# Pressure washer to Hosepipe connection?



## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

How do you guys connect your pressure washers to your hose pipe? Ive always had issues with mine which today killed my Bran new Nilfisk PW!!!

On my old pressure washer it had a plastic connector, and my hose had a plastic connector. This ALWAYS leaked untill we got a metal hose end which connected to the PW fine. After a few months the metal hose end wore out the plastic end on the PW so we replaced it with a brass connector and this worked fine for almost a year untill it blew up (PW was 10 years old deltajet!).


Today im setting up my Nilfisk C120.4, which came with a plastic connector for the hose pipe. Within 2minutes this had blown off the end of the brass hose pipe connector damaging the plastic connector on the PW. So i swapped it for a brass one (so both parts now brass) and washed my car fine and loved it, much more powerful than my old PW.

Turn to wash my sister car and it blew off again but this time the whole brass assembly had come away ripping all the plastic thread on the PW away with it.

so 1day old Nilfisk C120.4 is now dead.

So. How on earth am i supposed to connect the mains to the PW without breaking it?


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## pdv40 (Sep 11, 2008)

I have a very similar problem with my karcher, the hoselock connectors blow off from the tap, hose reel and pressure washer so I'd be interested to hear the answer.


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

pdv40 said:


> I have a very similar problem with my karcher, the hoselock connectors blow off from the tap, hose reel and pressure washer so I'd be interested to hear the answer.


Hoselock fittings are utter  

gardinia are much better (harder to find)










i got these last year £6 ish each :doublesho but they do a cheaper all plastic one










can find a local stockest on their website
http://www.gardena.co.uk/catalog/index.cfm?lang=uk


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## jcmac (Sep 13, 2008)

Yep. Have a Gardina one. Love it, had no probs with it ever!


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/76256...;jsessionid=LBP5KAACUQF2ICSTHZOCFFY?ts=20656#

same one?


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

Overlag said:


> http://www.screwfix.com/prods/76256...;jsessionid=LBP5KAACUQF2ICSTHZOCFFY?ts=20656#
> 
> same one?


Yeh christ at that price i might order some more....


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

andy monty said:


> Yeh christ at that price i might order some more....


i just orderd 2, will see if these grip better. If not the Nilfisk is gona have to go back as its unuseable (and probably broken) at the moment


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## nokia (Mar 3, 2009)

ive had lots of problems like this. I now use a good quality jubilee clip, it wont budge at all now no matter what pressure its at. I know its not ideal but it works for me.


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## Andrew M (Nov 17, 2006)

Try to use the same make male and female components. There are small differences between the various manufacturers, not quite so much between Hoselok and Gardena (although there is some difference) but definitely between those two and the multitude of brass fittings now available. The majority of Brass stuff is now cheap chinese import and this has issues with regard to working properly with most of our fittings over here.


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

nokia said:


> ive had lots of problems like this. I now use a good quality jubilee clip, it wont budge at all now no matter what pressure its at. I know its not ideal but it works for me.


the problem is not the pipe itself its the attaching parts ie the male part on the pressure washer and the female part connected to the hose pipe.

the Male part on the pressure washer
Brass one: Gripped female part fine, but stripped the thread off the PW!!
Plastic one: also slipped off the thread on the PW, some Plumbers tape fixed that (for now?). Once it was stuck to the thread, the metal Female part just stripped the some of the plastic off the males part lip and blew off.

these problems only happen when i stop the pressure washer. IE im spraying the car then stop to change position and pop, it blows off. its almost as if i can do with some sort of pressure regulator on the hose pipe, so when the flow suddenly stops it doesnt put all the pressure at the Hosepipe to PW connection.


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

Oooh that gardena stuff looks great, going to stock up I think.


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

sounds like water hammer from high mains water pressure. you can get dampers from plumbing supplies companies that work a bit like citroen suspension spheres, or you could turn down the water pressure a bit.


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

Techgeek said:


> sounds like water hammer from high mains water pressure. you can get dampers from plumbing supplies companies that work a bit like citroen suspension spheres, or you could turn down the water pressure a bit.


when i turned the pressure down (1/4 a turn) it wasnt enough to run the PW! but yes, its water hammer i guess you can call it.

Will have to look into a damper system.


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Techgeek said:


> sounds like water hammer from high mains water pressure. you can get dampers from plumbing supplies companies that work a bit like citroen suspension spheres, or you could turn down the water pressure a bit.


It is water hammer causing the problem as my connector at home must be donkeys years old and never had a problem. You can turn down the stop **** down a turn or fit a water hammer shock absorber. Dead easy in practice but a pain to explain, basically tee into the incoming mains and install a 200mm pipe vertically with an end cap on it, it stops the hammer and allows you full pressure.


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

Mirror Finish said:


> It is water hammer causing the problem as my connector at home must be donkeys years old and never had a problem. You can turn down the stop **** down a turn or fit a water hammer shock absorber. Dead easy in practice but a pain to explain, basically tee into the incoming mains and install a 200mm pipe vertically with an end cap on it, it stops the hammer and allows you full pressure.


so in theory i could even make this device on just my hose pipe so its always got a fresh charge of air? Gona make me one of these before i try my replacement Nilfisk... Dont want to break another one.


