Shut off valves.

[Doug Cox]

How about not dragging it 100 feet as you're winding it up .. that's why they break .. I bought mine from Home Depot about 2 years ago and still good .. I bring the end right to the back of the truck then wind up the hose ..

OMG- If a valve can't handle being dragged along without breaking or falling apart while the hose is being wound up..................................... its a POS!! Especially when you're paying 15 bucks a piece.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

We don't ever drag solution hoses, couplers or valves. With hand held reels it's easy to handle them without dragging.

 

[Doug Cox]

Regardless, they should still be able to stand up to a little abuse without disintegrating.

 

[Royal Man]

Those Italian valves always break off at the threads for me.

Maybe I tighten them too much.

 

[Royal Man]

Duplicate

 

[BLewis]

I use either the Lowes or HDepot ones also. They have the little red handle and mind has lasted 15 months now. I did have one that the handle kept coming off but I put some thread lock on it and no more problems. I do alot of tile and grout at 1000-1200psi. The ones that came on my first truck blew the seals contanstly to the point I kept 6 extra seals taped to the inside of my wallet. One night I had to replace 2 and the next day I bought these to "try" and I still have them. I think they cost $3.25

Greenie, How's that new manifold coming?

 

[hogjowl]

One of the best things I did to extend the life of my valves was to buy a Mytee Big Boss sprayer and get away from using a Hydrosoaker.

 

[Greenie]

Doug has a good point (and JB too).

Wouldn't ya know it, the devil is in the details.

The stock BLACK and YELLOW handles suck in the worst way.
And the odd little Italian bolt has issues with wanting to back out, and forget trying to find a repalcement screw if you loose one.

But...they are a good valve that just needed a little pimping.

When I first made the GreenGlides aftermarket replacement handle for the Italian mini-valve, they were bullet proof.
Somewhere along the line my plastics guy sent me the wrong plastic, and we had a nightmare generation of Brittle handles that cracked. It was weird....5 would be good, and #6 was worthless. It took months to get feedback form cleaners that the handles had a material flaw.
About that same generation we also made some aluminum handles, but like the circle seal valves they transfer heat.....strong as can be, but definitely transfer heat.

I will again make some ommo handles (out of the right plastic) come spring. But for now I'm out, sold the last of my valves and handles to John Olson at Superior.

And now you have the rest of the story.