Look-a-like x-hose

Legacy_user

There can't be many people that have not seen those new expanding hose pipes. (x hose). They are said to be lightweight and short, but once connected, somehow they expand to three times their length.

Currently the smallest/shortest is retailing at £29.99, but a few days ago, I saw a look-a-like version on a market for £12.99 and felt it worth trying out.

It is (imo), amazing. The item has a six option gun/sprayer whivh you connect yourself. You connect to the tap and turn on full. The gun does not allow water out until you release the trigger, meanwhile with the water building up in the hose, it magically expands just as you see on TV. Holding the trigger releases water and off you go, experimenting with the various sprays.

On completion, you remove from the tap, the water is ejected and the hose shrivels. I gathered mine up and put it in a plastic container no bigger than a saucepan.

Reason for post is to say, if you are in the market to save money, then when you are in a market, keep your eyes open for one of these. I now aim to off load all my other hoses which kink and take up room.

aliasojo

Actually, I've never heard of it but after reading your post I googled it and it seems like a good idea.

Does your look alike have any kind of branding on it or is it completely generic? I think I'd give this a go, I'm tired of the weight of our hose cart thing, it's really heavy to haul out every time you want to wash the car for instance.

System

It came complete in a well presented box and looked "like" the real thing. The original is called x-hose but I am fairly sure this was called "hose-x". Because I didn't want to carry the bulky box, I did what I shouldn't have done, and binned the box and simply carried the hose/gun/instructions in my ruck-sack.

The instructions don't carry the hose-x name. What I did notice is that there was a spelling error on the box, I think the word was either made or make. That told me it was not an original. Manufacture is Ireland. It is my aim to buy another next week. I have several market options in our area of Dorset (Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu).

I still cannot believe how light it is and yes, it does not kink. One of my three other hoses is currently dumped on the ground as it is too much of an effort to coil and uncoil prior to use. I aim to part company with it any time soon.

aliasojo

I've just read the review on Amazon for X-Hose. There were mostly negative, you might have done yourself a favour buying a clone rather than the real thing.

System

aliasojo wrote: »

I've just read the review on Amazon for X-Hose. There were mostly negative, you might have done yourself a favour buying a clone rather than the real thing.

I too have just read three negative posts. I have to say that mine screwed onto the outside tap effortlessly and didn't leak. Had it required a different connection, then I do actually keep numerous "ends" "sprayers" collected over the years, so hopefully would have interchanged.

Because we have an outside tap and don't have an indoor issue, will bear in mind should I suggest the item to anyone that doesn't have an outside tap.

Mine did expand. Mine did what it said on the tin/box. Mine didn't burst nor did it leak.

What I will have to remember is that any water remaining in the hose when the tap is turned off and I disconnect, is that the shrinking cause all the water to be expelled, so ensure it is in a drainable area.

System

NO! do not buy this look-a-like x-hose. On it's second using it broke and I believe it to be unrepairable.

I connected the snap-on end to the outdoor tap but didn't turn the water on. Laid the hose out to see how far it reached, then asked my wife to turn the water on to establish how long the hose would reach once it had "grown".

Remember, no water escapes as the gun automatically holds water back until the trigger is released.

As I resumed my tracks to water the garden which was in the shade, the gun parted company with the hose and the hose shrank.

I studied this and formed the impression that the hose/gun had been connected mecahnically and no matter how much I tried, there is no way this can be reconnected. The items are all moulded.

Rather than give up, I wondered if the sprayer from the old hose would be usable, however with it partially connected and water on, I thought it would work, but no, they separated.

I have since looked at the leaflet with accompanied the hose-x and it clearly states, "do not use with pressure more than 4kg", that presumably is what happened, pressure built up whilst I was walking back to the shaded area.

Even if I had retained the box, I doubt if they would offer a refund/replacment. Thankfully it is £13 and not £30 I spent. Mind you, I will take it back and tell them that on second time of use, it failed, and see if the do a replacement.

prowla

I have to say that I'm one of the few people who haven't heard of them as well.

And anyway, we've had 4 days of sun, so I expect there'll be a hosepipe ban before long.

djohn2002uk

islandman wrote: »

I have since looked at the leaflet with accompanied the hose-x and it clearly states, "do not use with pressure more than 4kg", that presumably is what happened, pressure built up whilst I was walking back to the shaded area.

I doubt that the pressure built up while you were walking to the shaded area, more likely the mains pressure you have is too high. Instead of doing as I always do and connect everything without reading the instructions fully you should have read them and then connected a Hozelock pressure reducer on the tap.

System

I returned the x-hose without packaging and it was replaced without question.

It is now my intention to see how many revolutions the outside tap does before on max, then half it for the x-hose, just to ensure I am not to blame should it happen again.

djohn2002uk

islandman wrote: »

I returned the x-hose without packaging and it was replaced without question.

It is now my intention to see how many revolutions the outside tap does before on max, then half it for the x-hose, just to ensure I am not to blame should it happen again.

But that wont reduce the pressure enough. The tap can supply full pressure with less than half the total number of turns and the rest of the turns do nothing.

Badrick

djohn2002uk wrote: »

But that wont reduce the pressure enough. The tap can supply full pressure with less than half the total number of turns and the rest of the turns do nothing.

As djohn says, you need a pressure reducer, as even if you crack the tap to just a drip, it will eventually attain full pressure.
If you want to prove it for yourself, try stopping a dripping tap with your thumb.