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## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

B&Q stock Gardena connectors and accessories, as well as their hoses.
To be honest, I've got both the Premium and regular ones, and the Premium really doesn't justify the additional expense, which is only a metal collar (as in the pic above) and some supposedly non-slip material on the body, which really doesn't work - not enough of it and insufficient coefficient of friction. Pays lip service to the idea, that's about it.


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Water Hammer is dangerous throughout the house, the pressure washer would be the least of my worries, so what if the end falls off no real problem. Imaging this on the connection to your cold water tank, bath connections etc, you can have a house flood with this.

Fully open your stop tap then fully shut counting the turns. Fully open again and reduce pressure by 20%, this usually works and does not affect overall pressure too much.

The other problem with PW's is that plumbers (yes I have done it as well) install a isolation valve in the system that reduces the flow from 15mm to 5mm then back to 15mm, you know the washing machine type of valves, these cause a surge that can knock a connector off. Which is better than blowing your PW up. You really need a full bore gate valve instead. Check what you have as this may be the problem.


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Overlag said:


> so in theory i could even make this device on just my hose pipe so its always got a fresh charge of air? Gona make me one of these before i try my replacement Nilfisk... Dont want to break another one.


It should be in the water system not on the hose, but hey anything is worth a go. You are not introducing air to the pipework the vertical spur is acting as a damper to stop the water hammer that can be very dangerous to weaker joints in the system.

I like these plumbing posts.


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

PJS said:


> B&Q stock Gardena connectors and accessories, as well as their hoses.
> To be honest, I've got both the Premium and regular ones, and the Premium really doesn't justify the additional expense, which is only a metal collar (as in the pic above) and some supposedly non-slip material on the body, which really doesn't work - not enough of it and insufficient coefficient of friction. Pays lip service to the idea, that's about it.


£7.00 each in B&Q two days ago


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

Mirror Finish said:


> It should be in the water system not on the hose, but hey anything is worth a go. You are not introducing air to the pipework the vertical spur is acting as a damper to stop the water hammer that can be very dangerous to weaker joints in the system.
> 
> I like these plumbing posts.


i thought the whole point of a damper was that the high pressure water compresses the air in the vertical spur, which is acting as a damper as water doesnt compress but air does?

Oh and yes, water Hammer happens on *ALL* our taps/valves in our house.


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## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

Overlag, just out of interest how long is the bit of hosepipe you are using between the PW and the tap.

I had problems with the pipe blowing off when i decided to put a bit that was about 2 metres long between my tap and PW so i started using a longer bit which has been fine.

Just a thought


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## Overlag (Aug 12, 2008)

Clean-my-sxi said:


> Overlag, just out of interest how long is the bit of hosepipe you are using between the PW and the tap.
> 
> I had problems with the pipe blowing off when i decided to put a bit that was about 2 metres long between my tap and PW so i started using a longer bit which has been fine.
> 
> Just a thought


i think its a 10meter or 25foot hose, tap is in back garden and i route it through garage, into front garden etc.

its fully unwinded to get to my car


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

i cant seem to find them connector in the screwfix book??

does that mean its internet only??


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## Neil_S (Oct 26, 2005)

ianFRST said:


> i cant seem to find them connector in the screwfix book??
> 
> does that mean its internet only??


Its an internet code, went into my branch yesterday and they ordered them in today. Very pleased with them, they feel like a quality item.


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## SPECKY (Sep 3, 2008)

I use Hoselock at home and at work !!! Works water pressure is unreal !!!!! Like a shot gun when i use hose gun on it !!! Never had a problem with there stuff.

And...... at work the connector to tap is Wilko's own hoselock compatable. !!!!!!

Maybe the ends arnt fitted correctly or tight enough ?????


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## ChrisD (Mar 7, 2009)

Neil_S said:


> Its an internet code, went into my branch yesterday and they ordered them in today. Very pleased with them, they feel like a quality item.


exsactly same the as me, pick them up and fitted them this afternoon, Though he wasnt very pleased about given me the discount rate. Iv got 10 now! :thumb:


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

Neil_S said:


> Its an internet code, went into my branch yesterday and they ordered them in today. Very pleased with them, they feel like a quality item.


my store said they couldnt order them in :wall:


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## andy monty (Dec 29, 2007)

SPECKY said:


> I use Hoselock at home and at work !!! Works water pressure is unreal !!!!! Like a shot gun when i use hose gun on it !!! Never had a problem with there stuff.
> 
> And...... at work the connector to tap is Wilko's own hoselock compatable. !!!!!!
> 
> Maybe the ends arnt fitted correctly or tight enough ?????


your lucky they wouldn't stay on out stihl PW and would blow off out brass tap connector

(oh and the ends are fitted correctly it aint rocket science   )


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