Rachio Expandable Hose (Your Choice)

Rachio Expandable Hose (Your Choice)

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What is the length of the hoses prior to extending?

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Not sure about this one specifically, but most expandable hoses contract to 35% their expanded length. So .35 x 50 = 17.5.

When it’s rolled up on a reel and you are watering plants right next to the reel how would it possibly expand?

Same way every other hose does. So long as it’s not wound extremely tight together, the water should be able to travel the hose and expand as it moves. Putting these on reels is weird anyway because of that. I use hose buckets/barrels for expanding hoses

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These types of hoses are fantastic for campers hooking up a RV or trailer to a water supply at a site. I’ve got two 50ft’s that that each fit into a small mesh bag. Significantly less room that a traditional hose and you can pretty much put it anywhere as you’re not bound to the spiral shape of a traditional empty stores hose.

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I was skeptical about this type of hose. Basically it is a smaller diameter ‘rubber’ tubing - akin to tubing used as bungee cords or something from chemistry class.

You know when your teacher said “watch this” and boom the experiment blows up because the tubing was leaking gas. But I digress.

It is tubing surrounded by a flexible, helical cloth like protective enclosure. I like both full diameter garden hoses for dragging across my backyard as well as these lighter weight and collapsible ‘magic’ hoses.

Other than durability, the biggest issue I have with these hoses is that the brass-like fittings are often soft aluminum; also if you have a quality brass nozzle or spigot/hydrant, the different metals of the hose and nozzle might fuse (some sort of electrochemical voodoo) if left attached for weeks/months.

That said, I’m buying one!!0

Other hoses don’t expand. They are harder rubber that keep the passageway in teh middle open when rolled up.

THESE dont. You have to take out the entire hose.

I keep mine in a terracotta pot and go about my planter watering. With a nozzle you can adjust the pressure/stream. Play around with it to suit you. After turning off I still have a couple minutes of steady water as the hose shrinks and it then it nestles nicely back in its pot.

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Are the metal fittings Brass or aluminum?

Brass per the Rachio site.

I used to be skeptical about these hoses, seemed cheap, flimsy and gimmickey. We impulse bought one, not sure where it came from actually and man it is it cool. Just pull it, use it, then drop it back into a pile. Super simple and I don’t care if it gets messed up because they’re cheap I hate coiling hoses that much.

Galvanic corrosion is the term when two different metals are in contact with each other

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