FloodSafe Washing Machine Hoses

IdahoBob

I needed to replace the hoses on my washing machine so I decide to go for the Watts FloodSafe Auto Shutoff connectors. The concept is great but the flow rate is so slow it takes 3-4 times as long for the machine to fill. Anyone else out there have a similar problem? I have checked for kinks and obstructed filters but found none. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

iflyhotair

I found the same problem with the FloodSafe hose. The water flow is about a 1/3 to 1/4 of a normal hose and it takes the washer a very long time to fill. The idea is great but if you need to do a lot of laundry in a day it will take you 3 or 4 times longer then your used to.

BigJimmy

This is interesting! I bought one of these (hoses) for a new dishwasher that I installed about a year ago. Sometimes we get marginal operation, i.e. leftover food particles on the dishes after a cycle. I wondered if the hose could be restricting flow on the fill cycle so that there was less water than the appliance was expecting to have. But, if this was true, I would assume that the dishwasher opens the inlet supply valve for a fixed duration of time instead of measuring the accumulated water level prior to starting (working with control systems and understanding that water pressures will vary from one home to another, I would have assumed that the unit was working on level via direct measurement). Thinking back to the installation manual, I'm almost positive that I remember there being a requirement that the available flow of the water source is greater than "x" gpm. So, perhaps the hose is really causing our issues?

Love to hear any insights on this.

Funny how you can get trick-bagged trying an alternative, albeit seemingly safer product!

TTFN,
Jimmy

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kcmast

Got a coupon from my insurance company for them, so I thought I'd give them a try. I had to take the supply end off 3 times as I must have been turning the valve on too quickly and tripping the protection. I then took it off again once the flow started coming out to make sure there wasn't something obstructing. I guess I'll leave them on until my wife complains

darrowco

One of my FloodSafe hoses stopped too. "Resetting" by disconnecting and reconnecting did not help; no water would flow, stuck valve, contamination or something. The hoses had been in place for about a year. I replaced them with regular stainless steel braided hoses (72", $20 at Lowes) which seemed the easiest way to avoid the problem.

ScottR

I've heard _terrible_ things about those hoses. I read some online reviews after seeing them featured on Ask This Old House (actually not sure if they reviewed the Watts hoses specifically, but Watts is what I found online).

Lots and lots of people complain that the hoses restrict flow, or in fact don't allow any flow at allwhen used with some washing machines and dishwashers. (Presumably because the machines have a solenoid valve that rapidly goes from closed to full-open -- just like when the hose bursts).

Worse yet, I read some reports from people who had failures in the hoses or appliances where the internal shut off valve in the hose did not shut off.

That's really disturbing because it gives you a false sense of security, IMO.

Don't believe me -- Google customer reviews for those hoses and you'll see a lot of info!

robertjmax

Floodsafe hoses was an expensive and not very useful idea in my case. After purchasing them, my washer kept stopping and not cycling through. After paying a repairman to come visit, we discovered that the cold water hose kept closing. After three days of trying to get the hose to consistently stay open, I took the hoses back. In retrospect, the hoses cost me a repair visit. Even if the cold water hose is faulty, I am in no mood to try another set. I am going with the standard burst proof hoses.

jimmac621

I just purchased a Watts Floodsafe hose for an upstairs toilets.

We just had a near disaster where the original plastic tank coupling burst at 11:00pm, flooding the upstairs bathroom. I was able to avoid disaster by shutting off the valve at the wall.

However, the Watts Floodsafe that I purchased at Home Depot DOES NOT WORK. I could only get a half turn open on the valve in order to allow the tank to fill. Any increase in valve opening and flow rate activated the shutoff device, even though Watts Floodsafe instructions indicate to open the valve to FULL OPEN position. I could not get the valve to stop tripping and allow the tank to fill.

Good idea, bad product, it DOES NOT WORK.

Jim

PaliBob

I saw that episode of "Ask this Old House" where Richard set up a demo in the shop with a pedestal vanity faucet fed with an Automatic Shutoff Hose.

No brand names but it was as impressive as a Billy Mays infomercial.

Richard turned the faucet on. It seemed to be about half on, then with a big set of bolt cutters he snipped the hose in half.

Very impressive the two now free ends of the hose dangled loosely but No Water escaped. At least not that I could see. If there was any at all it had to be a very tiny amount.
.

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northwestfarmer

I installed Watts Floodsafe toilet hoses on 3 toilets. One would not work at all. It was replaced and the replacement seems to be okay after a dozen flushes. On another toilet, the hose shuts the water off every 2-3 flushes. I contacted the manufacturer who said the hoses are sensitive and suggested I go to the hardware store and get a replacement. At best, this product has failed me 2 out of 4 times in the first week of use! What will the second week bring? On my third trip to the hardware store on this matter I will get a standard braided stainless steel hose.

AllanJ

Dishwashers and most clothes washing machines will shut off the water when enough has entered the tub, but some will keep the timer going. A slower inflow of water means less washing time before the cycle continues to the next step or phase.

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Michael Thomas

I've experimented with a variety of automatic shut-off valves and devices, and unfortunately I have yet to discover one which works long term.

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sometimes handy

I just installed the FloodSafe supply hoses on my washer, and first I had a "false positive" shutoff, followed by an unacceptably slow flow of water once I got the hoses working properly. too much hassle. It takes the washer 4 times as long to fill as it would with a normal hose . . . I'm going to replace these with conventional ("unsafe"?) hoses.

AlbacoreShuffle

Flood Safe supplies are CRAP !
I'm a service plumber and learned the hard way that what ever "protection " they offer is offset by their failure rate.
Nothing I hate more than having to do a "warranty" job , due to a faulty part.