The other day I wen to clean my teeth with my Waterpik. I turned the Watepik on and something was wrong. Water was spraying on the wall. I thought I had the tip pointing in the wrong direction, but no. The hose was broken just below the handle. I didn’t want to have to buy a whole new unit just for a broken hose. I searched around the net and found I could get a new hose, but I thought I could use the hose I had. I just needed to figure out how to reattach it to the handle. I tried to figure out how to open the handle. I came close to hitting it with a hammer or prying it apart.
I continued searching, looking for into on how the replacement hose was supposed to attached, but I couldn’t find any instructions. I did find a replacement handle. I started thinking that I couldn’t reattach the hose to the handle I had. I ordered the replacement handle.
When the replacement handle came, I saw how it attached to the hose. I decided to see if I could use the old handle. I cut off the hose where the break was. There is a little plastic piece where the hose entered the handle. The piece locks the hose in place. Using a knife, I pried up the little piece to release the lock. The with the piece locked up, I pulled it out with some pliers.
Now with the lock removed, I needed to remove the small piece of hose. The hose is pushed onto a small plastic tube. I tried pulling the hose off, but that didn’t work. I ended up using a sharp pointed knife to slice the hose off the small tube. That worked.
I cleaned up the end of the hose. I slid the small plastic lock piece onto he hose. Then I pushed the hose onto the small plastic tube in the handle. Then I slid the lock piece down, and locked it into place.
My repaired Watepik works great. I still have the unused replacement handle. Not sure what I will do with it. I will probably just hang onto it in case the handle I have breaks.
This fix may or may not last. After having fixed the hose like this a couple times, I gave up. The hose just became too old and brittle. I had to replace the hose. This is probably a better long term solution. Here is a video I made on how to do that:
Thanx for this explanation of how you were able to repair your waterpik device’s hose.
My hose also broke just as yours did, same place also, very near the handle.
Following your information I was able to fix mine also.
Sweet!
Comment by Clifton Buck-Kauffman — May 14, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
Clifton, I hope it works for you. I found that mine worked for a while, and the hose broke again. I fixed it again, and it broke again. I think the plastic hose became brittle. They do sell replacement hoses. I bought a newer model Waterpik, and have been using it. I don’t think it has quite the power of the older model. So I may buy the replacement hose, and fix the older one. I kept it just in case.
Comment by Rob — May 14, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
The fact of the matter is that a great product like WaterPik should not put any of us through this.
I believe that this brittle hose issue is known by WaterPik since it is mentioned in the replacement kit.
My older WaterPiks did not suffer from brittle hoses. Could this be someone’s new idea to make you buy a new one. After all, most people will not take the WaterPik apart to fix it.
It appears WaterPik has found a great replacement program idea.
As consumers, we should not be forced to fix an apparent design flaw.
Comment by Jim Alfaro — June 28, 2009 @ 10:25 am
To be successful with re-attaching the hose, you must cut off the damaged part of the hose and heat the end in boiling water before sliding it on to the handle’s tapered fitting. Don’t forget to already have the clamp further down the hose before starting.
Comment by Bill — October 15, 2009 @ 6:52 pm
I also had a hose break just under the handle. I don’t know if I have a different model (I have the WP 100W/C) but the procedure I used to mend it was a little different as the hose is attached deep inside the handle (just below the thumb-operated flow stop button) and the 2 pieces of the handle are not designed to be split apart, making the attachment point inaccessible. It was obvious that if I couldn’t fix it I would have to buy a replacement handle anyway, so inspired by this thread I decided to break apart the handle (using a knife to force the sides apart and break the glued pegs) and found the hose attachment as described above.
So the repair procedure for the WP 100W/C is:
* Break apart the handle halves using a knife (this is destructive but the only option other than buying a new one)
* Locate the attachment point just below the flow-stop valve.
* Slide the “lock tube” (a short –about 1/4–hard plastic tube just wider than the hose) away from the attachment point (may need prying away with a blade)
* Remove the “lock tube” from the broken hose end (and keep it safe).
* Cut the broken hose stub off the “barbed” plastic attachment peg using a scalpel (it wouldn’t pull off easily and if the peg breaks off it would not be repairable).
* Square up the end of the remaining hose with a blade (if the the break is not square)and slide the “lock tube” on to the hose.
* Push the hose all the way onto the barbed attachment peg (soften the end in boiling water if necessary).
