What are the best kind of washing machine supply hoses?

Factual Questions
1

This past Saturday, thanks to my sharp hearing, I managed to catch a washing machine hose bursting after only about ten minutes of its filling the basement with water. Don’t even ask how the carpet is doing down there.
I was already planning on replacing the cheap, old rubber hoses used by the previous owners with something better, but now that I’ve been browsing the net I’m not sure what to buy. My brother recommends the steel-mesh hoses like this one.

But I just ran across this page that says,

So what do I buy?

And a related question: we already bought steel-mesh hoses with a “flood guard” feature that shuts the hose off if water pressure exceeds a certain rate. However, when we installed them, it turned out that our washing machine tripped the feature every single time it drew water. So that turned out to be completely useless, because no water would ever go into the machine. What’s the deal, do I have an unusual washing machine? Unusually high water pressure? Or is the “flood guard” thing a total scam?

2

I had the exact same problem with those flood-guard steel mesh supply lines, but with my TOILET. I ended up using the plain steel ones.

As far as I know, every thing you mentioned covers the entire range of products available. There are some risks/advantages of steel lines over plain rubber ones, and vice versa. All you can do is determine the most likely failure scenario for your washing machine and choose accordingly.

3

Buy the cheapest ones. Then replace them every 2nd year or so, before they get old & brittle and liable to fail.

That is the least expensive way to go.

4

That page is trying to sell you something, so of course they trash the competition. I don’t know whether they’re right about steel-braided hoses but I’ve used them with no problem. They’re not going to get moved around once you install them so wear isn’t an issue.

I use the steel-braided hoses, they’re not that expensive.

5

BINGO–

Ex-Sears refrigeration tech here---------but I did learn a lot from my laundry compatriots.

Change the damned things at least every 5 years. Not exactly rocket science to do it. And SO INEXPENSIVE to do such.

And you will be good to go with nada a worry.

6

Forgot to mention that those 2 hoses do not fail with no warning.

Almost always there will be a small bubble in the hose appear--------and then a bigger bubble, and then a humongous bubble.----

And then, and then, and then -----

-----“Along came Sam, slow walkin’ Sam, slow talkin’ Sam” and then, and then"------

----‘the thing will blow.’

( PS—Sorry. Very old and very famous song from the late 50’s. Some of you may relate to it.)

Not that it did not give you any warning before it broked-----you ding a ling you.

7

Should 'splain myself better on this one. “Ding a ling” was not meant to be disparaging, Rather meant to be endearing. Some of my best customers were doctors and lawyers and accountants, and--------bless their poor little souls -------did not know one end of a screwdriver from another. Altho they were excellent in their fields of expertise.

And, I am sure, ---------I was a “ding a ling” to them too in so many ways.

8

I just bought a pair of washing machine hoses a couple weeks ago. I didn’t get the shiny ones with the steel mesh cover. Instead I found hoses that look like regular hoses, but that have steel wire braid embedded in the hose. They advertise that they have a 2500 PSI burst pressure, and are good up to 250 degrees F.

I spent a good ten minutes looking at the two types. I’d always heard to get the mesh covered ones, and who wouldn’t want cool, shiny hoses on their washer? I finally decided on these based on the inner hose diameter. The shiny mesh ones had a very narrow inner diameter, and the ones I got were bigger (3/8 inch diameter, which still isn’t very big).

I got them at Lowes. They cost (barely) less than $10 each, a bit less than the shiny ones. They claim to have a lifetime guarantee, for the life of a residential washing machine.

9

You can also get shut of valves in both manual and automatic versions. Watts makes both types.

10

Good trick!

There is a gadget that can be installed on the supply line that will shut off the water flow if a hose burst or the flow is greater that its rated capacity. Sort of like an automatic check valve in reverse.

Then buy whatever hose suits you fancy.

11

Quite true, but my experience is such that you, my Dad, and I are the only three people on the face of the planet who religiously shut off the machine when it’s not in use. :wink: I’ve installed single lever Watts valves for customers, and they leave the stinker on all the time. Go figure.

12

Thanks for the replies, everybody! I was coming in here to bump my poor neglected thread but I see you hose experts come out at night…

ombre3, fear not the use of “ding-a-ling”, because it’s wasn’t even me - it was my neighbor’s machine, right beside ours in the basement. And he admitted to me the next day that he had noticed “a bulge in that one”. :smack:

CookingWithGas, I did grasp the subtext of that webpage, too. Skeptics, we.

ZenBeam, that’s what we ended up buying at Lowe’s last night. They didn’t even have the steel mesh ones, so it wasn’t really a choice, but I just wanted to avoid the black rubber ones because that’s the kind that burst. What, me gunshy? But they also are rated to a higher PSI than the plain rubber ones, which counts for something in my book.

danceswithcats, once we get new valves installed it’ll be you, your dad, Dag Otto, AND me shutting the water off after every use. Right now there are 1,000-year-old (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) valves on the pipes and they don’t even shut the water off completely anymore. It was such a joy to replace the hoses last night while water was shooting out of the damn pipe.

With the purchase of the ZenBeam-style hoses, and an appointment with a plumber to come put on new shutoff valves and maybe those sweet dealies that Dag Otto linked to, and I’m thinking that this drama might come to a fair end. By the way, would anyone like a soaking-wet carpet and some soggy moving boxes? Cheap?

P.S. spingears, there are few times when my sensitivity to noise pays off, but this was definitely one of them. If you ever think to yourself, “Hmm, what’s that strange noise that sounds like water shooting out of a pipe in the basement?” I recommend not waiting ten minutes to check it out.

13

While the plumber’s there, ask about installing a floor drain right near the washer. Then if this ever happens again, you won’t have the whole basement flooded.

May not be possible, or may be too much work/expense, depending on the floor, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

14

A good idea, although in this area of the US (Northeast) there don’t seem to be such things. Maybe it’s the age of the houses - most are from the 1920s or earlier. I grew up in a different area in a house from the 1970s and there was a drain. It seems so logical, doesn’t it!

This is the second time my neighbor has tried to fill the basement with water. The first time was his water heater dying. Maybe I need a new neighbor, not new plumbing fixtures :wink: