Better quality hose fittings?

[AussieGardener]

Each year as the warmer weather comes in, I go thru an exercise that has proven to be futile - attempting to get fittings out of storage and working again for summer. I end up tossing the whole lot into the rubbish, in frustration.

Asking around, including our local garden supply store (high end, tends to be more expensive) - I have not found any leads. Nozzles leak, water control valves and cutoffs seize, a hose reel is now gushing water from inside its take-up drum.... I've pulled the most costly fittings off the hardware store shelf, and find that the brass fixtures are so thinly cast that they split open!

Does anyone have any leads on a way around this? Or is all this stuff destined to be disposable from here on out?

 

[GBBUDD]

Try using Teflon tape to every connection ALONG WITH THE WASHERS . Stoping hose leaks is not so difficult finding a good hose to start with is another story I just bought a fat max hose so far so good but it will twist and kink.

 

[AussieGardener]

That's a great idea, thank you.

One thing I have noticed, also - if I examine the internals of components, there's a build up of a white powdery coating - minerals, salts perhaps? That might be implicated in the failures. It makes me wonder if a good end of season treatment would be a vinegar soak before storing away.

 

[GBBUDD]

Calcium can chew stuff up and dry it out . Get in the habit to replace your washers even those have gone sky high but at 10 bucks for a little box of them it's not going to break the bank

 

[combatwombat]

I replace the rubber washers on all my hoses every spring and nothing leaks. Even the best hose on the planet will leak if you don't replace the washers regularly. Overtightening can do it, too.

 

[zeuspaul]

I buy all of my hose fittings from McMaster Carr. Their garden hose fittings are of much better quality than the thin stuff you get from HD and Lowes.