I've just had a flexible hose burst.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There's no room in my house for this junk. I ripped out all the ones I could find when I moved here and replaced them with conventional rigid copper pipes and unions.

Surprised at the corrosion, even the screwfix ones have stainless braid (and EPDM rubber, which should be good for decades on DHW).

The only place I have seen serious corrosion of stainless in a domestic situation is where there was an electrical current flow (from an "electric" damp proof course).

I may have done Screwfix an injustice, I can't be certain that it came from there.

Yes, but there are many grades of stainless and I'm guessing they've used the cheapest. I replaced a set of garden gate hinges with zinc plated ones from BnQ back in the summer and they're already rusty all over.

I think that there are some things (like push-fit plumbing) that warrant regular inspection. If only for one's peace of mind :-)

The only one that I have is the filling loop on the combi. There's little choice except permanent pipe, so I got a good 'n with a ball-valve at each end. I know, I could just take it off but I like the convenience and it also saves wear on the seals.

Very true, but in ambient temperature environments I'd say it was a serious failure if hose braiding had failed seriously. You get the odd rust spot on cheap stainless steel cutlery, presumably because the level of alloying elements is marginal, but this would not cause a structural failure.

Zinc plate:

IME the effectiveness of "zinc plating" on fasteners, hinges, etc. is very variable. But it usually still provides some improvement on mild steel, and the better ones are quite effective.

The screwfix ones have galvanised wire. Mine are starting to rust, condensation forms on them The rubber pipe inside is thin and has no strength at all, it relies on the braided wire.

I had some issues with those alloy convoluted type bendable pipes some years ago where pin holes appeared. No flooding but all needed to be changed. A real pain. thus far no problems with the truly flexible kind. Maybe you were just unlucky? Brian

The problem with that is modern sinks are quite thin and some flexing of the tap mounting is often enough to make copper pipes leak at the nearest join.

Brian

I use flexible tails with compression fittings for those.