Types of flexible hoses for mixers. Flexible bellows water line

It is easy to bend, and the cross-sectional section will not change. Due to the corrugated profile, decent lateral rigidity is ensured. This, in turn, makes it impossible for pinches and damage to occur if you accidentally step on the hose with your foot.

Experts also note that there is no need to use special tools or professional skills when installing corrugated tubes. Therefore, it is quite possible to replace the element yourself. In addition, the need to accurately measure the length of the pipe down to centimeters disappears by itself.

Advantages

The choice in favor of one or another eyeliner is influenced by the advantages that they have different kinds products. If we talk about the bellows, then it strengths the following:

The material for production is high-quality stainless steel;
The product is not afraid of the effects of water hammer;
The design is reliable and provides long term services;
Copes with low temperatures environment no problem;
Safe for health, made from hygienically clean materials;
The products are not subject to combustion;
Capable of functioning when water temperature rises to 250 degrees Celsius.

Flaws

Alas, even such an eyeliner as a bellows eyeliner has its drawbacks. To the main negative aspects experts include:

Buzzing and noise occurs when corrugated tubes vibrate;
The vibration will only intensify if several water consumers are turned on at the same time.

You can eliminate the vibration problem using eyeliners larger diameter. In addition, corrugated eyeliners, the sleeve of which is made of plastic, are completely free from this disadvantage.

Installation

As we have already noted, you can install the bellows line yourself. To do this, follow the simple instructions.

Provide easy access to places where eyeliner fastenings are provided. If necessary, you will quickly carry out repairs and carry out preventive measures.
Inspect the product, make sure it is intact and free of defects. Even if you bought a normal eyeliner in a store, problems may arise during transportation or storage.
Check how well the end fittings are crimped. Many low-grade Chinese products only look durable, although in reality the quality leaves much to be desired.
Please read the installation instructions supplied by responsible manufacturers. You also need to know about the outer diameter of the eyeliner, which appears in the passport.
Do not under any circumstances overtighten or unscrew the liner during installation and upon completion. The product should be mounted as smoothly and accurately as possible.
After making sure that the new connection is correct, turn off the water at the main valves. Unscrew the old eyeliner and install the purchased elements. To do this, just use a simple key.
Start the system. Make sure there are no leaks. To do this, you need to leave the water on for a while. As a rule, factory seals do the job of sealing, but an extra layer of sealant never hurt anyone.
One more thing - do not use gas keys. They are theoretically suitable for installing liners, but can damage the union nuts. You are unlikely to want to eliminate the consequences of such troubles.

As you already understand, bellows eyeliners are great solution for connecting plumbing equipment in the bathroom. Their shortcomings can be easily eliminated, and their strengths ensure reliable and long-lasting service.

However, you need to know how to choose the right eyeliner. Keep a few key points in mind.

To connect the mixer you will need two connections. Usually one is included. The manufacturer also offers two fittings at once - short and long. If all this is included in the box, then most likely you are dealing with a responsible company and quality products.
Look at the technical documentation that must be provided with the product. If the internal hoses are not made of EPDM rubber, then you should not take them. ERDM is intended for use in the field Food Industry, which means it is ideal for domestic use.
If you doubt whether the eyeliner is really made of high-quality steel, arm yourself with a simple magnet. The magnet is stuck, which means you are dealing with ferrous metal.
Read the labeling. For cold water the eyeliner is braided with blue elements, for hot - with red elements. There are universal ones, but it’s better to immediately take two specialized ones. Make sure you don't mix them up during installation. Otherwise, serious problems may arise.

Problems

Please note that there are certain problems that you may encounter when purchasing bellows faucet connections. As a rule, this is based on the low quality of the products.

Many manufacturers are trying to reduce the cost of their products, which on the one hand is positive for potential consumers. Another question is at what cost the reduction in price tags is achieved.

Most often by reducing the cost and simplifying the production process. Saving on assembly leads to one result - the output is eyeliner of dubious quality. The consequences of such a problem are obvious - flooding of the apartment, expensive repairs, compensation for losses to neighbors whom you flooded.

Problems often lie in violation of the following stages:

Low grade metal is used;
The sleeves are made from steel of dubious quality;
A weak compression is carried out, which is quite difficult to notice externally;
The rubber turns out to be too thin;
The braid is cheap and therefore short-lived.

To create a high-quality, reliable bellows connection for mixers, you need exceptionally high-quality modern equipment and advanced materials. Therefore, the product cannot be cheap.

As practice shows, truly worthy bellows eyeliners have the following features:

The kit includes a passport indicating all technical characteristics;
The warranty period is 24 months;
The service life of the eyeliner is about 10 years.

It is obvious that bellows connections for faucets can be called the best in the business. However, you should be careful when choosing. There are very low-quality products, which can only be distinguished by external characteristics impossible.

