Hosepipe delemas-Plastic Fittings kick out

Wife bought good quality hosepipe & fittings etc recently. Yesterday she got hosed again after fitting slipped out. I tried everything I could think of before, but they failed all.

I went into garage and was looking for something else to try like an O-Ring, but then saw a selution staring me in the face....Its called a Copper Tube Sleeve(Just google the picture), use with copperpipe connections screwed on, not the soldering types.

Now the sleeve approximate the size will not fit, but you cut it through, then slip it over the hosepipe, ignore the 1-2mm gap now in sleeve. Now fit the pipe in connector at Tap or End of pipe, slip this sleeve over and in, now screw on the plastic nut which now will positively clamp the fitting.

The idea felt good trying to wiggle the pipe at fitting and even with high pressure did not kick out.

You may try it if you have such problems.

Problem is usually down to the hose, as they are sized by bore, usually 1/2" for domestic use the wall thickness can vary even Hoselock is quite thin walled so fittings don't grip as well as they do on something like CK hose which is thicker, never had an issue since changing to their Multiflex yellow one and still using teh plastic Hoselock fittings not CKs brass ones.

LiDL seem to be the best value for money source of effective brass fittings. I stocked up several years ago and am steadily junking the plastic Hozelocks as they fail. Annoying to have un-needed adjustable spray nozzles in the kit, very good but who needs more than one, but the price still comes out around 3 for one relative to Hozelock plastic.

To me Hozelock philosophy has always seemed to be based on making stuff that, objectively, isn't as good as it ought to be but not so bad that it's immediately rejected as junk. Then flooding the market so it's all the normal guy and gal can find in the shops. Pre LiDL I don't recall any other brands being on sale in my neck of the woods (East Sussex).

A common way of doing things that still continues for reasons I've never understood. Certainly not in this day and age when the extra cost of doing it right is negligible in both design and production. Understandable in the bad old days when machinery investment and hand labour costs were such that many things had to be skimped simply so ordinary folk could afford them. These days even low end machines are more than good enough for decent quality "everything for the ordinary person" to be made.

Well worth stocking up on the O ring seals too. I change mine on a regular basis. Not forgetting the red rubber grease. A fitting deciding to go leaky and soaking my pants mid job is just too frustrating!

Clive

I swapped out an old brass fitting for a new one on Sunday. I have not been hosed down but the fitting at the end of the hose was constantly dribbling and wet feet was often the result. The problem was the plastic compression ring had split and there was always a point where the hose was not sealing as a result. I think the warm weather has allowed the hose to soften and this makes potential leaks into actual leaks. I did not bin the old fitting so a copper sleeve may be worth trying with it.

Martin C

Came back from the Sandringham game & country fair on Monday and put the caravan on the storage washbay.

By the time I had the caravan clean I was soaked. The washbay hoses & the fittings were new Hozelok and all leaked. Tried tightening them up and swapped ends around between the two hoses to no avail. It seems all Hozelok fitings are designed to leak . It was a hot day so it cooled me down somewhat.

regards

Over the years, plastic hose fittings have degraded and cracked. All have now been replaced by brass.

Proof that "Buy quality, buy once" is true

We now have a bag of redundant plastic hose fittings.

Maybe the O rings should be recovered, and the rest sent for recycling.

Howard

I have had the same experience with the plastic Hozelok fittings, they last for a while then they don't really work very well at all and leak.

I had replaced some of my fittings with one from Gardena, their premium hose connector, which has outlasted the Hozelok without any problems. Unfortunately they don't make that particular one anymore, only the plastic version, the good one must have lasted too long for sales.

So I shall be looking to get the brass fittings when the others need replacing. Perhaps putting a sleeve inside the hose pipe like the plastic plumbing pipes use for compression fittings would work as well. I must try it when I change the fittings.

Neil

Chris -

By "Copper Tube Sleeve" for a screw-on fitting, do you mean what is actually called and should be sold as, an "olive" for a "compression fitting"? Or a liner that limits polythene pipe compression so the olive or O-ring can grip?

As Neil says, plastic domestic plumbing pipe can be joined by compression-fittings that use a thin-walled, flanged, metal bush inserted into the pipe end to give that necessary support, and a similar one may well work with garden hose and its accessories.

Even a little bit of brass or copper tube of the right diameter should suffice if no commercial version fits.

Thanks for the tip.

I think what you describe is known as an 'olive' or 'pipe olive' in UK.

I suppose if it were a dire emergency a wedding ring could be used...

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Most of the plastic fittings have poor UV stability. Leaving them exposed to light 365 days a year will shorten their life.