AusBonsai

Hi all,

Had a heap of issues with the hose I bought no less than 18 months ago which was the most expensive one, and had the longest warranty (15 years). I am now on my 5th hose, and I am looking for an alternative.

I leave my tap on as my tap is in a hard to reach place so I have brass fittings and a brass ball valve at the end to increase durability.

3 hoses have actually split, and one has sprung a leak from the fitting. All of these have been replaced under warranty, but I hate to think how much water I have wasted whilst at work and my hose split.

If anyone can recommend a heavy duty hose that will withstand being left on at the tap (Normal household pressure) I would really appreciate it.

Thank you in advance

Hi Luke
I think I might be looking at moving the tap, all hoses these days in my opinion are built to not last especially when they are left out in the sun,with all the water you are wasting it might be cheaper to get a plumber to move the tap if you are not a handy sought of a fella.

reddoggy wrote:Hi Luke
I think I might be looking at moving the tap, all hoses these days in my opinion are built to not last especially when they are left out in the sun,with all the water you are wasting it might be cheaper to get a plumber to move the tap if you are not a handy sought of a fella.

I appreciate your input, but I am renting so moving the tap is out of the question.

Y not take them up on the 15yr warranty?

Why not run a poly water line from the tap to another tap in a better place? poly is cheap and strong.

Jow wrote:Why not run a poly water line from the tap to another tap in a better place? poly is cheap and strong.

Do you think I could get away with buying a length of 12mm poly and put my brass fittings on it and BINGO?!?! Does poly kink easily?

In regards to the warranty, I have taken them up on it numerous times But I want to find a better quality one to avoid having the hose split at the start of a heatwave either after hours or on a public holiday which has happened

No you would need to use 25mm which is normally underground. The 12mm for garden irrigation kinks too easily and wouldn't take the constant pressure. I think the problem is leaving the hose pressurised all the time

You could run 3/4" Poly (19mm?) from the tap and put another tap inline where you want it, then plug your hose into that. We use 3/4" at work under constant mains pressure with no dramas. 13mm may be ok, but you'd have to make sure you use some decent hose clamps at the connections

We are talking HD here I hope?

Neta make a good garden hose.
Black gold, I think it has a 25 yr warranty and is made in aust

I have used Neta, Pope, Nylex, all have been good - but the life expectancies written on the labels don't come true up here in the hot tropics. Five to seven years pulls the best of the them up before they drive you mad kinking or start to split.
Almost any of your soft hoses kept under pressure like you describe will fail sooner than usual, also the stretch will cause them to kink more and more. I concur with the suggestions above - use heavy wall poly pipe from your tap and put another tap on the end of it. I would not do below 19 mm. It wouldn't be something you could move about as it is not flexible enough, and the more you move it the more it is likely to fail.
Is the tap hard to reach because it is far away? or because it is deep amongst plants or similar?

Ash

Hi mate,

I can see two main options here:

1) You need a poly pipe that is designed for mains pressure. These are generally indicated by having a blue line down the sides of them. Often referred to as "blue line" in the industry. Go to an irrigation place (not hardware store - they won't be able to help you) and let them know that you need something that:
*Withstands mains pressure
*Needs to connect to a regular tap at one end
*Needs a ball valve at the other end
*Needs to be able to connect easily to a hose at the other end.
*Needs to be X metres long (can't help you here )
This would be by far the best option for longevity of the hose.

2)The other, cheaper and less effective option would be to purchase a Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) to connect to the tap before the hose. Using the PRV, you can adjust the pressure of the water entering the hose and reduce it to a level so that it is much less likely to burst. Note that this is NOT the same as simply having the tap turned down low. A dripping tap will still reach the same pressure in the hose eventually, it will just take longer. With a PRV, it will reduce the flow somewhat (won't be as much water coming out when you use the hose) but the pressure will be significantly less in the meantime.

I strongly recommend the first option.

Joel

Thanks Joel, I will look into that.

Joel wrote:Hi mate,

I can see two main options here:

1) You need a poly pipe that is designed for mains pressure. These are generally indicated by having a blue line down the sides of them. Often referred to as "blue line" in the industry. Go to an irrigation place (not hardware store - they won't be able to help you) and let them know that you need something that:
*Withstands mains pressure
*Needs to connect to a regular tap at one end
*Needs a ball valve at the other end
*Needs to be able to connect easily to a hose at the other end.
*Needs to be X metres long (can't help you here )
This would be by far the best option for longevity of the hose.

Joel

There are 2 types of poly for irrigation purposes, low density poly LDP and, high density poly HDP.
The pipe in question is High Density Poly, it comes in a range of sizes, 20mm, 25mm, 32mm etc. As Joel stated, it is used for high pressure and the fittings are fairly straight forward. The best way to cut the stuff is a pipe cutter but if you don't have one of these a sharp knife will do the job. When cutting the pipe to length, make sure there are no burs or deformations and that the cut end is close to 90º to the pipe wall so it fits into the joiners properly, it always gets the apprentices face red when the pressure is turned on for a leak check and things weren't fitted properly
Also, avoid putting stress from excessive bending onto the pipe near a joiner, it will leak