watering / Hose fittings

Hi there,

This is my first posting to this forum. Have to admit that I am not the one with Green-Fingers, that is my wife, but she is not too hot with forums, she does the design, organization and spending, I do the grunt work!

My initial question is regarding hose trolleys and the fittings. We have a Hoselock hose reel and after a few years, the snap lock connection between the hose and the reel has giving up the ghost and is gushing out water.

Solution is ot buy a better one, but all that I have looked at, no matter how good the construction, this fitting is still plastic and will go the same way.

So what is the recommended solution? (apart for don't buy HoseLock.) I can see that any water fitting that has to rotate will cause a problem, but plastic is not the long term solution. Where can I buy a suitable metal version?

Grateful for any suggestions and advice,

Many thanks in advance,

Rex

 

Hi Rex welcome to the forum sorry to hear that your wifey is not into forums as this one is very good and full of lovely people more than willing to aid you in your gardening adventures.

We have had the same problem regarding the hose fittings although I'm not too sure if it's the maker's fault or our's as we do have a tendency to abuse the garden hose but hey that's what it's used for!:D

I'm not sure if you can get the metal fittings as we always buy the hose parts we need from Wilkco's as it never costs the earth so unlike some DIY stores. I'm sure others will be able to aid you far better than me and I'll look forward to what they have to say. Hel.xxx.

 

If the plastic fittings are not broken, then you can buy replacement 'O' rings, the material the rings are made from soon goes hard and does not seal sufficiently. Another way is to use a few turns of PTFE tape, the type plummers use to seal water pipes, it's cheap to buy and a roll will last for ever the amount you use.

Welcome to the forum BTW

 

Thanks for the replies and the welcomes.

Terrier, PTFE is a very good idea. I'll also look into the O ring situation.

The problem I have with Hoselock is that they have built themselves a very lucrative market.

Design useful stuff in plastic so that it is cheap to produce, dominate the market so that every gardener will buy it, and when it wears out, as it certainly will, they will have to replace with another plastic bit.

I notice that in the last few years, there are more and more brass fittings on the market. Much more durable in my opinion. So we are gradually replacing most fitting with brass.

May be I will get my wife to post and give some replies. Being a non-native English speaker, she does not like writing in English, but she has very green fingers.

Rex

Rex

 

We used some in industry called Hansen connectors they are all stainless construction expensive but would last you a lifetime,may be worth contacting them,http://www.hansencouplings.com/hansen/index2_1.html

 

Hi Rekuso,
The best place to buy replacement o'rings is from an engineer who does air tools or a garage/mechanic. They will have boxes with a great selection of them.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Good idea, I will check the Yellow pages tomorrow. Unfortunately, I had to buy a couple of O rings from the local hardware store and certainly feel I contributed to his and Hozelock's excessive profit.

Rex