Tornado Solution Hose - my first impressions

[Bob Foster]

I don't like it. It has a very abrasive skin that in a blink of an eye will do serious damage to corners and jams. Most all hose you can give it a gentle pull around a mild corner and no problem - not this stuff.

So before anyone starts telling me I should be using corner guards - I DO. But this crap takes absolutely nothing to cause serious groves.

The weight of the hose is right.
It lays right.
The rough surface cause loops to catch on each other when you are trying to sort your lines out when pulling them.

I would never buy it.

 

[Mikey P]

What a surprise.

 

[KevinL]

I hate hose like that.

 

[Ron Werner]

except for the rough surface, its a pretty good hose to work with.
It coils nice, uncoils nice
moderate weight, a little less than Neptune but much heavier than Parflex
handles very high heat and pressure so its going to last quite a while if using 230-240
insulates pretty well to

don't know if the "perfect" hose is out there, they all have their short falls

I've been told to give the Parflex a "longer" test. Tried it for a day, wasn't inpressed but apparently it gets better with use.

Since I bought 200' of Tornado hose I'll work with it, make sure I have my corner guards set up.
Might not be for you multi-truck guys who can't trust your employees, but with a little caution, knowing it has this one flaw, I'll see how it goes.

 

[alazo1]

Can you take a little fine sandpaper to it?. What's the outer skin made of?

Albert

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

After you drag it down a few driveways and through a few yards it should smooth out.

 

[Numero Uno]

Bruce knows...lol...

I added a outer skin to mine...

Had same impression,then I thought...hmmmm...

 

[Chris Muetterties]

I went back to Goodyear 2 weeks ago from my Parkerflex

Man I like it much better

 

[SRI Cleaning]

I like the goodyear. you just have to inspect it and replace it every so often, before it breaks.

 

[LeeCory]

I don't understand how guys can use steel braid hose.

How do you manage all the lines burnt into the carpet from the excessive heat?

 

[Bob Foster]

I thought about sand papering the tornado or if it will wears smooth too. Other than the roughness it appears to be a good hose but time will tell if Ron can get the roughness out.

 

[Ron Werner]

what do they say about rough diamonds;
just need to smooth out the edges :wink:

in the mean time it will force me to have better practise at placing corner guards

OH! Speaking of corner guards, has anyone else tried the wall guards? They are really slick to use. They snap onto the wall opposite the door or anything that is straight, couldn't find the link for them. Bought them from Interlink in Nov.

 

[The Magician]

I don't like the the parker hose coils.

 

[Greenie]

I still think the trick to parker is a larger diameter hose reel.

Quick question: Ron said "handles very high heat and pressure so its going to last quite a while if using 230-240"

Where is the correlation of heat rating to longevity?

I would give longevity according to hose material construction, nylon will outlast rubber as an example.

 

[steve frasier]

Is that the Joe Bristor hose?

 

[Greenie]

I would call it the Rampage hose.

I just never felt the need to carry it cause we already have a 311º italian hose, but it's steel braid so I don't recommend it often.

 

[Ron Werner]

Greenie, that correlation between wear and longevity is based on my use of the neptune. I can get 4-5 years from a length no problem. I'm only running at most 200F. From what I've heard, running these hoses at 240+ wears them out sooner, hence the term black death. Its not so much the external wear as the internal wear.

The Tornado is rated at 311F, steel braided and Italian made. Is that what you're have in stock as well?

Oh, while I've got your attention. I was using Bob's Greenhorn today and noticed that the jets hit just the edge of the glide. I had thought the jets would just "miss" the glide, striking the carpet first before before being extracted. Would that work better?

 

[TimP]

I have some parflex and I run it on the end of my solution reel. Of course the reel diameter is wider due to the reel being full having 250 ft of hose on it. It's a 100 ft section. When you pull it off to the ground it will coil. You have to pull it out and it will lay flat it other words don't let it bunch up. I have no trouble getting it on or off and it reels really well when it's hot and it bends and flexes a lot easier after you heat it up a few times it kinda softens it. Mine actually gets so hot that you definitely don't want to hold it in your hand. I run 230-240 with my cds w/salsa and it really keeps the heat in and that 30-40 degrees extra does help a good bit, plus I don't worry about any black death. I can't speak for the tornado hose since I haven't used it but parflex works for me. If you're running 200 heat or less, then neptune may be fine if you change it every so often.

 

[Jim Williams]

For those who still like steel braided hose you might want to give Hydro coil a try. It's rated at 250 degrees and 3000 psi. The outside is noticeably cooler than Goodyear, and I've never had a black death experience from it.

If I'm not mistaken it's made by Hydroforce and sold at Bridgepoint.

I bought a 125' section of Parflex about a year ago and I like it except for the fact that I can't use it on my small reel, and I still need to do something about that dang spring.

 

[Greenie]

For those who still like steel braided hose you might want to give Hydro coil a try. It's rated at 250 degrees and 3000 psi. The outside is noticeably cooler than Goodyear, and I've never had a black death experience from it.

If I'm not mistaken it's made by Hydroforce and sold at Bridgepoint.

I bought a 125' section of Parflex about a year ago and I like it except for the fact that I can't use it on my small reel, and I still need to do something about that dang spring.

Jim, we have "coolwrap" spring covers, I'll send you out one, just let me know your current address in a PM or email. The spring will extend that hoses life regardless, just need some coolwrap.

And I do believe the hydro-coil is just private label goodyear Ineptune.

We can talk about plastic hose vs: rubber hose all day, but the nylon core will outlast the rubber core every time.

And just for the record, just because a hose says 250ºf on it, doesn't mean it'll actually support 250 at any pressure you clean at. Some Mfgs. have conservative specs, some have loose specs, and some just don't make the same hose they used to make 4-5 years ago, so there is no tellin' if the next section will last like you "remember" it lasting.

 

[hogjowl]

Greenbean:

Don't try being the solution hose god until you come up with something that doesn't coil up around your feet. Talking bigger reels is just verbiage spent in an effort to cover up an inconvenient flaw.

And get some 2.5 inch cuffs while you're talking.

 

[Greenie]

You waiting on some 2.5" cuffs?

I didn't even have the good Blue KMA parflex, I had the yellow stiffe stuff, and it wasn't a problem coiling around the feet....sooo...what do you do different in Prattville? I didn't have a tiny sol. reel, so that probably helped.

 

[hogjowl]

What do we do different in Prattville?

Well, for one thing, we keep our womens in their place!

You're tiny solution reel might be part of the problem in that area, ya know?