On Sun, 12 Aug 2007 16:32:28 +0100, Ben Willcox
mused:

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).

Never had a problem using the stop connectors on any of my pressure
washers. I have had problems with using brass hose connectors on the
crappy plastic ones on the pressure washer though.
--
Regards,
Stuart.