New Product: Hargett QDC (quick disconnect couplers)

[Turbo-charged]

late last week we received our first QDC coupler and i have to say that i am REALLY impressed with it. i have full intentions of using these things any chance i can from now on. it is designed as a replacement for the million dollar wiggens clamps, and in all honesty i find the QDC's much easier to use, and the best part is they are a FRACTION of the price! here are a few pictures of the piece. when they originally sent me some info via email on the connectors i thought they looked nice, but when they showed up i was quick to say that they look even nicer in person! they are available in a 2 peice(pictured) and a 3 peice(for tighter spaces, they have a slider like the wiggens). these connectors go together way easier than the wiggens do IMO and they are 60% cheaper (no tools required). they are made from 6061 T-6 aluminum and unlike your traditional V-band connection these will flex like the wiggens clamps will. here is a picture from their site of the 3 piece version available in 1", 1.5", 2", 2.5", and 3". its about time somebody came out with an affordable solution! im excited about these units and to become a dealer for an awesome product!

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[boostedcivicsir]

snap ring looks like that of a ford 4wd hub. looks nice.

[1992Si]

That's nice in a picture. Lets see one on the car.

I like the idea that it will flex. Good find Joe.

So the male piece slides inside the female receiver and the lock ring fits inside the grove on the female ID and holds the two together. The o-rings form a nice seal and allow for a little flexing.


Modified by 1992Si at 3:21 PM 8/27/2008

[tepid1]

I notice a few differences compared to a Wiggins or a Hydraflow clamp....

The Hargett piece tapers at the center of the clamp. Not that big of a deal, but flow restriction is flow restricition.

Dual gasket is nice, but it must limit flex and it adds more weight. It looks like a heave piece in and of itself.

Wiggins ferrules have a nice step to them so you can mate tube/pipe to them much easier. These you need to worry more about alignment.

Now some question for you Joe....

What is their pressure and temperature ratings?
What type o-ring do they use? Do they fit the standard (-) series rings?
What do they weigh?
Can you use them for liquid IE: coolant?

Thanks for sharing

[FST GSR 1]

Saw the same exact post, word for word, on the YB. Same person?

[ShawnR]

looks good i might be looking into one of these for my car

[tony1]

I have some here for my car as well, i'll get pics up soon of mine on my throttle body. I think they are very nice pieces and for the price are the best value available.

Tepid, they use standard o rings, you can use any material you want based on what you are flowing through the coupler. They can be used with liquids.

I haven't weighed them, but they are on par with wiggins or v band connections. Let's get real, none of us are THAT weight concious.

The wiggins ferrules do have a small lip on the edge, but it's not to locate the tube, or i've never used the right size tube. With the wiggins ferrule the thin "locating" part lines up perfect with the size tube it's to be welded to, which actually makes welding them in a pain as you are welding 1 material that's .o65" to another that's somewhere around half that and a thick piece on the rest of the ferrule. If it was a locating lip then it would require using 3.125 - 3.25" tubing on a 3" coupler.

[Turbo-charged]

2 O-rings adding weight? come on now haha

the inside of the assembly is as smooth as butter, to consider it a flow "restirction" is just crazy.

the step on the wiggins is nice, but to say that you dont have to "worry about alignment" because of a step vs no step is far fetched too.


he actually told me the pressure rating and temp ratings on the 2 different 0-rings available today, however i cant remember them off of the top of my head. i know that the lower of the 2 o-rings was rated for more pressure/heat we will ever put at them.

the o-rings look very similar to the wiggins type stuff, i am not an 0-ring expert so i'd have to get that info from them.

they are very light, dont have a scale here to get an exact weight on them. light enough to not have to worry about weight lol

yes they will work with other fluids. they are being lab tested to get all of the "technical" info on that type of stuff. they are not recommended to be used with fuel though

[NRGtechParts]

I really like these, we have some in the back that they are using on some projects. They seems like a good product but i still like the v-bands better.

[rota92]

Here comes the newest bandwagon! Tony and Joe already have them so you know it's going to be big!

Looks like a very nice alternative for sure! And I'm very partial to wiggens as I use them all day at work.

Thanks for the info guys

[Turbo-charged]

i was actually a little dissapointed when i got my wiggens lol

[tony1]

Installation of the pipe with these is 1000 times easier that with a wiggins because you're not fighting with the sleeve jumping around on the orings. The "sleeve" end is fixed to the tube. The 3 pc version is more like a wiggins and will be more difficult to assemble in comparison. The 2pc QDC will work best in most any application though.

[Turbo-charged]

Originally Posted by tony1

Installation of the pipe with these is 1000 times easier that with a wiggins because you're not fighting with the sleeve jumping around on the orings. The "sleeve" end is fixed to the tube. The 3 pc version is more like a wiggins and will be more difficult to assemble in comparison. The 2pc QDC will work best in most any application though.

the wiggens are def. not as easy as people think. i took a wiggins off of my car on the lower side of the charge pipe because it was too much of a pain in the ass. i know what will be replacing it!

[vw16vcabby]

theory of these clamps is similar to alot of the highend european cars coolant system clamps.

who is the supplier for these? these would work well in a couple porsche setups im working on.

[tony1]

http://hargettprecision.com/

[rota92]

I could only see one pic Joe posted from work, now that I saw the site I really like how simple those are lol Must be easy for you guys to fab up to?

I don't fab any wiggens, just attach/detach things from and to them but this looks on par with that step too

[tepid1]

All the tubing that I use lines right up with the wiggins ferrules.

Originally Posted by Turbo-charged

the wiggens are def. not as easy as people think. i took a wiggins off of my car on the lower side of the charge pipe because it was too much of a pain in the ass. i know what will be replacing it!

I don't have any problems with the wiggins. If done right it takes about 30 sec per clamp.

I'm not bashing this new stuff at all. It seems like people don't like the wiggins or hydraflow stuff because they don't know how to operate the assemblies correctly.

[tony1]

Originally Posted by tepid1

All the tubing that I use lines right up with the wiggins ferrules.

You're not using 3" 16ga tubing then. What size do you use?

[Turbo-charged]

im pretty sure a 3 year old knows how to operate the assembly right. actually....when we were on the dyno with your car you were also complaining how much of a pain in the ass it was

[Turbo-charged]

welded the female end to the IC. these, by far, weld nicer than the wiggins ferrels IMO. ignore the dirty weld. im all out of roloc disks and tried to wing it. i'll grab some tonight before i do the turbo to IC connection.

[tony1]

My camera isn't quite as good as Joe's, lol, but here's my t/b. I'm going to have to bring my good camera up here, i can't make good stuff look good with this POS i have here.

[tepid1]

I'm no professional welder but I didn't have a problem with my stuff....

Since we are all sharing pics....




And the lip I was talking about earlier....


Tony, I just use cheap aluminum 3" stuff from a local supplier. It fist perfect.

[Turbo-charged]

glad to see you attatched it to the TB that way.....i was planning on doing the same thing to a car here next week.


this little camera i have is pretty awesome. its just a small point and shoot that Jenny got me for X-mas a couple years ago. almost makes it look like im doing something other than pushing a button lol

[tony1]

Tepid, measure the o.d. of that lip. If it's a wiggins ferrule, it's 3" o.d. on the small part of the lip, doesn't do anything to locate anything if you're using 3" o.d. tube. Did you weld yours or did someone else? I always though it was for locating too until i welded some and saw how they fit up.

[YZFR6AVID]

Take it over to welding and fabrication guys! Lol... J/K

Man, I wish you told me about these clamps before I did mine all in V-Band.

Joe, can you show us how it looks when it's connected?