5 or 6 different sizes -- that's good -- but it's strange since they offer 0.5 inches for 14.99 and 1/2" x 1/2" for 8.89 3/8 inches for 8.99 and 3/8" x 3/8" for 6.89 5/16 inches for 8.99 and 5/16" x 51/16" for 6.49
They can, but they don't. The shops around here insert a plug from the outside, or they declare the tire unfixable and sell you a new one.
The tire manufacturers say you must demount the tire and do both: insert the plug from the outside and add the patch inside. But none of the shops locally will demount a tire unless selling a new one.
Last year a local Mavis shop did just that. $28.
I forgot to mention buying a hose end at the local hardware store. The end result is a hose that's maybe a couple inches shorter than originally with heat shrink over the bad spot in the hose.
Those emergency tire plug kits are for you to plug the hole yourself on the roadside, so you can then drive to a qualified auto mechanic to patch the hole from the inside. Those plugs are not meant to be a permanent fix.
My neighbourhood garage patched a nail hole in my tire last year for $25. That included demount, re-balance, and remount.
Ed P wrote on Thu, 30 Nov 2023 23:30:54 -0500 :
Good point. After decades dealing with garden hoses, I only purchase 50' black rubber hoses (mostly from Continental) with sturdy brass fittings.
But this 50-foot rubber hose was not from Continental. It has ribs. The Continental hoses (sold at Home Depot) are all smooth rubber.
Any idea where to get a 50' 5/8" rubber/brass hose at a better price?
They don't even make them out of brass anymore at Home Depot.
I've cut repaired many garden hoses but I generally don't like any inserts. One out of five or ten blow out or break in half after only a few years.
I like that idea of finding a flexible holse (vinyl maybe) & inserting that but for a pinhole, I'd rather not cut the hose if I don't have to cut it.
Rubber might be your problem :
There is no such thing (anymore) as a good quality garden hose repair.
The problem with repairing garden hoses is not only that they only cost $50 to start with and the cheapest single fitting is six dollars but that even that six-dollar fitting is made out of crappy materials (it's not brass).
But, using the male:female type, it's double that at about $12, which is an appreciable cost when you consider that a hose is only fifty dollars new.
Or am I wrong?
Does anyone know where there's a less expensive source of a good quality brass (no plastic, zinc or aluminum!) garden hose male:female menders?
I wouldn't even think of mending these hoses if I could find an equivalent fifty dollar hose that is cheaper than the dollar a foot it costs me now.
Peter wrote on Sat, 2 Dec 2023 01:01:52 +0000 :
I agree. Unless there's a way to find brass fittings, there's no correct repair kits out there so you can't possibly do a proper repair without it.
What you want is rubber hoses with all brass fittings. Proper repair fittings should also be all brass (certainly not plastic).
snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.com wrote on Fri, 01 Dec 2023 19:58:06 -0500 :
Thanks for looking up better garden hoses as it would help everyone to find a source for a quality rubber/brass hose at a price less than $1/foot.
What I love about that hose is it comes with the $8 coiled kink protector.
If you're willing to not have a rubber hose, then the price drops in half. The price is also lower for those with fittings which last a short time.
For example, here it's $50 for $100 feet of "heavy duty" 5/8ths hose.
The goal is a 5/8" or 3/4" garden hose (any length is fine if the price is good per foot) that is real brass on the ends and rubber in the middle.
snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.com wrote on Fri, 01 Dec 2023 09:17:06 -0500 :
I understand you're trying to help but what I didn't convey is there is no way to make a "proper" repair using the available garden hose repair kits.
I've said I don't consider plastic to be proper (because it will break).
However, if I could find a "proper" all-brass garden hose repair kit, I'd buy it (if the cost wasn't close to or more than a brand new hose anyway).
Where can those proper all-brass garden-hose repair connectors be found?
Try farm supply stores if you're looking for hoses that are more resistant to chemicals. An odd suggestion might be to look at flexible plastic conduit for electrical use. The stuff I'm thinking of has no steel in it.
Scott Lurndal wrote on Fri, 01 Dec 2023 15:02:27 GMT :
Those look nice. Thanks for trying to find brass garden hose repair kits.
