best air fittings?

[David Zaret]

i seem to recall a recent thread mentioning particular brands of air fittings... but i can't find it. i'm tired of junk, looking for high-quality fittings. can anyone suggest specific brands/products? thanks.

--- dz

[Patrick McCarthy]

Provost seem to be the best or close thereto. They have a pressure release button to let the pressure reduce before disconnecting, which prevents whipping. I recently went with Milton V for high flow, but think i will change out to what i should have done to start. The one problem i encountered with Prevost was trying to figure out which models, etc. I couldn’t find a dealer around here to guide me . . . . . And got confused trying to research them. People that that have them seem to say they are worth the up charge.

[Bruce Page]

I don’t know about the being best but after going down this road a few times with borg junk I finally sprung for the Prevost brand quick connect and fittings. I’ve had them on four different 125psi lines for about 3 years. I bucket test them every few months, no leaks yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Prevost-PRVESI071201S-Smart-Safety-Coupling/dp/B003969BJS/ref=pd_bxgy_2/146-0197454-3890761?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003969BJS&pd_rd_r=25a688bb-3acb-4dda-9475-1ea19dbca608&pd_rd_w=imBS6&pd_rd_wg=6DpkI&pf_rd_p=f325d01c-4658-4593-be83-3e12ca663f0e&pf_rd_r=7PTYT8CF93EVW02W1XHT&psc=1&refRID=7PTYT8CF93EVW02W1XHT

[Warren Lake]

Old guy used to say its what is best for you. They never could solve Ginger or Marianne. I have approx 10 of these with likely 40 years them. Cant remember ever one failure.

I picked them cause they were made in the USA and they were the smallest size fitting I could find. They also have six balls in there, more balls better if i was told correctly. In all that time ive cleaned them maybe once or twice just they were so messed up with shop stuff. Just under a soft wire wheel. I tried some pre made super flex line that came with fittings that looked like something from a Flash Gordon movie. They got cut off before I even tried them. I dont know the CFM on them but they flow fine for all I do including sandblasting or dynabrades.

Part says PCC Series F, Charlotte NC USA Some of them are very worn from being dropped on end concrete floor 100's of times.

Good American Quality. Not sure who a supplier for them up here is now but at the time I used National Hose in Toronto. I also use their blue air line, it has many years on it and has been great except its not happy in the cold. The flexi stuff got used for rebuilding the roof when it was cold and its still decent in the shop as well.

454439454440

[Brian Holcombe]

Cejn are nice, made in Sweden. They are euro style though, so none of the standard nipples will fit.

[Alex Zeller]

I use Milton brand ones. They type I have just push on, don't need to slide anything back. Don't remember the model number though. But now that the patent ran out other brands make them.

[Tom M King]

Some of the Milton Type H ones I'm using were new in 1974. I accumulated so many of them back then, that I never saw any need to change to anything else. It would cost me a couple of grand, and probably a day's work, to change them to anything "better".

[ChrisA Edwards]

I switched out most of my fittings to Prevost Hi-Flow (Green), a couple of years ago, and love them.

They don't leak and are so easy to disconnect and connect to an air line under pressure.

They are a little pricey compared to the BORG store fittings, but I think you are paying for a quality product.

I got mine from Amazon after looking at most of the options on the Prevost website. https://www.prevostusa.com/connection/quick-couplings-and-plugs-for-compressed-air-2.html

[Jamie Hoskins]

I have converted all of mine over to Prevost. Well worth it. I get mine from Obsessed Garage. They have always shipped fast. https://www.obsessedgarage.com/collections/prevost

I use the Green High Flow for my main tools, but also use the blue fittings for my dedicated air line in my metal shop for a blow gun.

[Bill Dufour]

Theoreticaly the cheap Hf ones can be rebuilt at least as far as a new o-ring.
Bill D

[Michael J Evans]

Old guy used to say its what is best for you. They never could solve Ginger or Marianne. I have approx 10 of these with likely 40 years them. Cant remember ever one failure.