* Slide the “lock tube” all the way up to the end of the hose.
Then you just have to find a way to reassemble the handle halves. I chose to tape them together with waterproof tape rather than re-glue them in case I have to make the repair again.
Comment by Steve Thorpe — November 17, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
I followed the instructions in the original posting plus warming the tube before inserting into the handle and fixed the tube break at the handle in a total of about three minutes. Thanks for all of your comments.
Comment by Selden Campen — December 13, 2009 @ 2:35 pm
Hi,
Try this. Cut the all ready broken hose.Make sure to remove the dent in the hose if any (that was the reason mine broke). Use a small piece (half inch, 1,5 cm) of the thin straw of a NEW WD Bottle to connect the two sides of the hoses again. The straw goes inside both ends and forms a bridge. After connecting run it with warm water and it will be snug as a bug. Cheap and easy!
Comment by Iemke — December 17, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
The PVC tubing will keep on splitting due to the nature of the material. The tubing needs to be semi-rigid in order to resist lateral expansion under pressure in order to maintain good “squirting” power at the business end. I know this because I tried replacing the white tubing with the more readily available clear vinyl tubing, which is more pliable.
It’s relatively easy to replace once the handle is pried open. There is half-round plastic collar that slides over the end of the tube to clamp it onto the nozzle.
In the end, I got rid of the handle assembly altogether because I never use the “Pause” button anyway and always have the blast pressure set at a maximum so the paraphernalia inside the handle was no longer needed.
I replaced the crappy PVC tubing with some .125″ OD/ 0.066″ ID black tubing that’s rated for 255 psi and used a short length of PEX tubing (household plumbing) to use as a handle.
A slotted hole was drilled in the side of the PEX for the black tubing to enter the handle. Silicone caulking was used to make a plug at the other end of the handle into which the glass nozzle could be inserted. The black tubing was inserted directly into the bottom end of the glass nozzle and it stays via friction.
A plastic drinking straw was inserted into the PEX tubing before squirting the caulking in, to pre-form a chase in the silicone through which the black tubing can easily slide and be pulled out the other end before being inserted into the glass nozzle. Then the blunt end of the glass nozzle, with the tubing jammed in place, slips nicely and tightly into the silicone plug.
Works great. and should the black plastic tubing ever need replacing, it will be easy to do because one doesn’t have to futz with that overly-complicated original handle.
Opening up the pump carcase is fairly easy. It’s just a matter of sticking four shims (flathead screwdrivers do the trick) into the joint on the underside, adjacent to the locking tabs to disengage them and then pry the two at the narrow ends and the outer shell then slides off.
Once the shell is off, everything on the inside can be slid apart including the part which has the nozzle onto which the other end of the hose needs to be fitted.
The hose end will need to be softened by soaking in boiling hot water and spread by inserting a pointed tool (ie a scratch awl) into the end.
It’s actually a lot easier than all these words make it out to be.
Comment by Garazgos — February 7, 2010 @ 7:55 pm
Where can we get the .125? OD/ 0.066? ID black tubing that’s rated for 255 psi?
(I refuse to pay Waterpic $9 for their repair hose kit)
Comment by Russ — June 6, 2010 @ 8:05 pm
I live in Tampa, Florida. Which one of you is closest to me so that I can bring you my Water Pik and have you fix it? We’ll work out a trade.
Comment by Ted — June 9, 2010 @ 2:04 am
Wow! Thanks to all! All comments helpful. I have a 70W and the ribbed tube was deep inside (possibly like model 100?), but a slender knife & small tweezers & some reaching inside got all the old tubing piece off so I didn’t have to split the handle. Just a point of clarification: I could see three directions that could be “up” in the first instructions. Ended up being toward the bottom of the handle on my model. When putting it back on, in case it flew like mine did & I didn’t get to study how it would attach back, the smaller end of the locking piece is to the inside of the handle, and the flat edge is toward the handle. Bless you all, you handy people!
Comment by V S — June 14, 2010 @ 2:15 am
I am on my second waterpic, both have failed the same way. I have repaired the tube several times making it shorter, but the tubing is now so brittle that it’s worthless. Anyone know where you can get good tubing that doesn’t break after a few months? Has anyone tried heatshrink tubing?