At first I thought you had found the Holy Grail of garden hose fittings. But then I looked closer at how marketing intentionally deceives people.
First, thanks for looking up "real brass" hose fittings, but those are garbage for reasons that aren't obvious unless you've repaired hoses.
The first problem (which my hokey solution also suffers from), is the stainless steel hose clamps are not a 'proper' way to repair any hose.
This is how the marketing in that Amazon ad tries to deceive us. "Forged Brass with ductility at high temperatures, and low magnetic permeability has higher strength, higher hardness, corrosion resistance and stronger wear resistance than ordinary brass"
The only proper repair (IMHO) is machined brass that has smooth edges (because hose clamps are NOT the proper way to repair any garden hose).
Do they even make a "real brass" garden hose repair kit anymore? If they do, I can't find them.
And I've looked for years, as that's why I'm seeking my own solution.
There is something called a heat shrink splice if that helps.
You could try wrapping the hose at the leak with multiple wraps of plumbers tape, which is like a 2" wide super heavy duty electrical tape, stretching the tape so that it compresses the hose to hold the pinhole shut. Each wrap will increase the pressure that it can contain. For even better results, you could squeeze the pinhole to open it up a tiny bit, and squeeze a tiny bit of superglue into the hole to help form a seal before wrapping the tape around it. After the plumbers tape, a couple wraps of fiberglass or fabric reinforced tape could solidify the cover.
Clean and dry the hose first.
I used a few wraps of plumbers tape around a hose punctured by a brick dropped on it, which by itself reduced the stream of water coming out to a slow trickle.
Have you ever heard the adage, "You get what you pay for" ?
I saw a story on tv about a city whose main water pipes leak, supply or drains, I can't remember, or maybe they are supply pipes with lead in them. And they are using a long soft plastic tube that is inside out and they start at one end and push it through to the other end as it turns outside out. So there is no digging except maybe at one or both ends, no tearing up the street, no repaving needed. These pipes were 6 feet high or more but maybe there is a miniature version for garden hoses!
Since either method works on its own, I don't think both are needed.
Plugging is so easy one who is normally fit can do it himself. I dont' get many flats but I've plugged a few in the last 30 of so years, never had to pay other than for the strings. ("Strings" are used now, softer, better than plugs. Read the instructions, )
Sometimes I can even see the hole without taking the tire off the car and I can plug it on the car.
I never had a tire that I plugged that leaked again. (Although I handled a tire for my mother that I had to take back 3 times before he found that the hole for the stem had gotten bigger and it was leaking out there.)
But last week it was cold and wet if not rainy and it was a front tire and I'm getting old so I gave up and paid to have it done. And despite just praising strings, if I'm paying someone I wanted it done the right way.
Around here Baltimore you can get either method. Just have to pay. At the closest gas station, I don't know how much he would have charged to plug it, but patching it was $35. Seems to me last time I paid, around
1990 or 80 or 70, it was 5, so 35 was a shocker. He may have put the alloy rim on his machine upside down, because I know he scratched one of the big wide "spokes", but I havent' noticed the problem since I've been driving it and I just don't care anymore. He also didn't water test it first to be sure he'd found the right location** and more importantly he didn't water test it afterwards to make sure he'd fixed it. I didnt' see anything suitable for dunking the wheel. I may go somewhere else next time because of that. But he did other things right, marking the hole with chalk, marking where the stem was with chalk so the tire woudln't have to be rebalanced. Hmmm, what about the weight of the patch? I don't think anyone has rebalanced a tire after patching it, and for that matter, for 20 years or more I bought tires and refused to pay for balanncing and I never had a vibration problem. I think tires are better than 50 years ago and likely to be balanced themselves, without weights. And he was happy for me to come inside and watch him, unlike Firestone where they have a separate waiting room, and worse yet the ddealer where a driver picks up your car and you never even see the mechanic or the shop. ) **He found a hole and thought it had been a nail that fell out. That would explain why I had a slow leak for a week or two and then a fast leak that flattened the tire in one or two nights.They must have the machines to dismount and mount because they need them if they sell a new tire.
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