Battle of the Quick Connects

J

JCturboT

New member
Because I had the need to purchase some new brass disconnects I figured I'd try some new brands to compare against what I have.



I had some Nelson N109C brass quick connects purchased around 10 years ago when I bought my Home. They have served me well without incident.



In addition to the Nelson I purchase the Dramm set 10-22729/740 as well as the Gilmour/Green Thumb #09QCGT.These "Green Thumb" branded Gilmour's are just like the older Gilmour #09QC but without the rubber "rings" to ease in connecting/disconnecting.They are also made in China unlike the Gilmour's which are USA manufactured.



I compared all 3 on my workbench and the first thing I noticed was that the Dramm was slightly larger in their outside diameter of the female piece.The collar which you slide down to make the connection was almost double the thickness of the Nelson and slightly thicker than the Gilmour.



Next,I took a inside measurement of the male pieces, while the Nelson and the Dramm were the same ID, the Gilmour was 1/32" larger.If you have low water pressure the Gilmors are the obvious choice here.



Gilmour advertises that their Quick Connects allows the most water flow of any quick coupler and based on my measurements I would have to agree.



Lastly,I judged how easy it was to separate the couplings.

For this -Nelson wins hands down.The thick knurl in the middle of the female coupling was the easiest to connect/disconnect.Next was the Gilmour followed by the Dramm.



The Dramm has the two knurled rings on the female piece but they are at the ends of the connector.When I was done washing my car, I tried to disconnect the hose nozzle and with the Dramm QD my wet fingers had a harder time disconnecting the pieces than either the Nelson or the Gilmour.



What did I learn from this little experiment?



That you'd probably be happy with any of the three Quick Connects and any one of them would do a great job.



Would I run out and replace all my Nelson's with either brand? Nope....



But, if I was starting out and needed some QDs I would probably opt for the Gilmours/Green Thumb brand as they are almost as robust as the Dramm but,with their larger ID for better water flow and easier to connect/disconnect knurls they appear to be the #1 choice of the three.



Jeff
 
Thanks for posting that comparison, and it's nice to see Lee Valley getting a plug as well :D



I have a scad of different brass ones, mostly Nelson's but a few others too (forget where they all came from as I've had 'em since forever), most of them fit together just fine (but a few don't). Do your Nelsons, Gilmours, and Dramms interchange?



I too have been playing around with the large-inner diameter Gilmours, but I've been using the plastic ones. Even with my boosted pressure the larger ID makes a differenece, especially with the foamgun.
 
Thanks Accumulator-



All three Quick Connects seem to fit just fine together,not so much as a drip.



I noticed one other thing as well...

I purchased some replacement rubber washers from Gilmour/Green Thumb and noticed that the I.D. of their washers are larger than both the Nelson & the Dramm as well.The Dramms and the Nelson washers had more of a "step down" to them.



Regarding Lee Valley-

I have only made one purchase from them so far but was really impressed at how fast I received my items.They are going to get a more of my business in the future.



Jeff
 
OK, thanks for the additional info. My brass fittings that *don't* interchange simply don't fit together at all, frustrating when I run across one like that in the middle of a job but I'm gradually getting them sorted out.



Most of my washers were replaced long ago/many times...not sure what I'm using in most of my fittings now.



While shopping at Lee Valley, check this sprayer out, I love it for undercarriages and wheelwells: Lee Valley Tools Under-Leaf Sprayer
 
i would get either the gilmour (lowes) or the craftsman (sears) quick disconnects as they both carry a Lifetime Warranty (also can get them OTC). i've used the nelson quik disconnects before (walmart) and they were garbage IME...
 
BigAl3 said:
... i've used the nelson quik disconnects before (walmart) and they were garbage IME...
Click to expand...



Huh, based on my experience with the Nelsons, "garbage" is the last word that woulda come to mind :think:



Wonder if they've changed them, or maybe they make different models :confused:



Some of my Nelson fittings date to the '80s and are still working great :nixweiss
 
Accumulator said:
OK, thanks for the additional info. My brass fittings that *don't* interchange simply don't fit together at all, frustrating when I run across one like that in the middle of a job but I'm gradually getting them sorted out.



Most of my washers were replaced long ago/many times...not sure what I'm using in most of my fittings now.



While shopping at Lee Valley, check this sprayer out, I love it for undercarriages and wheelwells: Lee Valley Tools Under-Leaf Sprayer
Click to expand...



Accumulator,

Yeah, I seen that spray bottle mentioned in your older posts-pretty neat item.I bet my kids would love it as well.Maybe next purchase :)



I also purchased the new hose nozzle from Lee Valley after reading about it on This Old House-

Hose Nozzles | Photos | Yard and Garden Tools | Tools and Products | This Old House - 14



I combined it with this Dramm spray end-

DRAMM Kaleidoscope 9-Pattern Spray Head at BestNest.com



The nozzle is definitely "old school" with stainless and brass construction,it almost seems too nice to be used on the car with the constant dropping of the hose on the driveway.Maybe it'll be my yard/garden nozzle;)



Jeff
 
Accumulator said:
Huh, based on my experience with the Nelsons, "garbage" is the last word that woulda come to mind :think:



Wonder if they've changed them, or maybe they make different models :confused:



Some of my Nelson fittings date to the '80s and are still working great :nixweiss
Click to expand...



BigAl,

Gotta agree with Accumulator as well.In the decade I have owned my Nelson Quick Connects I have yet to replace even one and I have them on 3 hoses, 2 sprinklers, and about half a dozen hose nozzles.



I only made the purchase of the other brands as I needed two more for the Pool area and I figured I'd try and compare them against what I have.



Jeff
 
JCturboT said:
BigAl,

Gotta agree with Accumulator as well.In the decade I have owned my Nelson Quick Connects I have yet to replace even one and I have them on 3 hoses, 2 sprinklers, and about half a dozen hose nozzles.



I only made the purchase of the other brands as I needed two more for the Pool area and I figured I'd try and compare them against what I have.



Jeff
Click to expand...



the one you have pictured looks different then the one's i got at walmart a while back. in any case, i'm happy with the gilmours (i like their products) that i bought at lowes and i don't see any reason for me to buy any different ones anytime soon...



Quick Connector Set with Overmold

034411320099md.jpg
 
BigAl3- Ah, sounds like there are different Nelson ones. And yeah, you generally don't go wrong with Gilmour :xyxthumbs



JCturboT- I'm going through a phase (we'll see how long it lasts) here where I've retired all my hose nozzles in favor of Gilmour plastic female Quick Disconnects, the ones with a built-in shutoff. I used to use these as my "nozzles" before I got my fancy Griot's ones, and I still use them for wheelwells/etc. where I appreciate their small size and plastic construtction (less damage from an OOPS). A while back I decided to try using them for the whole vehicle and I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.



I run a second shutoff upstream from this fitting, and use that to turn the water on/off while I adjust the spray pattern/volume via the built-in shutoff.



I really like the overall effect. I dunno how much my boosted water pressure factors in (I'd guess it makes a big differenece), but for now at least I'm happier with this simple setup than I was with any of my regular hose nozzles. The combo of volume/spray force/spray pattern seems just right for me and I find the whole thing more user-friendly than my nozzles too.
 
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