Garden hose for boat

Another stupid question.

Almost every 2 years I would have to buy a new rubber/vinyl hose for washing the boat or adding water. The hoses would break down from the UV and leave marks. The hose, other than that was good.


I tried the expendable ones, but the cloth breaks too after one year. I was thinking of a stainless ones but I don't want to scratch my boat.

Has any one found a good hose?

Do you leave the hoses out on the dock when not in use? Constant sunlight kills most types of them pretty quickly. Once we got in the habit of draining the hose, coiling it, and stowing it aboard the boat after every use they started lasting much, much longer.

yep, I leave it out. I use almost every weekend and maybe on week days. Adding water, washing the boat and the dock from the seagulls.

Even using it at least once a week we found it worthwhile to bring the hose aboard. Draining it in the process does a great job of preventing it from growing slime and such between uses as well.

I had (and still use it at the house) a lifetime guaranteed hose from HD. It stayed coiled up on a hose hanger at the marina for about 6 years and still worked when we replaced it with a longer (75ft) hose. Didn't really mark up the boat.
It's been hanging outside of our house in Florida 24/7 since 2016 and still looks good and doesn't leak.

I don't remember the brand, maybe they don't sell them anymore, but it wasn't the cheapest they sold.

I find the expandable ones well worth the money even if I have to replace them yearly (typically I don't).

For me they are so much easier to handle and store than traditional designs.

Zero G hoses are nice and light but very durable. The end fittings are good quality. Hose itself seems to hold up well in the sun.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zer...512j0i512l7.4672j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

danderer said:

I find the expandable ones well worth the money even if I have to replace them yearly (typically I don't).

For me they are so much easier to handle and store than traditional designs.

Click to expand...

Cigatoo said:

Zero G hoses are nice and light but very durable. The end fittings are good quality. Hose itself seems to hold up well in the sun.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zer...512j0i512l7.4672j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Click to expand...

Ive blown a couple of the expandable ones and switched to Zero G on boat, at home & on motorhome. Been very satisfied and no issues to date ~5 yrs.
I'm not a fan of their alum fittings but in most places I've used good quality brass (True Value- forget the brand?) Quick connect fittings assembled w/ Teflon tape so no/little corrosion.
ZeroG so light & convenient coiling & storing aboard or in dock box is EZ.
I have used 2 roll up reels at home (75 and 100 ft) and very EZ deploy and retrieve.

I have a Zero G on our boat and like it.

Is this a white marine hose like you'd find in a marine chandlery? Or is this a cheap green hose that you'd find in a box store? I don't have this issue with white hoses.

I buy the white marine / RV hose from Walmart.



6 years and counting, but mine gets drained, coiled, and put back in the boat when done.

Ted

For 40 years everyone used Goodyear Industrial Rubber air hoses and then almost over night switched to Flexzilla Industrial Polymer air hoses. After having such good luck with the air hoses I decided to try a water house. My hose sits pressurized and outside 24/7/365. My experiment is only 2 years old so it is too soon to make any recommendations. So far the hose remains flexible, dose not kink and No degrading of the material. There has been some fade in the color. While I have gotten 10 years out of industrial grade garden hoses, they get sticky after about year five.

Neither flexzilla nor industrial grade water hoses are cheap. Industrial grade water hoses are to heavy and stiff to store on a boat but the Flexzilla is light and easy to store.

It is a different animal than a Zero G. I am talking about a more permanent system. While cruising it’s pretty hard to beat a zero G.

Cigatoo said:

Zero G hoses are nice and light but very durable. The end fittings are good quality. Hose itself seems to hold up well in the sun.
https://www.google.com/search?q=zer...512j0i512l7.4672j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Click to expand...

I bought a few of those and had had to cut them off the spigots at the end of one season. The end fittings are nice, but they don't play well with other metals if you leave them on there a season in a marine environment. I still use one at my slip because the marina lets me leave it on the spigot all year. When that hose fails, I'll be carefully splitting the female end to remove it from the spigot. Sadly, I could not find a plastic replacement end fitting that fits a zero G hose material. The boating world needs a high-quality expanding hose with high quality plastic end fittings. In the meantime, the best fix, IMO, is to add a foot of homemade hose with a plastic fittings between the fancy hose and the spigot.

Mischief Managed said:

I bought a few of those and had had to cut them off the spigots at the end of one season. The end fittings are nice, but they don't play well with other metals if you leave them on there a season in a marine environment. I still use one at my slip because the marina lets me leave it on the spigot all year. When that hose fails, I'll be carefully splitting the female end to remove it from the spigot. Sadly, I could not find a plastic replacement end fitting that fits a zero G hose material. The boating world needs a high-quality expanding hose with high quality plastic end fittings. In the meantime, the best fix, IMO, is to add a foot of homemade hose with a plastic fittings between the fancy hose and the spigot.

Click to expand...

Yep, other post said the same thing.

