Safety Air Couplers

[BrianJ]

Before anyone (or anything) gets injured/damaged, I've decided to procure safety couplers.

I'm looking at the following:

• TOMCO $$ - Having hard time finding a vendor. Only sold in packs of 5.
• MILTON $- Available by various vendors. ~$10/ea. However, it's made in China.
• PREVOST $$$- pretty expensive. Several variation/versions available. Having hard time finding a vendor.

I'd like to hear from those of you that have used these couplers.

 

[ricleh]

I have 20 of the Tomco couplers. They have been excellent. I don't know where you can get them anymore though.


Rick

 

[tatra]

at work we have these ones that you have to engage the male end at an angle and align straight to have air...........will check on brand and update later..................seem ok, haven't had one diengage yet and pretty rough on our stuff at work..............not quite comfortable with them yet as a little dirt makes them finicky...................for home i just use cheap miltons

 

[Fedwrench]

We use prevost at work. There's no wasted time struggling with a connector. It attaches easily to my air tools and has a single button quick release. No sliding collars to mess with. They're not cheap but, when you think of how much time you spend changing air tools, they're worth it.

 

[Kevin54]

We use prevost at work. There's no wasted time struggling with a connector. It attaches easily to my air tools and has a single button quick release. No sliding collars to mess with. They're not cheap but, when you think of how much time you spend changing air tools, they're worth it.

After a while some of them will start hanging up. Also if the male connector is of a cheaper brand, it may not engage correctly. I have found on a few air tools the male connector varies at the very tip. Not enough to hang up in the standard female air connectors but just enough to hang up on the Prevost. What i like about Prevost is the push button release that releases the air first, then disconnects the tool. It also helps for people that have arthritis in their hands. Another thing nice about the Prevost is that there is no chance of accidental disengagement if the coupling is on the ground.

 

[speed bump]

I use some kind of universal connector that my dad picked up from Grainger. They are nice becuase you just push the tool on and just pull the connector off.

 

[ImportTuner]

I have both the Prevost and the Tomco's. Milton makes a Prevost lookalike and it works well also. I have never had them hang up ...

 

[nissan_crawler]

Snap-On dealer sells the Tomco's, I've been thinking about getting some. They're the two stage kind, push the button, air releases, push it again, chuck releases.

 

[tatra]

hey. here's the type we use.............unfortunatly i couldn't seem to get much info on this site but you'll get the general idea i hope.........

 

[nissan_crawler]

hey. here's the type we use.............unfortunatly i couldn't seem to get much info on this site but you'll get the general idea i hope.........

Ahroo

I haven't had much luck with the invisible couplers like that, the bastards always seem to leak on me.

 

[tatra]

might i help to include the link huh?....................... http://www.oetiker.com/content.asp?l=4&idNavig=1......ok i 'm a gonna post it now.............

 

[ImportTuner]

might i help to include the link huh?....................... http://www.oetiker.com/content.asp?l=4&idNavig=1......ok i 'm a gonna post it now.............

Never end a link with a bunch of periods

 

[Atlascycle]

Swing Couplers

These are the one that we use in the grinding shop where I work. have not had any problems with them coming loose, sticking, and when you are using the larger size couplers they are pretty easy to disengage. they also flow more than standard couplers and they are a very simple design.


Jason

 

[tatra]

import tuner, thanks for the tip, still a little bit green on this box................
atlas, now that you mention it, they are very good for airflow............more or less haven't had any real issues with them except they aren't what i'm used to so time will tell

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

I have the Tomco collar style (read someone elses post and wonder if they have a button style). Bought them years ago from thetoolwarehouse. They work fine when left on pipe, off of the ground. Use them on hose that hits the ground and gets gunk in them and they get clogged and jam up.

Dad decided it was a good idea, and picked up a couple of cheapies at HF. He doesn't work on anything hard, and the closest he comes to auto work is changing his oil or tires. So they are more for brad nailers.
He sent me one and it lasted longer on the hose end then the Tomco's. I just haven't ordered anymore in a while.

 

[BrianJ]

Anyone know where I can pick up Tomco or Prevost couplers?

 

[logical]

This is all new to me...what exactly do these do safety-wise that's different than the standard ones?

 

[ImportTuner]

This is all new to me...what exactly do these do safety-wise that's different than the standard ones?

No pressure when you do the disconnect ...

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

This is all new to me...what exactly do these do safety-wise that's different than the standard ones?

These either have a button that releases the air pressure, or a collar that does. Then when you release the tool/air hose, etc. you don't have to worry about it being propelled.

 

[Uncle Buck]

All I have are Milton brand cause that was what was readily available.

 

[BrianJ]

For those of you that have/used Tomco couplers, does it accept V-type (high flow) plugs?

 

[ricleh]

My Tomco couplers have accepted 3 different type fittings. I don't even know what the different types are though. I just know they look a little different and two of them won't work with the original couplers I had before. I believe the documentation said the Tomco would work with industrial, ARO and Truflate fittings.


Rick

 

[ImportTuner]

For those of you that have/used Tomco couplers, does it accept V-type (high flow) plugs?

The Tomco couplers do not accept the high flow plugs; I have a couple Prevost that are the high flow design. They are used mainly by body shops for painting.