How convenient are burst protected water supply hoses?

[Stephen Tashiro]

Recently I purchased a quarter inch water supply hose for the ice maker in a refrigrerator. I was surprised to find the hose has a "burst protector" built into it. How convenient are these things? Do they trigger accidentally - such as when a plumber (or the city) shuts of the main supply and then turns it on again? The directions say that the burst protector is reset by disconnecting and reconnecting the hose. Is that really the only way?

[Bill Orbine]

Look into Danco hoses which promise to shut water in event of even a smaller leak than a burst.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Look into Danco hoses which promise to shut water in event of even a smaller leak than a burst.

I'm more worried about false alarm shut-offs and whether it's a big deal to reset the burst protectors.

( The internet says that bust protected washer hoses have flow restrictors on them that cause problems. I see no flow restriction on the ice maker hose.)

[Paul F Franklin]

I have had no issue with "false" tripping on the ones I've used. They can be reset by shutting off the water and releasing any residual pressure in the lines, say by opening a faucet somewhere.

I have had trouble with them clogging when use on a well system with no filtration. The occasional pieces of rust or sand would eventually clog them up. That particular type (don't remember the brand) had small passages through the valve section that would clog. After installing whole house filtration that problem went away.

I did find them to restrict flow somewhat. Yours may be different.

[Jon Nuckles]

I have them on the clothes washer and have had to disconnect them to reset them. We have had work done on our plumbing and the plumbers will shut off the main water valve. When they turn it back on, I need to remember to turn off the taps that serve the washer and then turn them on slowly to avoid tripping the hoses. It is not a difficult task to correct as long as I remember why my washer isn't working!

[bill howes]

I have them on the clothes washer and have had to disconnect them to reset them. We have had work done on our plumbing and the plumbers will shut off the main water valve. When they turn it back on, I need to remember to turn off the taps that serve the washer and then turn them on slowly to avoid tripping the hoses. It is not a difficult task to correct as long as I remember why my washer isn't working!

Jon, You are right.
The first time it happened to me, the dishwasher repair guy didn't know what was going on although he inadvertantly fixed the problem by disconnecting the burst protection hose and the machine subsequently worked.
The next time it happened after I replaced a downstairs sink and was too dumb to remember to turn off the supply tap. Next time maybe I'll remember
Bill

[Robert LaPlaca]

I have them on the clothes washer and have had to disconnect them to reset them. We have had work done on our plumbing and the plumbers will shut off the main water valve. When they turn it back on, I need to remember to turn off the taps that serve the washer and then turn them on slowly to avoid tripping the hoses. It is not a difficult task to correct as long as I remember why my washer isn't working!

Exactly, we have them on our washer and dryer (dryer has steam feature). Our street had a water main break, after the break was fixed there was lots of air in the lines and the spurting water tripped the burst feature..

[Mark Bolton]

Your best burst protection is to not use braided lines in the first place. Feed your icemaker and dishwasher with solid copper supply lines. Feed your washer with conventional hoses if you or your customer will be diligent about using a single handle washing machine shutoff after every use and if they are too lazy for that make them spring for an appliance actuated shutoff that opens and closes the washing machine supply when the appliance is in use.

These braided supply lines are notorious for failure which is why they are implementing burst measures. All lines can fail, even copper, the issue is when these junk supplies fail its a colossal nightmare just like a rubber washing machine hose as compared to a solid copper line that will give you ample warning of imminent failure.

I would venture to guess in years to come the insurance industry (who in conjunction with the fire marshalls write the code) will begin to clamp down on these supplies as claims due to their junk-i-ness begin to pile up. Deaths, injury, and damage claims, are the sole motivators to code change. These braided supply's should be at the top of the list with regards to damage claims.

I have seen more of these braided supplies fail in the past 3 years than I can count which brings me peace in that to this day we always use soft copper supplies for Kitchens/Toilets/Vanities and never install flexible water heater supplies. Washing machine connections are on the user. All you can do there is advise accordingly.

[Bill Dufour]

I put a burst protector on my stove supply flex line. It should never trip unless the stove is knocked over. The flex is long enough that it would probably not rip even then.
Bill D

[Stephen Tashiro]

Your best burst protection is to not use braided lines in the first place. Feed your icemaker and dishwasher with solid copper supply lines.

I agree that copper lines are unlikely to burst. However, in my situation there was a recurrent problem of leaks where the copper ice maker line entered the refrigerator and where it entered its shutoff valve. I think this was due to the refrigerator being moved occasionally while work is done in the kitchen, plus the fact that its shutoff valve is on the cold water supply line just before it enters the water heater. That connection goes through cycles of being warm or cold as hot water is used. Compression fittings on copper lines don't seem to handle vibration and flexing well. Is there a way to make them more robust ?