One of the interruptions was the loss of my shop air. It seldom happens but when it does it sucks.
I have had my Quincy 60-gallon 2-stage air compressor since new in the early 90's when I built my last shop. It has been an excellent piece of equipment and in all those years only left me without air 3 times including this one. Two of those times it was the same component failure, which was the check valve. Now these are a common failure point on any compressor so when the last one failed I bought two, so I could have one as a spare or backup. When the compressor was leaking the other night after shutdown and tripping the unloade, I knew immediately it was the valve not sealing. No worries, I have one in the drawer. I went to grab it and then some tools to remove the old one and replace then the plan was to clean the one I just pulled out and put it aside as the next backup/spare.
Tools and new check valve at the ready. This is usually only about a 10+ minute job.
I removed the main rigid line and then as I was removing the street elbow for the unloaded tube it broke. I did NOT have a spare 90-degree fitting. 🤬 Seeing as how this was quite late at night, this caused a night delay as I had to grab one on the way home the next day.
The check valve that I removed disassembled and ready to clean. You can see the crack/split in the elbow also.
Next afternoon it was back up and running.
Purrs like a kitten again. Opted to clean the air filter while I was at it but it was actually in good shape as there is little to no dust in the RV/storage bay where the compressor resides.
On a positive note, while I was working on the compressor my new Prevost air couplers arrived. I switched a few of my more air demanding tools over to hi-flow Milton V series plugs and couplers about 10 years ago and then when I moved and built the new shop with many more air drops I switched the vast majority of my tools and hoses over to the Milton V-series hi-flow fittings and couplers. However, over the past 5+ years of having them throughout the shop I have become less and less impressed with the Milton couplers. They are hard to connect requiring two hands and when disconnecting they require two hands as I have found I have to push inward slightly to get them to release. I had people tell me they need to be oiled but even doing that over the years they have not been as "user friendly" as I once thought. What's worse is a couple of weeks ago when I went to disconnect a secondary air hose it popped quite violently and I didn't grab it in time and it damn near hit the Camaro. My heart sunk as I watched the hose hurl towards the car and I couldn't grab it back. That was the last straw.
When I built my new shop a guy on another forum told me about the Prevost hi-flow couplers and how nice they were and what fantastic quality they were. I looked at them at the time but the price scared me somewhat. I should have listened and just bought them back when I built the shop rather than waste more money on inferior couplers. First impression after opening the package was that these just felt like a quality coupler. I has also ordered a couple of their swivels as I like those on small tools like die grinders and my smaller air ratchets as they allow better maneuverability in tight places. I have used the Dynabrade swivel fittings for years and needed a couple more and noticed that Prevost also offered them and they were about the same price so I opted to give them a try. Not that I have been unhappy with the Dynabrade as they have worked perfectly, I just wanted to give the Prevost a try seeing as how I was already placing an order.
I took some time and switched several of my coiled hoses over to the new couplers which all took 1/4" FNPT couplers and then my two hose reels that require 3/8" FNPT couplers. The first couple of times I used them I was impressed. Not only do they pop free easily with the push of a recessed button but they quickly bleed the air off so the tool doesn't get ejected. It's a nice one handed operation and what is even an added bonus is that they connect much easier with less effort required when connecting.
Finally after cleaning up I was able to wipe the benches down in preparation for the next project coming in.
After a couple nights of using the new Prevost couplers now I am still very pleased with them and pissed at myself for not listening to others and purchasing them when I built the shop. The only downside is that the Milton's would accept either the hi-flow male plugs OR the standard male plugs in the same hi-flow coupler. The Prevost couplers will not. Meaning I had to order more of the hi-flow plugs and make the complete conversion.
It's a racket I tells ya....
So if anyone is looking to convert their air couplers to hi-flow if I can give one bit of advice that is to skip right to the Prevost couplers from the get-go and not waste time or money with the Milton's.
Thanks for looking.
Mike