Comment by Ed — July 10, 2010 @ 3:24 pm
After reading all the suggestions, I bought the kit for $8.95 plus shipping about $4.The “repair” consisted of removing inserting the new parts, and screwing it back togeth and my Ultra WaterPik was good as new in five minutes. There is no “britle hose” problem, just normal wear and tear. The design is perfect. And I don’t know of any hose that doesn’t break eventually .
Comment by Bob LeDonne — September 20, 2010 @ 9:31 am
When my hose broke, I read all the above emails and decided to buy the repair kit from WaterPik.
It took no time at all to remove two screws and snap in the new hose. My Ultra WaterPik 100 is as good as new. As for the “brittle” hose problem, If you can solve it I am sure WaterPik would pay you handsomely. As for me, I think all hoses break or leak eventually.
Comment by Bob LeDonne — September 20, 2010 @ 10:10 am
I was able to repair my wife’s unit with a few quick steps -
1st, carefully pry out the lock piece from the handle using a jewelers’ flat screwdriver and push it down the hose and out of the way.
2nd, cut off the hose near the split and make it sure the cut is 90 degrees.
3rd, carefully split the hose that remains with a razor and pry it off of the tube connection. I used a small needle nose pliers. Make sure your cut is not too deep so you don’t damage this connection.
4th, push on the freshly cut hose onto the tube as far as it will go and then pull the lock piece into position and click it into place.
Check the WaterPik operation for any leaks.
Comment by Brian — October 19, 2010 @ 5:37 pm
I have the same problem as apparently thousands of others buying Waterpick product. This is the third Waterpick I have to repair then throw away because of the flown design. I will never buy anything from this joke of the company.
Comment by lettersfromcanada — November 14, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
I completed the hose repair as described above, but it took longer than others. Be careful as there is a mini spring that is needed to keep the irrigator tip in place. I lost the spring but jury-rigged a fix with a few pieces of thick rubber band. Also note that you will lose almost 6 inches of the hose if the crack is at the base of the handle, more if it is further down the hose. If you like this product it may pay to buy a replacement device because it will come with new tips etc.
Comment by James — November 23, 2010 @ 10:49 am
Followed above instructions & it works fine. ditto on the crappy tubing review.
Comment by Ed G. — December 7, 2010 @ 11:42 pm
Thank you! The detailed instructions worked perfectly for me, with the only struggle being getting the handle sides split apart.
Comment by Paul Smith — December 21, 2010 @ 6:30 pm
Any one know of a source for replacement tubing? I’ve looked locally, but havent’ been able to find any.
Thanks!
Reid
Comment by Reid — December 22, 2010 @ 4:14 pm
You know how some garden hoses last forever, why can’t they use the same materials for this dental cleaning device. I guess if products last a long time nobody would get new ones. I cannot recommend the replacement hose from the manufacturer; it did not work for me. I could not get the stints that came with the new replacement hose to install with the old hose. I know manufacturers have a way to improve on the hose life and would not greatly impact price. By the way I paid over 13.22 and only got 8.80 back as a refund when I returned the new hose. I paid 1.22 in tax and only received about 80cents back in taxes? They charged $3.95 to ship out a tiny hose that weighed nothing. They really can improve on the hose in terms of durability and life span, but why won’t they?
Comment by G Ed — December 29, 2010 @ 1:32 pm
After reading the above comments and instructions; my “kudos” to the rockstars’
that offered repair and technical info…just what i was looking for. I have done several repairs and will have to change the hose as it’s too brittle. for 1 99c repair we can spend as much to repair the pik as we originally pd. for it!!!
Comment by gww — March 31, 2011 @ 3:04 pm
thx man, gonna try it right now!!
Comment by Rodney — April 22, 2011 @ 7:35 pm
This works too: place the hose end directly into the interchangeable ‘pic’. The hose fits snugly into it! Works if you like full pressure, which I do.
Comment by PhilE — July 22, 2011 @ 1:49 am
How lever locks work
Comment by how to pick a lock — August 22, 2011 @ 8:27 pm
For a break in the hose near the handle, instead of using a razor to cut the damaged section of hose, let the handle and hose soak in very hot water for a few minutes then grip hose with pliers, twist and pull. The hot water softens the tubing letting it pull free. Easier and safer than using a razor as suggested above.
Comment by Mitch — September 2, 2011 @ 7:49 am
Thanks! I just used the reapir info to fix my son’s water pik. It worked great…Thanks so much!!!