The best way out of the situation is to contact trusted stores, and also trust the products of reliable manufacturers who have gained authority in the market.

Today, it is practically impossible to do without flexible hoses when communicating plumbing.

From the right choice The reliability of the system as a whole largely depends on the connection.

One of the best offers on the market was the bellows flexible liner from of stainless steel.

What is it and where is it used

A flexible liner is a product made of flexible elastic material that can replace a section of a pipeline in places where installation of conventional structures (pipes with fittings) is difficult or impossible.

Such products are in demand for:

connecting plumbing fixtures, for example, a pearl bath (how to make it yourself, it is written) to cold and hot water supply systems;
supplying gas from the pipeline to gas appliances - stoves, water heaters, heating boilers;
making connections during installation climatic equipment – air conditioners, chiller-fan coil systems, etc.;
connection of sprinklers of automatic fire extinguishing systems.

The scope of application of flexible pipelines assembled with fastening fittings (and connections belong specifically to this category) is even wider in the conditions of industrial enterprises and small businesses.

Supply of air and gases, petroleum products, bulk solids, water and chemically aggressive liquids, drinks and food - in practically each of these areas flexible lines or their analogues are used.

On the market, an assortment of eyeliners for various purposes and for various conditions operation is quite rich.

When choosing, one of the decisive factors is the material of the product.

What materials is it made from?

For the manufacture of flexible eyeliner use:

rubber hoses, reinforced with braided stainless steel, aluminum or nylon (or without braid);
tubes made of flexible elastic polymers, for example, cross-linked polyethylene;
corrugated pipe made of stainless steel (bellows type liners).

Each of these products has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Rubber water hose or gas with an aluminum braid lasts up to 3 years and is designed for operation at a pressure not exceeding 5 atm and a maximum operating temperature of not more than 80 degrees.

Its main disadvantage is the tendency of the protective braiding material to corrosion, especially with prolonged exposure to moisture.

The rubber liner with stainless steel reinforcement is superior to the previous version in terms of reliability and performance characteristics.

For such products, the permissible pressure reaches 10 atmospheres, the maximum temperature is 95 degrees.

Manufacturers claim a service life of steel braided eyeliners of at least 10 years. When installing this perfect solution for connecting the mixer.

The characteristics of such products practically ideally meet the requirements for household communications parts, due to which they have received maximum distribution.

Reinforced with polymer threads (nylon) rubber flexible liner is one of the best offers on the market.

Due to the high resistance of the braid to various factors, they demonstrate impressive characteristics:

service life – up to 15 years;
permissible operating pressure– up to 20 atm.;
upper operating temperature limit– 110 degrees.

Some redundancy in characteristics is the main reason why these high-quality products are not widely used.

Liners made of cross-linked polyethylene() in a metal braid combine flexibility, strength, reliability.

For your information! Flexible hoses for cold and hot water mark by weaving into the coating of colored threads:

It is also necessary to avoid using flexible water connections to supply gas and vice versa.

Rubber and polymer products have a common weak point - fittings for connections.

They have special requirements:

reliable compression;
material resistance to corrosion;
tightness of interfaces.

Fittings made of brass or stainless steel with sealing gaskets mounted on a flexible line allow all conditions to be met.

But the use of these materials increases the cost of the product..

Some manufacturers, caring about the quality of their products, take this step, even accepting warranty obligations (warranty period 1-2 years).

But at the same time, they put forward additional requirements - installation of products only by certified specialists and compliance with additional operating conditions, for example, the absence of water hammer in the system.

Bellows flexible stainless steel hoses surpasses everything listed types according to the characteristics and are free from most of the shortcomings.

Design, characteristics, advantages

The bellows flexible connection is a corrugated hose made of stainless steel, for example AISI 304.

The tube is manufactured according to various technologies– it can be welded or seamless, but this does not have a decisive influence on the main characteristics of the product.

Wall thickness is determined by the required performance characteristics and for most applications does not exceed 0.3 mm.

As a rule, such connections are equipped with union nuts, made from the same grade of steel or nickel-plated (less often chrome-plated) brass or bronze.

To securely fix the nuts and obtain a high-quality connection with pipelines, the ends of the hose (2-3 corrugations) are folded.

Attention! Bellows connections are not used without a locking ring, which ensures uniform fit of the seam and sealing gasket to the pipe or fittings during installation.

To connect the stainless steel liner with fitting equipment or with pipes of larger (smaller) diameter, appropriate adapters made of stainless steel or brass are used.

Operating Parameters

The materials used in the manufacture of stainless steel eyeliners determine their unique characteristics:

Product service life exceeds 20 years, in practice, such eyeliners can last longer, especially polymer ones;
temperature range of the transported medium– from -40 to +200 degrees;
operating pressure depends on the diameter of the hose and the thickness of its walls, and for products with a diameter of 0.5” exceeds 15 atmospheres, and the burst pressure is 30 atmospheres.

