenser bundle is functionally equivalent to JIS H 3300 C4430 / C6870, but the MTC layout differs, so the substitution must be agreed in writing before the mill rolls the billet.

Dimensional Tolerances and Inspection: What the Mill Certifies and What the Buyer Should Re-check

The most common cause of a JIS H 3300 tube rejection at the receiving dock is a dimensional non-conformance that the mill's certificate did not catch. JIS H 3300 sets tolerance bands in tables keyed to the alloy and the temper; the buyer has to choose between the "standard" and the "precision" tolerance series at the RFQ stage, because switching mid-order triggers a re-quote. For tubes up to 50 mm OD, standard tolerance is ±0.10 mm and precision is ±0.05 mm; for 50–100 mm OD the bands widen to ±0.15 mm standard and ±0.08 mm precision. Wall thickness tolerance is given as a percentage of the nominal wall: ±10% standard and ±7% precision up to 4 mm wall, and ±10% standard / ±5% precision above 4 mm wall.

A JIS H 3300 mill test certificate (MTC) covers chemical composition, tensile strength, elongation and (where specified) hardness. It does not automatically cover leak tightness, eddy-current or hydrostatic testing, surface roughness, or the cleanliness limits that refrigeration and ACR specifications call out. The seven items below are the ones a B2B buyer should lock at the RFQ stage: chemical composition per JIS H 3300 Table 1 (with the iron and manganese ranges on C7060 / C7150 quoted as the binding limits for offshore service); tensile and elongation per the table for the chosen temper (a flat test piece below 1 mm wall is not directly comparable to a round-bar number); hardness as HV or HRB where machined-brass service requires it; eddy-current test per JIS H 0502 with the acceptance level negotiated at the RFQ (the default is acceptable for plumbing and ACR but may be too loose for condenser and nuclear-service orders); hydrostatic test for pressure-retaining service at 1.5 × design pressure held for 10 seconds with no pressure ｄｒｏｐ; surface roughness as Ra in µm (Ra 0.8 µm is a common target for condenser service); and cleanliness for ACR per JIS H 3300 Table 6 (capped ends, sealed packaging and a clean-paper certificate, with re-cleaning required at the fab shop if any of the three is missing). For a bs2871 copper alloy tube cross-reference order the same seven items apply, but the test-method reference shifts to BS EN 10246 and BS EN 10002.

Surface Finish, Marking, Packaging and the Often-Missed Items

JIS H 3300 says the surface must be clean, free from cracks, and free from excessive imperfections; minor scratches or discoloration are allowed within limits. The practical question is whether the tube is "as-drawn" (the natural finish from the final draw pass) or "bright annealed" (the bright surface produced by a controlled-atmosphere anneal after the last draw). Bright-annealed C1220 is the standard for ACR and medical gas, because the bright surface indicates a clean, oxide-free condition that does not need pickling before brazing; as-drawn tube is acceptable for plumbing behind the wall and for general engineering service where the surface will be hidden or polished.

Marking on every tube must include the manufacturer's name or trademark, the JIS H 3300 material code, the dimensions and the heat number; for marine orders the class society mark and the inspection authority stamp are added. Heat-number traceability is what allows a mill to trace a field failure back to a specific cast; without it, a single tube failure on a vessel can force the operator to scrap the entire piping system on that hull. Coiled tube is bundled in mill coils with internal spacers to prevent ovality; straight-length tube is packed in wooden crates with end caps and silica-gel desiccant for overseas transit. The end caps are what keep the inside surface clean enough for ACR service; if they fall off in transit, the tube has to be re-cleaned before use. EZ Steel Industrial's Lishui facility packs to both JIS and EN 10216-5 standards, with the additional moisture barrier and wooden-crate fumigation needed for ocean freight.

U-Bend Tube and Finned Tube: Extending JIS H 3300 Into Heat-Recovery Equipment

Outside its standalone use, JIS H 3300 tube is the starting stock for two semi-finished product groups that are central to industrial energy recovery: U-bend heat-exchanger tubes and finned tubes. U-bend tubes start as straight JIS H 3300 tube in O or OL temper, are induction-heated at the bend point, pushed through a bending die, and then stress-relieved. The bend radius is set by the exchanger design (a tight U-bend of 1.5 × OD is common in air-cooled condensers, a wider 3 × OD in process heat exchangers), and the risk at the bend is wall thinning on the extrados and wrinkling on the intrados — for that reason the incoming tube has to be supplied to the precision wall tolerance and the temper has to be O. The post-bend stress-relief anneal is what allows the tube to live with the residual bend stress in service. EZ Steel Industrial's Lishui facility produces u bend tube to JIS H 3300, ASTM B111, EN 12451 and GB/T 8890, with bend radii from 1.5 × OD up and 100% eddy-current re-test after bending.

