Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Have you ever had one fall out and jam your spray tip? That's always fun lol

We have been flushing our system with final wash by softwash systems and leave the spray wand and tips sitting in the solution while it circulates in the system. We are still on the same one that we started the year with, but will be swapping it out in a week or so. I buy them 10 at a time, so I don't mind swapping them out on occasion.

I assume jap but the brand is Legacy.

I purchased the heavy duty stainless at like $15+ per piece and they are junk. Leaked from the get go, I buy the cheap ones from the Power Wash Store and like Zach I buy them in bulk. Just replace as needed.

I tried Hanson but they don't do well with the J rod so I went back to Chinese. The quick connects last a long time for us and haven't had a problem with them falling apart for years. After each job the system is rinsed then the quick connects are sprayed with lubricant. We pull them back and spray everything then put the gun away. It has worked well for many years now. I also use heat resistant O rings. As soon as it starts to leak it is replaced.

I use the cheap ones also,..if you see them starting to rust ,..give them a soak in some oxalic overnight,..wake up to a brand new looking,.and working connector. Extends the useful life greatly. As far as the leaking from the get go,.the worse ones I seen for this are the Legacy,..I don't even have any of those left.

Something else to try though is using Buna N o-rings in these problem fittings,..I've done that and noticed this has fixed the issue a few times,....I think it's likely due to the fact that Buna N is softer than Viton,..and maybe forms better to bad machined parts??? Especially in lower pressure applications,..because higher pressure will squash the o-ring into the fitting better than low pressure. And Viton being harder,..doesn't squash into conformity as well as the softer Buna N,..Which is Nitrile by the way.  

Viton is just more chemical resilient,...but using the Buna N makes sense in this situation. They are actually fairly resistant ,..but what gets them is they are soft and begin to degrade from simply using them.

Another thing that can cause leaks,.and will sneak up on you is the nipple that goes into the coupler,..if that little machined end begins to get degraded due to rust,..it will not seat properly down against the o-ring inside the quick coupler,..and the user may assume it's the quick coupler,.whereas it's not always the case.

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Wednesday 7th of June 2017 06:19:46 AM

Hello all,  I am re-posting this from another thread here and hope it helps.   This remains a great forum!

July 2016....I thought I'd share a small success of mine that might help someone else. I had been changing out stainless QC every other job even after rinsing etc. Mostly bearing issues, but O rings as well I guess.

I bought brass QC and started to use the Red N Tacky grease after a mechanic buddy suggested it. It has rust inhibitors and acts like a barrier to the solution. I pull down the QC and pack the bearings good on the outside and inside, with grease before, during and after the job rinse, coating the inside as well. I am on on the same QC after 12 jobs. I haven't tried it on stainless yet, maybe I'll have even better results  with those.

June 2017..update..this stuff is great! You have to give it a try and you wont regret it! 

Good Luck! 

 V/r Jeff

 

Red "N" Tacky Grease - Lucas Oil

@Michael Wedge,.....The CLR is an acid,.and is essentially doing the same thing I mentioned as to using the oxalic acid. Although I don't let them in the solution all the time,..as I see no need,..Overnight every now and then or when you see a rust issue forming seems to be enough. but I've been doing this for about 10 years and it greatly improved the life of QC. I mentioned it years ago on the old RCIA forum.

@Jeff Newman,...if you were changing quick connects every other job,.whatever you had were beyond junk. With that said,..the grease idea likely does help.

Jeff

Hey Bruce,..doesn't seem crazy at all,... anti-freeze has anti corrosion properties and also lubrication properties,.. in which both would be good for the purpose here. Good idea!

Jeff

-- Edited by Jeff Wible on Sunday 25th of June 2017 12:00:49 PM

Sounds like the anti freeze has the same properties of the red&tacky grease. I might have had low quality QCs, but the grease  solved even low quality bearings and worked well for me. Good discussions and ideas as always here! 

 

V/r jeff