Hose - lay flat or standard ? (1 Viewer)

[Wawawa]

As we get geared up for our 'new' motorhome, should we be looking for flat hose or standard hose ?

having read other threads I'm leaning towards getting a standard hose (or two) on a reel

we do have a garage so compact storage is not essential

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

After searching the net, reading up and researching ,Ralph got a flat hose on a reel. Food grade standard.
We used it to fill the tank over the new year, no problems. Stores well in the MH , bought it from cak tanks , cant remember how much it was though.
B

 

[Spacerunner]

Get a flat hose.

Much easier to squeeze any water out to stop it freezing inside the hose or dribbling all over the storage locker.

A good tip is to split the new hose into 2/3's and 1/3 lengths. Then if you can get close to a filling point you don't have to unwind the full length of the hose. Also get yourself a full range of hose fittings.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[JayDee]

Different points of view

We have both - well three kinds actually.

We have
a fifteen metre on a reel layflat blue (food standard) hose
a seven metre round blue hose which we coil up
a fifteen metre on a reel green hose which does not have to be unreeled (item one does) to use. Admittedly it's not food standard but is is really convenient.

We used to have another 15 metre blue layflat which we bought at Waudby's a few years ago and after less than a year it sprung leaks along the 'creases'. Told Waudby's and they quite happily refunded my money and told me they were not stocking that particular brand anymore, since they had had huge problems with them. Good service from Waudby's:thumb:

One of the advantages of the lay-flat it that as you spool it up after use it squeezes the water out of the hose so you don't end up with puddles in your 'garage' - as Spacerunner suggested.

Whatever you finally opt for do make sure that you have fittings and attachments for as many tap types as you can think of. Guarantee that when it's chucking it down with rain - the time you don't want to fill using bucket/watering can/water carrier - is when you find your hose won't fit the tap oh::Angry: It's happened to me and probably everyone else on here.


John

 

[chas]

Personaly, I would go for the standard blue hose, particulary that storage is not a problem.
Tried the lay flat type. a complete hassle IMO. We have two lenths about 5 metres long each with various tap connectors.

We also carry a 5 gallon water container in the luton which we have found very useful to take to a water source on the W.C water trolly and fill the high water point on the van with the submersible 12v water pump. :thumb:

 

[savantuk]

Standard hose for me too. We did try a flat hose on a reel for a while, but as it was used more and more, it started to go onto the reel crooked, and wouldn't wind all the way in.

Standard hose may take a few secs longer to roll up, but we seldom use anything more than about 10 yards long.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[activecampers]

We have one of these we bought from QVC (only place we could find it!)

Link Removed

The reel is a bit knackered now and the hose is "slow running" - but its very convenient and I'd buy another.
Don't forget to buy a selection of screw and push adapters

 

[Braunston]

Hi,

We have used a lay flat hose on our boat for several years now, and its always a bloody pain having to unroll it and then make sure its not twisted when you try to role it up, times I have thought of throwing in the cut, but we still use it,

But I do like the idea of those ones you don't have to unroll completely and i may well treat myself as they look like the perfect solution , thanks "activecampers" for the link.:thumb:

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

Forgot to say.oh:
Dont know if you kept yours but, we've also got the 2 Aqua rolls that we had with the caravan still.
So we took one of those away with us over the new year.
Ralph had bought a 12 volt Whale High flow pump from Towsure .
Its really powerful.
You put 1 end in the aqua roll then 1 end in your mh tank and in no time the water goes from 1 to the other.
You can buy them whole, or make it up yourself, which we did as it worked out a bit cheaper.
Bev

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DESCO]

Have used both, but like round hose best, cut into 2 lengths one shorter than other with means of joining and selection of connectors.

Also carry a 5 gallon water can that is used when I can't be bothered to move the van.


Dave :thumb::thumb:

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Personally I HATE hoses, same as vacuum cleaner wires! Blasted things always get caught on something and a pig to fold up.

Flat hoses are a lot easier especially the non-kink ones.

