Unless you turn off the water to the washing machine whenever it is not in use, the full water line pressure is on the hoses. If you have your washing machine hooked to the water faucet with the rubber hoses that came with the machine, and they are over five years old, you are risking a major flood that can cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair. These hoses become brittle over time and eventually will fail, dumping huge amounts of water on the floors of your house.
Watts Water Technologies, the company that makes the FloodSafe washing machine hoses describes them like this:
Watts FloodSafe® auto-shutoff connectors protect against catastrophic water damage by automatically shutting off the water supply to plumbing fixtures/appliances if excess water flow is sensed. Water flow through the FloodSafe® device is limited to a factory preset flow rate, any flow over the preset rate will automatically shutoff all flow of water through the device.
In the past two years I have recommended FloodSafe hoses in this column. Recently, I have heard of a couple of problems with these hoses. One of the Woodchucks recently purchased a new water saver washing machine. He connected it to the water source with FloodSafe hoses. After filling for a short time the valve in the hose activated and shut off the water. He contacted the appliance store and was told they had seen this problem before and that he should connect the washing machine with braided stainless steel hoses without the FloodSafe device.
I then looked at the feedback on the Amazon web site for the FloodSafe hoses and it was not good (60% of the respondents rated it one star).
I called the technical service department of Watts Co. and they indicated they were aware of problems with some water saver washing machines caused by a part of the cycle that calls for a higher flow rate that trips the FloodSafe valve. They do not have a fix for this short of their Intelivalve electronic sensing valve at a cost of $300. Many of the problems reported in the feedback were probably caused by the valve shutting off and not being properly reset. This requires disconnecting the hose from the faucet, pointing the end downward, and reconnecting it.
Which type of hose should you use? There are two schools of thought. One says use the FloodSafe hoses and return them if they won’t work with your type of washing machine. The other says use the stainless steel hoses without the FloodSafe valves built-in. These are considerably longer lived that the rubber hoses, but if they do break there is no valve to stop the water flow. How do you choose? Take a quarter out of your pocket and flip it. Heads choose #1. Tails choose #2.
Regardless of which option you choose, if you have rubber hoses you should replace them this weekend. When they fail it is like turning on a garden hose in your laundry room and going away for the weekend.
If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com
2 Comments
I got some information about the washing machine through your blog,. i faced the hoses problem with my machine and also faced overheating issue . but i have to contact the washing machine repair dubai service center for repair the machine. Need suggestion.
I got some information about the washing machine through your blog,. i faced the hoses problem with my machine and also faced overheating issue . but i have to contact the washing machine repair dubai service center for repair the machine. Need suggestion.