Comments on: Waterpik hose broken

By: Ed

Ed — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:24:57 +0000

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?

By: V S

V S — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:15:07 +0000

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!

By: Ted

Ted — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 06:04:19 +0000

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.

By: Russ

Russ — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:05:57 +0000

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)

By: Garazgos

Garazgos — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:55:04 +0000

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.

By: Iemke

Iemke — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:40:10 +0000

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!

By: Selden Campen

Selden Campen — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:35:41 +0000

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.

By: Steve Thorpe

Steve Thorpe — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:09:50 +0000

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.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:52:51 +0000

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.

By: Jim Alfaro

Jim Alfaro — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:25:28 +0000

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.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:02:24 +0000

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.

By: Clifton Buck-Kauffman

Clifton Buck-Kauffman — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:46:40 +0000

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!