It should be noted that the most unreliable element of such a liner is the sealing gasket.

To obtain the appropriate characteristics during installation, gaskets made of paronite, fluoroplastic or copper are used (which better FUM tape or Tangit thread, it is written in the article).

Attention! The seal experiences the same loads as the entire product, so it is recommended to use gaskets with a thickness of at least 2.5 mm.

The properties of the main material of the product - stainless steel - determine other advantages of bellows flexible hoses:

In addition, when bent, the corrugated hose does not change the effective cross-section, which ensures uniform pressure in all areas.

An additional advantage of bellows connections is the possibility of using them as compensators (installation on polypropylene pipes described) for polymer pipelines.

For industrial applications Such products are practically ideal.

They can be used for transporting aggressive media and petroleum products, where other materials cannot be used (read the rules for testing pipelines for strength and tightness on the page).

High wear resistance allows them to be used for bulk solids of various fractional compositions.

Corrosion resistance expands application range for conditions with high humidity, high salt content, etc., for example, for use in shipbuilding.

The flexibility of the stainless steel bellows hoses deserves special mention.

In this parameter, the products are significantly inferior to their rubber counterparts.

Because of this, corrugated eyeliners are not always convenient to use, especially in limited installation space.

However, there is an additional benefit to this– the products hold their given shape and can be used as pipeline sections without additional structures.

The properties of steel connections also determine some installation requirements.

Installation rules for plumbing accessories

The main points when working with flexible eyeliners are:

The bend radius of the hoses is not allowed to be less than that specified in the documentation;
required product configuration attached before connecting to devices and pipes;
bending closer than the established distance to the ends of the product (places for installing union nuts) is unacceptable;
When installing the liner, twisting should be avoided;
excessive stretching of the product, as well as repeated bending, can lead to a violation of the integrity of the walls;
Damaged bellows connections cannot be repaired and must be replaced entirely.

On a note

Practical note! Should be adhered to general requirements for the installation of such connections.

What to look for when buying a flexible water line, how to install it correctly on pipelines - you will find out the answers by watching the video.

Flexible eyeliner has significantly expanded the capabilities of apartment owners when carrying out repair work in the bathroom or kitchen, and also greatly facilitated the connection to the water supply of various household appliances. Previously, when bellows water supply had not yet been invented, the location of mixers was rigidly tied to steel metal pipes supplying water. And to connect, for example, washing machine, it was necessary to expand the water supply, often resorting to welding work. All this led to the formation of a whole web of pipes, which did not improve the interior of the room.

Flexible hoses have not only improved appearance premises, but also significantly facilitated installation work, which it became possible to do with your own hands, without any special tools or fixtures. In addition, it became possible to move household appliances connected to the water within the length of the flexible hose.

Currently produced in two versions - a rubber hose and a bellows eyeliner.

Features of rubber flexible liner

Rubber hoses reinforced with a rigid metal braid are widely used to connect faucets and various household appliances to the water supply. Hoses for hot water are braided with red elements, for cold water - blue. Installation is carried out by connecting to water pipes diameter 1, ½, ¾ and 3/8 inches with nuts and fittings. Such hoses are easy to install, inexpensive, but have a number of disadvantages that limit their use:

Reinforced hoses do not tolerate overheated water. Maximum temperature water during their operation should not exceed 90˚С. Therefore, such an eyeliner cannot be used in a heating system.
The metal braid quickly breaks down if it is bent frequently.
The average service life of such a line is about three years, after which it is necessary to replace the hoses with new ones.

Advantages of bellows liner

The bellows-type liner does not have the disadvantages of rubber products; it is a corrugated hose made of stainless steel. The gasket on the nut, made of brass, has high temperature melting, which allows the system to withstand water temperatures up to +250˚С. In addition, bellows eyeliner has the following positive qualities:

Copes well with water hammer.
Does not burn.
Durable, service life reaches 25 years. In this indicator it is not inferior to copper eyeliner, but is much easier to install.
Withstands pressure of 20 atmospheres or more.
It has proven itself when used in heating systems or conditions of poor water quality.
Does not collapse when exposed to negative temperatures.
The flexible stainless steel hose used in such a system ensures hygienic purity of water and its safety for health.

Flexible stainless steel water pipes are available on the market in two varieties: fixed length hoses and folding hoses. For the latter, the size is indicated as a range, for example, 90-150, 140-250 or 200-355 mm. The bellows-type water supply is mainly produced in diameters from 12 to 34 mm, but hoses up to 65 mm in diameter can be found.

Several disadvantages of bellows hoses

If we talk about disadvantages, there are only two of them:

Bellows hoses are subject to strong vibrations, which cause noise and hum, which increase if several valves are opened at the same time. This can be avoided by supplying water with a larger diameter hose, such as ¾ inch.
Quite a high cost. So, a hose 500 mm long and ¾ inch in diameter will cost more than 500 rubles.