If you want a pump for aquarolls or containers, I do a good submesrible one at £9-78p, a lot cheaper than Whale!

Peter

 

[derekfaeberwick]

One of the first accessories I bought was a flat hose, I think it's been used twice in 9 years.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pablomc]

A daft question, but I find even with a flat hose I still get leakage in the storage locker. I have now cut a third off our roll flat just to mate it quicker to roll and unroll and even with no apparent water left in it after rolling I always find later that the water has leaked from it.

Any tips has to overcome or deal with effectively?

Two options I had thought about were:
a) using the water stop type of connectors, but that might cause issue in removing the excess water from the hose in the first place.
B) a water tight bag, but thought this may lead to stagnated water, mould etc.


PS - I didn't once forget to fully unroll the lay flat before using. oh:

 

[Lenny HB]

Like most I hate the roll flat hoses too much of a pain to use have to roll out the full length before use & them even more of a pain to roll up.

 

[dellwood33]

Someone told me that the layflat hoses were less effective in France ?
Anyone with experience of the best hose for the french Aires ?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Big Momma]

I have always just carried a 5 metre length of normal hose with an assortment of tap conectors. I also carry a 20Ltr water carrier.

When touring in UK I find that the MH points are easy to get to and so can use the water tap to fill up where necessary. After filling I always roll up the hose to allow any excess to come out and then store it in a heavy duty plastic carrier bag, thus preventing leakage. The rolled up hose in the bag takes up very little space.

If I need water on site, or where it is difficult to get to the service area water supply (usually on continental sites), then I just use the water carrier. More laborious and a bit more time consuming but hey, whose in a hurry

 

[Minxy]

As far as I know there are 4 basic types of hoses most commonly in use:

1) lay-flat comprising of a single hose made flatter (as opposed to round).
2) lay-flat comprising of several small hoses laid side by side (looks a bit like old type piece of plasticine but hollow)
3) coiled hose (looks like a giant green spring)
4) standard round hose

The hoses come in different grades - garden/general or fresh water.

The lay flat hoses, whilst being good for storage can be a pain in the bum as some can only be used when fully unwound (generally 1 above) can be an absolute s*d to rewind onto their drum.

The ones that don't have to be fully unwound (2 above) have a several smaller bore pipes and therefore a slower flow rate for the water so you end up spending longer doing the fill-up.

The coiled (spring) type hose (3), whilst easy to use (unless your'e stretching it too far and it goes boing ) have a smaller bore and therefore a reduced flow rate.

The standard hoses (4) usually don't have a flow restriction and are the quickest for doing fill-ups.

We kicked our flat hose into touch due to it being a pain in the bum to have to unroll and re-roll it all the time. We do however have a 'spring' type hose which we use most of the time in the UK as it's quick and easy to get out and put away. Abroad, however, we always use a good quality standard green garden hose (cheap ones soon start to crack and kink), the reason for this is that we mainly use aires and often on these you either have a queue or are paying for the 'time' you draw water rather than the amount, therefore the larger bore means you are getting more water for your money and quicker too (keeps the following filler-uppers happy!). We did use the spring hose once and instead of getting 50 litres only got about 30 litres as it timed out before we'd got our ration!:shout:

There is a great debate as to whether you should use food grade hoses or not, we've never bothered and after 14 years of motorhoming we're still allive! We do, however, give the hose a good rinse out EVERY time we use it and also wash the tap etc down before filling up, this to me is more important than the type of material the hose is made out of. The water passes through it for such a short length of time that I can't possibly see that using a standard hose can have any detrimental effect on it at all.

Oh, as for a waterproof bag to stop your locker getting wet - simple ... a good quality plastic 'bag for life' from one of the supermarkets!!!!:thumb:

 

[graham_bell]

We recently bought a lay-flat hose from "The Range" £12.99 for 15m. A bit of an impulse purchase, but I was looking for one.. But having just opened it to have a look, I think the saying "You get what you pay for" rings true. However, we haven't used it yet, if it turns out to be useless, I can always use it in the garden - at least that's what I'll tell the missus

Graham