Quote:
Originally Posted by StarvingHyena
No one has mentioned these hoses .... the ones advertised on TV that start out as a small hand full ball and grow (I think ) as water pressure increases to perhaps 50 feet.
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The hose feels like its made from some sort of material..... about $20.00
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I assume that you mean it feels like it is made from some sort of
fabric... and yes, it is a fabric outer cover with an elastomeric (stretchy solid material) inner tube. The inner tube expands like a balloon under pressure, but it doesn't just blow up like a balloon because the fabric stops it. For this to work, there must be back-pressure due to some sort of restriction on the outlet, so it works if you are using a nozzle or forcing water into your RV's tank, but if flow is relatively unrestricted there's nothing to keep the hose expanded.
When you're done with it, you can turn off the supply, leave the end open, and it spits out its contents as it shrinks, so not much water sits in it between uses. That also means that when it is still under pressure and the nozzle or whatever on the end is closed, it's awkwardly stiff and springy.
These things are sold mostly with other gimmicky products. I saw one demostrated at a booth in the commercial area at a local fair, and the guy was saying that it couldn't be kinked. I think it was
X Hose, but I'm not sure. He made a show of trying to bend it tight enough to kink, but it kept flowing. I asked to see it, kinked it shut, and said "no thanks"... and I'm not particularly strong. I don't care if it can be kinked by extreme abuse - I just won't buy anything being sold so fraudulently.
The X Hose web page doesn't make any claim about being safe for drinking water.
I do think the design might be great for a hose to be used only occasionally which needs to be stored very compactly; however, the various flat hoses would work for that, too. The
flat hose sold by Home Hardware claims to be drinking water safe.
It does have potential to freak out people who are paranoid about snakes, if you're into that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by padlin
Left the water pressure on one for a day, never shrank back up after that.
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Good to know! And not surprising.
Of course, there are probably multiple brands of the same general expanding design. Home Hardware alone has at least two brands, of different construction.