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In article , "Bob Chilcoat" wrote:
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On the subject of washer hoses, I noticed one day that the hot water hose
for the washer had a significant bulge right at the bib, so I immediately
shut off the water to the washer, and told my wife that she was NOT to use
the washer until I could replace the hose that evening. I figured that I'd
really dodged a bullet, since my workshop was directly below the laundry
room. When I got home that evening with the new (higher quality stainless
steel wrapped) hose and went down to my workshop to get some tools, I
noticed that there was clear evidence of water on some of my tools (table
saw, band saw, etc.). I went upstairs and looked at the hose and discovered
that the bulge in the hose was now a jagged hole. My wife and daughter were
looking very sheepish. Apparently, despite my very clear warnings that the
hose was about to burst, my then college-student daughter insisted that she
needed to do a load of laundry right then. Not having any real idea what
she was agreeing to, my wife said OK, just one load. The hose burst within
minutes of them turning on the water, as I would have predicted. They were
expecting a little leak. What they got was a fire hose flood that
completely soaked both of them and flooded the workshop before they could
get the (many turn) gate valve closed again. They then dried everything out
in the laundry room, went down to the workshop and tried to dry everything
out down there, hoping that I wouldn't notice. I said a few things about 60
psi water pressure and flow rates, why I had been very explicit about NOT
using the washer, and explained how I now had to go down and dismantle the
table saw and band saw to get at the water in the crevices before they
rusted any more. I think I was very calm, considering.

Once things had settled down, I replaced the laundry gate valves with one of
those double ball valves for laundry rooms that allow you to shut off both
hot and cold together with a quick push of a lever. Highly recommended. We
leave the water off except when we're actually using the washer. Even
though we now have the high quality metal braid hoses, I figure they should
last forever since they only see pressure for an hour or two a week. If
they do have a problem, it will be when someone is there, and the water can
be shut off almost immediately.

I have a valve that does this automatically. I think Watts makes it. It
has a solenoid valve for both the hot & cold water, and you plug the
washer into it. It only opens the valves when the washer is drawing
power. In addition, it has a water sensor that sits on the floor so that
if a flood occurs while you are doing a wash, it shuts off anyway.

They apparently had trouble with the first design & were unavailable for
a while. I've had mine for two years, and it works great. The plumber
had never seen one and was very impressed. He's seen a lot of floods
that one would have prevented.

Doug White