What do homeowners who have yards, gardens, and driveways have in common? Aside from an outdoor space, these households always need a water supply with a good garden hose nozzle to keep and maintain a clean property. There are some yard tasks that just cry out for a good hose and the right hose nozzle.
Unfortunately, there are several problems that come with common hose nozzles. Water leaks out in all kinds of places that you don’t want, flow can sometimes be inconsistent, and poorly made nozzles can even break after one or two seasons of use. When you're having a day off and want to wash your car but you find all these problems with your hose nozzle, it can give you quite a bit of a headache to suffer through, or have to head to the hardware store and buy a new one.
How do you know which garden hose nozzle is best to buy? Last time I checked, most stores don’t have a water spigot standing nearby ready for you to have a live demo of their vast selection. Instead, you’re stuck with buying something that you hope will work well and putting up with the hassle of returning it if it doesn’t work out as you had hoped.
In order to prevent you this frustration, here are a few tips to consider and aid you for your next garden hose nozzle purchase.
First, purchase a solid brass hose nozzle. Yes, these are old… you may remember your grandfather using this type. But they are still quite common, and there’s a reason why: their timeless design simply works.
But not all brass hose nozzles are created equal. Many are simply aluminum or metal with a coating of brass on the outside. Others are lightweight… meaning that they are not as durable.
When you are shopping for a garden hose nozzle, you want a brass nozzle that is heavy-duty. Also, you want one that has a solid construction. Many of the inexpensive brass hose nozzles have the inner barrel where the water flows through made out of two parts that are press-fit together. The downside to this design is that after being used, the connection tends to fail. This leads to an inability to adjust the nozzle’s spray setting, and also makes the nozzle leak. Leaks are not a happy problem to have!
So when you shop for a brass garden hose nozzle set, check the base close to where the nozzle connects to the hose. If it looks like there is a lip around the shaft then that is a sign that the nozzle has this press-fit connection problem. A good solid brass hose nozzle will be machined from one piece, resulting in no leaks or failure at the base of the nozzle.
Finally, examine the nozzle’s inside o-rings. Simply unscrew the outer shaft all of the way until the two pieces separate. Towards the top of the inner shaft should be a rubber o-ring. This prevents water from spraying backwards onto you while you are using the nozzle. High quality nozzles will have two o-rings at the top, to ensure leak-free performance.
Customers of these types of nozzles have lots of positive things to say about their own experiences with the brass nozzles. One customer talks about how he actually drove his truck over his solid brass garden hose nozzles to test the durability. Surprisingly, they held up fine and worked as good as before the test! Other customers rave about how easy a high quality brass hose nozzle is to adjust, saying that even their kids can easily use the hose nozzles without any trouble.
If you want a nozzle that can take the beating from a life-time of use and still work great, then you need to get a high quality solid brass garden hose nozzle.