Hey All,
Needed an extra 'hozelok' style connector to go on the garden hose to supply my Karcher 4.99 pressure washer, and whilst in B&Q I noticed that they had brass versions for the same price as the genuine plastic Hozelok connectors. So, I thought if I'm going to be ripped off for 4 quid for one hose connector, it might as well be a nice brass one. I connected everything up, and the first time I let go of the trigger, the hose popped off the washer. Hmm I thought maybe it just wasn't on properly, so tried again.
This time there is a pop, and water starts spraying out of the inside of the machine. Not usually a good sign. On disassembling the machine, the fixed inlet pipe has a split right down it's length. Luckily I discovered that spares are readily available so I've already ordered one, but my question is, why should this happen? I have since Googled, and it seems that using the 'stop' connectors with a pressure washer is a bad idea as it tries to suck in the stop valve, but it is likely that this is the only reason for the failure? I don't want to knacker it up again straight after I've fixed it! (I shall be exchanging the 'stop' version for a normal one in any case).
Cheers, Ben