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A Little Hole...
3/27/2018 (Permalink)
It appears both manufacturing as well as design defects are the source of the burst braided metal hoses — and the resulting water damage problems.
For some types of hoses, it’s a failure of the braided steel hose. The mechanism of failure involves localized corrosion of the stainless steel wire braid. Although stainless steel isn’t supposed to corrode, the presence of water treated with chlorine and/or cleaning products with chlorine appear to corrode the metal braid, weakening it. Then, under normal household water pressure, it bursts.
For other types of metal braided hoses, it’s the plastic coupling nuts at each end of the hose responsible for the failure. Coupling nuts connect the metal braided hoses to the supply lines. Often, they’re made with cheap plastic, and aren’t designed or molded to best engineering practices. So sometimes, the coupling nuts crack under normal water pressure and leak.
For still others types of metal braided hoses, it’s the crimp connecting the rubber hose and the steel braid to the swivel. When you bend and flex these hoses, they fail at the crimp point because the crimp pushes the steel braiding into the rubber tube. And, once the rubber tube is severed, there’s nothing to hold back the water. It pours out between the holes in the metal braid.
Normal household water pressure is between 70 and 80 psi (pounds per inch).
Why is that important?
What it means for you is that a burst braided metal supply hose can inundate your home with 3-5 gallons of water per minute. That’s 180-500 gallons per hour!
So what can you do to protect your home?
1. Turn the water off before you go on vacation!!
2. Consider beating the burst!
If your metal braided hoses are over 5 years old, replace them now.
It’s not hard.
If you can connect a garden hose to a faucet, you can replace your metal braided hoses.
Here’s how:
First, turn off the water at the main.
Next, use a wrench to loosen the old hoses.
Then, attach the new hose and hand-tighten.
Last, give the coupling an extra 1/4 turn with the wrench.
3. Consider installing an automatic water shut off system
The Water Damage Defense website carries all manner of water leak detection and shutoff systems for you to use to protect your home. It won’t prevent the metal braided hoses from bursting, but, it will prevent water damage to the rest of your home should the metal braided hoses burst.
Remember: For any kind of water damage, time is not your friend!
The longer you wait, the more damage it causes, and the more it costs to remediate and repair.