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Chris S

QC coupler exploded-the results

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This "el cheapo" coupler exploded on me the other day. Good thing I was around the corner of the house. I didn't see any BB's around, so they probably became projectiles.

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Paul,

I never run more than 3000psi and most of the time I am around 2000psi. I havent had one break in awhile since I changed up my downstreaming method though.

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In 11 yrs of powerwashing with machines that range from 3000-4000 psi I've never seen that happen..Thank God. I did break couplers, got them crush by a brinks truck, Abused them any which way you can but never had one explode. Could it be that your running bleach thru your hoses and it caused the coupler to become brittle. Caustics are bad on Metal.

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Wow, what pressure are you running?

TS2021, I think it's 3500. It happened when the unloader was bypassing back to the tank. No more "el cheapo" for me. I'm just glad I wasn't standing beside it.

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One of the reasons I like a flow-type unloader is that there is virtually no pressure in the hose when in bypass. If you pull hoses, not having pressure in them makes them much easier to pull, with less stress on everything - including me.

I would think that the mfg of that coupler would like to analyze it to determine what happened. If there is a bad batch out there, they may need to recall them.

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Not that I'd want to be holding it, but the results of a catastrophic seperation look a bit more violent than the seperation really is. I have on more than one occassion intentionally blown apart a coupler when it was stuck. Just twist it a bit, lock back the collar, fire up the machine, and wait. It typically takes 2-3 minutes and pops apart. Since the pressure goes to zero almost instantly after seperation, the couplers rarely move more than 6-12 inches.

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I run all K-7 flow unloaders and have had sockets blow apart on me several times. The chemical makes them weak. I will say I have never had a Hansen SS qc blow apart only when I feel cheap and buy china made.

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