Finned tubes add a helical or axial fin to the outside surface of the JIS H 3300 base tube to increase the heat-transfer area. The base tube is usually C1220, C4430, C6870 or C7060; the fin is usually the same alloy or aluminum for cost reasons. Three common processes: embedded fin (helically wound and mechanically embedded in a groove on the base tube), extruded fin (the fin and the base tube are co-extruded from a single billet), and welded fin (resistance-welded to the base tube). The JIS H 3300 base-tube specification has to match the finning process — embedded fin needs a softer base tube, extruded fin needs a tighter chemistry range, welded fin needs a base tube that can carry the weld current without through-wall burn-through. For boiler economizer and waste-heat recovery service, finned tube specifications usually call out HFS or HF-welded type, with the fin height, fin pitch and fin thickness quoted as separate items on the RFQ. The practical overlap is that both products live on the same mill floor and share the same quality plan, so a project that needs both can consolidate the order onto a single supplier and one MTC layout — which is why the Lishui and Yangzhou production lines are set up to share stock between the JIS H 3300 base-tube order, the U-bend cell and the finning line, giving the project a single heat number across the whole bundle.

Common Procurement Pitfalls and the 12-Item RFQ Checklist

The same five procurement mistakes show up on JIS H 3300 orders year after year: the wrong alloy code for the fluid (C2600 or C2801 brass ordered for seawater service dezincifies within months); the temper left off the order (a C1220 order without O / 1/2H / H designator defaults to O, and a shop set up for 1/2H bending will see wrinkles on the brake); tolerance band not specified (a 25 mm OD × 1.2 mm wall C4430 quoted on the standard band may not be tight enough for tube-sheet rolling); no eddy-current test level (a class society will reject nuclear-service C7060 with the default JIS H 0502 acceptance); and end caps missing on arrival (C1220 coils for ACR service shipped without caps pick up moisture and particulates, and the fab shop has to re-clean the entire lot).

The 12-item checklist below is the one EZ Steel Industrial's project team works through with every new JIS H 3300 inquiry — JIS H 3300 material code; temper designator; OD / wall / length or coil weight; tolerance class on OD and wall; surface finish; end treatment; inspection package; eddy-current test acceptance level; MTC format (EN 10204 3.1 or 3.2); cross-reference standards accepted; packaging and marking; and delivery terms with the inspection window. Each item maps to a specific line in the mill quote, and a quotation that is silent on any one of them is a quotation that will be re-quoted later.

How EZ Steel Industrial Supplies JIS H 3300 Tube from the Lishui Mill

EZ Steel Industrial Co., Ltd. has been manufacturing industrial metal piping since 1994, with three production sites covering the major copper-alloy, carbon-steel and stainless-steel product lines. The Lishui facility in Zhejiang is the center of the stainless steel and copper-nickel product range, with seamless and welded tube production, U-bend bending, finning and the eddy-current test line. The Yangzhou facility in Jiangsu is the large-diameter carbon and alloy steel pipe mill, and the Cangzhou facility in Hebei handles alloy steel pipe inventory and custom pipe fittings. Together, the three sites cover eight product groups — carbon and carbon alloy steel, stainless steel, copper and nickel alloy, heat efficiency tubes (including u bend tube and finned tube), pipe fittings, pipe flanges, gasket / stud bolt / nut, and industrial valves — so a JIS H 3300 order can be bundled with the rest of the project's piping package onto a single supplier and quality plan.

For JIS H 3300 specifically, the Lishui production line covers the C1100, C1220, C2600, C2700, C2801, C4430, C4621, C6870, C7060, C7150, C5111 and C5191 codes, in OD range 4–219 mm and wall 0.5–10 mm, with the full temper range (O / OL / 1/2H / H / EH) and packaging to JIS H 3300 plus EN 10216-5 / ASTM B111 / GB/T 8890 as required by the destination market. The mill is ISO 9001 certified, holds API 5L and API 5CT product certification, and is PED-compliant for pressure equipment. MTCs are issued to EN 10204 3.1 as standard, with 3.2 available on request. Hydrostatic and eddy-current testing is in-line; surface roughness is measured on a per-lot basis for heat-exchanger and nuclear orders; the cleanliness protocol for ACR service is performed in a dedicated cleaning-and-capping cell at the end of the line. For project orders, the engineering team can hold a single heat number across the JIS H 3300 base tube, the U-bend cell, the finning line and the pipe-fittings shop — which is the practical way to keep a copper-alloy tube order audit-clean from the mill to the vessel or the exchanger bundle. Stated capacity is 480,000+ tons annual production and 500+ employees, with multilingual export support and just-in-time delivery on the major East-Asian, Middle Eastern, European and North American project corridors.