Cleaning quick disconnects

[Vermonster]

The rear remote on my TC29S has quick disconnects. I regularly switch between my hydraulic top link and a dump cart. I find that the quick disconnects accumulate a layer of filth especially after I've gone out and tilled. I generally try to clean the quick disconnects before disconnecting or reconnecting hydraulic lines to avoid having much of that filth find its way into the hydraulic system.

Does anyone have a trick to get these things clean?

Am I babying my tractor too much? Should I worry about cleaning these before disconnecting or reconnecting lines?

 

[Bird]

I sure like to have mine clean before connecting them. I wipe the male connector with a rag, and if I can't wipe it all out of the female connector, then I blow it out with the blow gun from the air compressor.

Bird

 

[kerr]

I clean mine every connect-disconnect.Sand aint good on nothing but ice.Like bird said compressed air works for me.I dont even wash my rig with a power washer so not to get sand where it dont need ta be.

 

[ronjhall]

Michael
If you have rubber caps and plugs, always use them. This should help to keep most of the dirt off connectors. Keep caps and plugs plugged in to each other when hoses are attached. I've attached a picture of the caps and plugs I purchased for my Quick-disconnects.

 

[ronjhall]

Forgot the picture./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Cleaning the male end is easiest done by wiping with a rag. I've seen guys carry a can of ether for cleaning both ends. Works excellent on the female ends.

 

[lblair]

I use WD-40 to clean both male and female ends. I spray it in the female end and wipe it out..works slick as sh#& too! I clean them every time. I remove loader at least once a week. It dont add only a few seconds to clean and it will be worth it on down the road
Larry

 

[dieselpwr]

I like to use a hand pump spray bottle like you can get in most hardware stores or garden departments & fill it with diesel fuel for spraying on things to clean them. It makes a nice gental cleaner & it is fairly cheap compaired to bottled arousals.

Troy

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya
i just looked at npalomba's posting on his new 4300 and on his pics ya can see mult coloured covers for his loader snap disconnects i can't recall who makes them but they are better than the black ones ie, ya can match ya lines so ya don't plug them in a$$ about face.ok on the other note about cleaning lines some tractors filter the return oil ,some don't. if it filters the return line then a bit of dirt will be stoped in the filter before it get's in to the back end ....i leave it to ya's to work out what happens if it's not filtered .also don't use a water blaster on fittings as the water will enter ya oil lines (tractor not running no PSI in lines!!!)i have heard of cases where trans probs have happened with water getting in oil only thing they could trace it back to was the guy washed the he## out of it each day the water got in past the disconnects (think about it ,is there 1200-1800 psi left in ya lines when ya take them off???????)
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[jinman]

Troy, I like your idea and Larry's the most. I just removed my loader and what got me thinking was that the colored covers as JDKid mentions (which are standard on our NHs) were filthy when I went to install them. I had to clean the dust covers and fittings. I guess I could take the covers off and store them in my toolbox, but then removing and installing them would be an extra hassle and my luck would surely cause me to lose one somewhere down the line. For no more often than I remove my loader, the WD-40 or your diesel spray both sound like "just the ticket" to keep the adapters clean...and I so love the smell of diesel on my hands.../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JimI