Comment by Missy — September 3, 2011 @ 1:13 pm
Poor design by Water Pik – this is my third unit, all suffered brittle hose syndrome and repairs just don’t work – even a new hose can not be fit onto pump under main housing. But why should they change the hose when they can force us to buy a new unit??
Comment by Andy — October 18, 2011 @ 8:30 pm
On our 70W Model: I finally got the replacement handle to attach to the old hose by putting the old end into boiling water. Prior to that I found a way to get the case lid off. Cut some party toothpicks in half and turn the base upside down. Take a relatively thin flat screwdriver and put it down the between the case and the base near one of the catches and insert a toothpick piece. Continue on around the base doing this at each catch. Eventually you should be able to pry the top off. The case is remarkably tough and can really be moved without breaking.
Comment by Brad — October 22, 2011 @ 12:54 pm
Many thanks to all for their outstanding instructions on repairing the hose. I have the WP 100W/C and special thanks to Bill for suggesting to put the handle and hose in hot water, twist & pull hose to release. I put tape around the spring so I wouldn’t lose it. My WaterPik works great now and it only took about 20 minutes!
Comment by Fran — October 26, 2011 @ 11:33 pm
I have to leave my opinions here about WATERPIK. Waterpik is a disaster of a company which is falling apart as of 2011. All of their products, and I do mean all, have HEAVY competition on the marketplace with Philips and Conair taking a very strong lead over Waterpik with much more superior products and innovation. All of Waterpiks have major design flaws inside, one particular is the battery Sinus wash unit. Who installs batteries inside the water base compartment? HELLO !!! Mr. Ken Hair, VP of Engineering for Waterpik should be ashamed of his designs. As far as the Marketing, CLUELESS. Michael Wakeman, VP-Marketing, needs to have his head examined. No Marketing skills what so ever. He might be good with math figures but lacks everything else. The CEO of Waterpik needs to spend more time at the company and try and fix things inside the doors before it all goes on a tag sale. Recently, P&G declined to bid on Waterpik for an acquisition. Why? “Not worth our time and too many holes inside the organization”. Sad stuff. Close the doors Waterpik and let other products take over now. Your days are gone. (khair@waterpik.com),(mwakeman@waterpik.com)
Comment by Stephen Treacy — November 3, 2011 @ 1:04 am
There is no excuse for the poor quality of the hose used in the Waterpic 100. I hadn’t used mine for a while and when I tried to use it it broke in 3 places. When I pulled a bit more it broke further because the material that the hose is made of was just way too brittle. Yes, hoses break, but this is ridiculous. I’ve had similar products without this problem.
Comment by Ricardo — November 17, 2011 @ 6:03 pm
Read the how to from the above and determined that my 100 unit has a connection at the push button stop valve way up inside the handle. — SO — I used a 1″ wide wood chisle along with a single tap at the seam and the 8 small trunion snaps inside the handle let go = Thus an easy opening of the handle is possible. Yes make sure you wrap the tool disconnect spring you find hanging out with tape so it does not fall out in the following.
Wife was making some chicken soup so I diped the broken off hose(where it slips onto the barb fitting of the valve) into the soup for a minute or so and it only took a very mild pull and the hose along with the white locking plastic colar to slip off the barb end of the valve.
slipped the colar back over the end of the tubing (after squaring off the end of the hose using a razor blade).
Placed the end of the hose into the hot soup and then easily slipped it onto the barb fitting of the valve assembley. Locking colar then easily slipped down over the hose to where it now engaged over the area of the barb fitting below and inside the tubing (sliped on very easily).
8 small drops of super glue at the orignal case attachment points (or you can use tape if you prefer)allowed me to put the unit back in service (followed by a cleaning with hydrogen proxide of all the internal and external areas (I do this reutinely anyway to make sure stuff (black backteria) does not start to grow in or on the unit).
The appparent reason the hose breaks (other then age = my unit was 4 years old) is the intense wicked vibration of the tubing right below the handle).
Fix only took around 30 minutes and will do it again as long as the hose has some length left, otherwise it is only around $12 (with shipping for a new hose and handle as a unit that is easy replacement with two philips head screws on the underside of the pump base.
Living longer and happier within life’s simple challanges!
Tom
Comment by Tom — November 28, 2011 @ 3:03 pm
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? Do you know any techniques to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d definitely appreciate it.