I picked them cause they were made in the USA and they were the smallest size fitting I could find. They also have six balls in there, more balls better if i was told correctly. In all that time ive cleaned them maybe once or twice just they were so messed up with shop stuff. Just under a soft wire wheel. I tried some pre made super flex line that came with fittings that looked like something from a Flash Gordon movie. They got cut off before I even tried them. I dont know the CFM on them but they flow fine for all I do including sandblasting or dynabrades.

Part says PCC Series F, Charlotte NC USA Some of them are very worn from being dropped on end concrete floor 100's of times.

Good American Quality. Not sure who a supplier for them up here is now but at the time I used National Hose in Toronto. I also use their blue air line, it has many years on it and has been great except its not happy in the cold. The flexi stuff got used for rebuilding the roof when it was cold and its still decent in the shop as well.

454439454440

Warren
Those were perfecting coupling company. They were bought out and now ow ed my dixon valve, and now their dixon quick coupling division. Still USA made and good quality.

[Michael J Evans]

The prevost couplings are high quality. Dixon quick coupling are good. The Milton USA version's seem good. 6 balls are better than 4.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Plus 1 for Milton. Plastic on the hose ends in a cold garage hitting the hard concrete floor would not last in my shop.

[Alex Zeller]

Just looked at mine and they are Milton A style. Good old steel ready to take a beating. Like I said earlier, you don't need to pull the collar back to connect them. Just push. Also much cheaper than some of the fancy ones. When you have a half dozen connections on your walls and 4 air hoses spending $20 per female connector adds up. The only thing I use that requires a large volume of air is my impact gun and that has a 1/2" hose with 3/8" connectors. Everything else is 1/4".

[Edwin Santos]

Question for those more knowledgeable than I -
If my primary application is pneumatic nailing (brads, pins, crown staples, finish nails), is there any benefit to high flow over what I would get from the typical type M fittings?

[Michael J Evans]

Question for those more knowledgeable than I -
If my primary application is pneumatic nailing (brads, pins, crown staples, finish nails), is there any benefit to high flow over what I would get from the typical type M fittings?

I have customers in the pallet industry who much prefer the Euro/megaflow style. You get much more flow than a standard auto or industrial style.

For the little nailers, no I don't believe you will see much benefit.

[Patrick McCarthy]

I have converted all of mine over to Prevost. Well worth it. I get mine from Obsessed Garage. They have always shipped fast. https://www.obsessedgarage.com/collections/prevost

I use the Green High Flow for my main tools, but also use the blue fittings for my dedicated air line in my metal shop for a blow gun.

Jamie, thank you for that link. His video was helpful in helping me to understand the differences that were confusing me.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Question for those more knowledgeable than I -
If my primary application is pneumatic nailing (brads, pins, crown staples, finish nails), is there any benefit to high flow over what I would get from the typical type M fittings?

No, the connector makes very little difference on a nailer. They cock themselves by charging the cylinder for instant release when the trigger is pulled. After firing, they recock. The bigger the gun, the more air it takes for that. If you are using a big framer on bump fire (multiple nails per second) you can outrun it, but 99% of the time it's the hose length/diameter not being adequate for the demand. You can see the effect hose lengths have on air at the gun even better in roofing situations that usually have several hundred feet of hose and very fast rate of fire. In a woodshop, a 1/4"x50' hose will run everything just fine, faster than you can shoot. In framing we have to switch to bigger hoses and higher line pressures as we get further from the compressor to get the air where it needs to be. A hose causes WAY more restriction than a quick connect end will. Miltons are fine, and all we use because they hold up. Yes, I've tried the Provest, it came on a hose I bought, it didn't make it more than a week, plastic chipped badly and it filled up with dirt to the point that it would not connect without swearing and beating on it. We're rough on hoses and fittings, YMMV.