quick disconnect ring seals

I tried to replace these on a couple of older quick disconnects. They wont come out no matter how muck I try to lever them out with my brass hook thingy. Cheap seals that have melted and bonded to the qc? The best I can do is put lots of breaks in the seal but cant peel any off. Any advise?

Never heard of that. Must be really low quality rubber.
What's the brand of QD?

Maybe try freezing/thawing them.
Ozone breaks down rubber too.
If you can't dig em out pretty easily, write em off, just move on to a better quality QD... Foster comes to mind.

Insist on double oring, Viton orings, best way to know you're getting Viton is price. Viton QDs are a little more expensive.
Foster or Parker are your only for sure choices. Lots guys say mine are too expensive, but I bet they're not getting Viton.

How do you know you're getting Viton?
1. soak in d-limonene. If it swells, it's not Viton.
2. Buy Fosters.  They use a blue magic marker on the side.

Try a heat gun to soften the rubber the try picking it out with a dental tool. Hold the QD with pliers as it will be hot.

Ok I will give the heat gun a go. If no luck I will with replacements. These were actually the bad batch Joe mentioned a few months back that the inner seals were breaking and jamming if I remember correctly. Super cheap 5 pack, mind you they lasted long enough so ended up value for money still