A great idea adding a small hose!

I dunno what brand our home-slip dockwash hose is or where I got it, but it's heavy green rubber... and I've been using it for about 15 years, always out in all weather during our seasons, no issues.

-Chris

I carry an expandable hose on the boat while cruising because it takes up such little space. Specifically, I bought this one. Connectors are high quality and the on/off valve is very convenient. Stows nicely in the included bag.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FVR5VY5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used to buy the white marine hoses, but they didn't hold up well and are very unflexible. I' am now using the following one and I love it. I leave it coiled on the dock hanger. Safe for drinking water, inexpensive, very flexible, and looks durable, although I've only had it a few seasons.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TFE7ZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Going into my 4th season with a Zero G. Leave it outside all season, have had no issues.

You might want to try one of these: https://snowjoe.com/products/aqua-joe-ajfjh50-58-rv-superlight-fiberjacket-max-garden-hose-50-foot

It is not an expandable hose (in that it gets longer) but it does get pretty flat when there is no water in it. It has a fiber jacket (probably nylon) so it won't leave marks.

No one ever died from drinking water from a dirt house garden hose. INHO this concern is just more boaters' paranoia.

I bought the Zero-G from Defender at a great price. I did need other stuff so shipping was no big deal.

It seams like a good hose and I had enough parts laying around that I made up a small hose. You look around the docks and you can see hoses cut at the valve.

Thanks everyone.

ranger58sb said:

I dunno what brand our home-slip dockwash hose is or where I got it, but it's heavy green rubber... and I've been using it for about 15 years, always out in all weather during our seasons, no issues.

Click to expand...

I just happened to remember we've got about 500' of black rubber hose -- Sears Craftsman -- that we've been using around the various houses for the last 25 years or so.

Black rubber isn't all that suitable for dock use, I guess, but it's certainly long-lasting.

The green rubber hose we have at the dock shows promise of lasting that long, too...

-Chris

The Zero G's are the ticket. I doubt I'll ever buy another rubber garden hose.

However, the comments about the aluminum fittings on the Zero G are spot on. A friend asked me to remove a Zero G from a hose bib at her house. I tried with pump pliers but it was absolutely seized to the hose bib. I stopped for fear of damaging the hose bib. Next step would be to cut the hose fitting with a hack saw or Dremel tool.

If you're going to leave a Zero G on the hose bib for months, install a plastic valve between the hose bib and the hose.

I just bought a Zero G hose, and it has a brass insert at the female end that attaches to the tap.

When I read the OP's post my first thought was, me too. I replace my dock hoses just about every two years, and I'm in South Dakota where they're only exposed six months each year and our U/V exposure even in summer is far less than say Florida. I replace one hundred feet of hose each time so it's not peanuts, because it's 40 feet from the faucet to the water locker on the stern for house water, and then I do the same length for a general purpose dock hose. I used to be a big Zero-G fan too, loved them initially, but my enthusiasm has evaporated. Maybe I let the hoses freeze in the early and very late seasons, but at the end of the second year my Zero-G hoses keep bursting. The interior rubber sleeves just keep splitting and spraying everywhere. I religiously turn the water off each time we leave the boat so they're not pressurized full, but I don't blow them out each time. Yes, I know, Zero-G has a lifetime replacement guarantee, but (1) I'd have to track and remember where I bought them, or (2) fool with filing the claim and shipping and meanwhile my dock hoses are popping and spraying everywhere. I've just resigned myself to buying new every couple years.

(I do like black rubber at home, even though they're difficult to handle, but can't use black rubber on the dock. They mark up the white boat and white dock posts too badly.)

Zero G. It coils perfectly in my wash bucket after use. At home we use 100' black industrial hose.

Zero G. I like them because they're potable water safe, easy to handle, and coil nicely. 'Never had one fail.

TStiles said:

Zero G. I like them because they're potable water safe, easy to handle, and coil nicely. 'Never had one fail.

Click to expand...

Had the guy at the hardware store tell me that water can get trapped in the folds of the Zero-G hose when it shrinks back. These spots can be a breeding ground for mold and bacteria. Think about it, a dark, warm, wet area is the perfect medium for mold. For this reason, the guy did not recommend them for potable water use.

We had a pair of "as seen on TV" versions of the Zero-G hose. Both herniated and failed within 10 minutes of use this spring. Worked fine last year, but apparently they met their end. Went with a more conventional hose this time.

I don't see the point of expandable hoses as a dock hose. They cause me more problems than they solve, like expanding and falling into the water. I do like them as a transient hose because they take up minimum storage space. See my previous post. I love the Flexilla hose as a permanent dock hose. Flexible but durable and good fittings. Very flexible and easy to move around and safe for drinking water. What's not to love?

Use caution with the white marine hoses. We had one degrade on the inside and contaminate our water tanks with small bits of white plastic. We stick to the clear silicone ones with brass fitting.