Comment by Steve4546 — December 14, 2011 @ 6:51 pm
Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?Did you design this with the default layout tools? Your layout looks good.
Comment by front doors — December 14, 2011 @ 8:04 pm
Thanks for teaching this 8o year old how to fix the hose on my wp-60 waterpik, which starting leaking today. Works swell now. Also want to say that I now soak my oral-B toothbrush heads once a month in a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water for about 15 minutes. Black particles come out of the brushes and the brushes are then like new & I don’t replace them that often now.
Comment by Joyce Qunn — January 9, 2012 @ 1:24 am
Broke hose on WP 100 near the handle. I repaired as previous discussed by splitting the case apart with knive and screw driver. Cut off bad hose portion and slipped new hose on. Works great.
Comment by Fuzz Maker — March 31, 2012 @ 6:22 pm
I repaired the broken hose with:3/16″ O.D. x 1/8″I.D.clear vinyl hose purchased from Ace hdware who had it in bulk on a spool.Break open the pik handle to reveal the remaining white tube & use the vinyl tube as a coupling. Heat end of vinyl in hot water enough to slip its end over the white pik tube about 1/2″. Heat other end of vinyl & slip over remaining white pik tube.Now you have a flexible connection at the handle point of stress.The other end of the pik tube going into the motor looks like it will also break in the future,so you can do the same with the vinyl at that end.
Comment by medbear — April 24, 2012 @ 5:36 pm
I just fixed my Waterpik 65W thanks to you guys. Same deal, the hose was cracked at the handle insert. I got a knife under the flat edge of the little hose fitting and then grabbed it with pliers and pulled it out. The hose pulled out with it. I lopped off the bad section of hose, and softened up the new end in boiling water for maybe 30 sec. Then I just pushed it back into the handle and popped the little fitting into place. Good as new! Stoked!
Comment by Surfer Joe — May 27, 2012 @ 1:27 pm
The hose broke on my WP-100W/C about 1/4″ below the handle. Took pics as I went along to document where the little pieces all belonged. (Couldn’t post them here.) Thank you for the instructions, I’m thrilled I was able to repair it!
Comment by MrsP — August 3, 2012 @ 2:06 pm
Thanks. You saved me some money as I was thinking of buying a new one after the hose broke at the base of the handle. Easy fix thanks to your instructions.
Comment by Camper — December 11, 2012 @ 9:26 pm
On the general topic of WP-100w/c repair: my wife used hers for a while and then put it away for half a year or more without first rinsing it. When she next tried to use it it hummed like the motor was trying but failing to crank the pump. I removed the motor+pump assembly from the case and could see the motor straining, so I “helped” by turning the motor shaft and pump shafts with my fingers and it eventually was able to crank on its own. Upon reassembly it still seemed to be OK so she took it for a test drive and basic operations seem to be restored, except…
…if we lay the wand down on the table below the level of the reservoir (with the unit turned off) it now dribbles and will eventually empty the reservoir. So, I’m guessing that when I worked the pump piston free from its seized condition it damaged some seal that may have been stuck (say) to the cylinder wall by dried mouthwash or something. We can live with this and just have to remember to store the wand above the level of the reservoir.
Additional notes:
– The pump assembly is mated to its carriage frame via 5 little rubber shock-mount feet that are installed using some kind of one-time-only technique, If you remove the pump assembly by sliding it out of the shock mounts (tricky!) you can put it all back together, but if you pull the shock mounts out of the little holes into which their mushroom heads are stretched (as I accidentally did to 3 of my 5) you’ll never get them stretched back in and they’ll only rest on top ever after. Not a disaster, but not the preferred outcome.
– The electrical switch is a little plastic slider actuated by a mechanical linkage to the On/Off switch and if you pull that slider all the way out of its cylinder you’re likely to lose the little golden leaf spring that shorts the contacts.
Comment by Michael ODonnell — February 11, 2013 @ 3:11 pm
Another thing: once you have it all pulled apart, remove the little black plastic “drain” from the bottom of the reservoir and put that back in as the very last reassembly step – much easier than trying to mate it up while operating blind…
Comment by Michael ODonnell — February 11, 2013 @ 3:17 pm
I bought a complete replacement hose and handle for $10 on amazon. You unscrew the old one at the bottom and replace the whole unit. No disassembly
Comment by Elliot M. Cramer — April 5, 2013 @ 11:49 pm