Bellows hoses cannot be cheap; most often, a low price is associated with poor workmanship. It is clear that if you purchase components of questionable quality, you cannot hope for long-term operation of the water supply system without leaks.

Features of selection and installation

The durability of a stainless steel line depends not only on compliance with the rules for its installation, but also on the competent choice of the corrugated hoses themselves. As already noted, such products require expensive equipment and quality material, so it can't be cheap. To avoid problems with hose leaks and not flood your neighbors below, the choice of bellows products should be taken responsibly.

Choose hoses only from trusted manufacturers. Their ratings can be found on various construction forums; rely on reviews from acquaintances and friends.
All parts of the hose in contact with water must be made of stainless steel and welded using the roller welding method. It is at this stage that unscrupulous manufacturers most often save money by making parts from low-quality materials. You can check it using a regular magnet; it does not stick to stainless steel. If it sticks, then the pipe or sleeve is made of ordinary steel, which means that over time this element will surely rust and leak.
To connect to mixers, bellows hoses must have special small-diameter tubes with external threads. So when choosing a hose for such a connection, you must tell the seller what exactly you are going to connect.

Manufacturers who value their reputation offer not one, but two fittings of various lengths in the complete set of ready-made mixers. This can serve as an additional sign of product quality.

Before buying, you must have information about the plumbing communications available in the apartment so that the mating parts are not subjected to electrochemical corrosion. For this, the nuts and the fitting on which they are screwed must be made of the same material. Only brass and copper parts can be connected to each other without any risk.

A high-quality product must have a warranty period of at least a year and be supplied complete with a technical passport.

During the installation of the eyeliner, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

It is necessary to ensure free access to the mounting points not only during installation, but also for further periodic maintenance and repair.
Before installation, you should carefully inspect the hoses and fasteners again; defects may appear during transportation or storage, even if you bought high-quality products in the store.
Nuts should be tightened tightly, but without excessive force. It is strictly not recommended to use gas wrenches for this: they can seriously damage the connecting elements.
During installation, do not allow the hose to twist or stretch. Try to do everything smoothly and accurately.

1, average rating: 5,00 out of 5)

Is a stainless steel sleeve (in other words, it is bellows pipe) with end parts also made of stainless steel. Compared to the obsolete eyeliner made of a braided rubber tube, this eyeliner has undeniable advantages and is devoid of a bunch of typical disadvantages of its predecessor.
Firstly, it has a significantly longer service life. The service life of a corrugated liner is 25 years, while the maximum declared service life of a “traditional” liner is no more than 10 years, and in practice it is much less. The main reason for the low service life of the liner with a tube inside is the natural aging of the tube material (elastomer), which occurs even faster due to the presence of tap water impurities and chemically active compounds. Let us honestly admit to ourselves that few of us promptly replace the eyeliner at home, unless the latter breaks.
Secondly, due to the features of its design, bellows water line has no risk of breakthrough and is able to withstand water hammer. In most cases, a break in a traditional line is expressed in the tearing out of the hose from under the compression sleeve, which occurs either as a result of poor-quality compression of the sleeve, or as a result of a significant sudden increase in pressure in the system. The next most common reason for a break in a braided liner is a breakage of the nipple, the most vulnerable part with a thin wall. The nipple is paired with a union nut and it is this that causes the rotation of the nut when unscrewing and tightening, and the nipple shank embedded in the hose ensures the fastening of the nut to the hose. As can be seen in the photographs posted on this page, the metal hose liner simply lacks both a crimp sleeve and a nipple.
Third, flexible bellows liner more hygienic and safe for human health. The very absence of a rubber tube serves as an additional guarantee that the water passing through the supply line (especially in the DHW circuit) is “not enriched” harmful substances in case of using low-quality toxic rubber.

And of course TEMPERATURE UP TO +150 DEGREES will not leave indifferent those consumers who can supply the DHW system superheated water , which leaves no chance for other types of flexible liners to survive.

There are cases when the bellows gas supply , already widely known on Russian market, used to transfer water .
WHY YOU CAN'T DO THIS...

Bellows Water Liner: Don't let yourself dry out!

Bellows water line It has The minimum diameter of the internal passage is 12 mm. It is measured between the tops of the corrugation concave inside the axis of the metal hose. For comparison,
The internal diameter of the traditional liner tube is from 8.0 to 8.5 mm. It is easy to calculate that a corrugated water line, all other things being equal, has a throughput capacity that is 50% greater than a regular one. This difference is especially relevant in the case low pressure in the home's plumbing system.
Thus, the use of a metal spiral liner will give you the opportunity to make your own decisions about the advisability of saving water, and not be forced to save. In addition, do not forget about some types of modern water-consuming equipment such as washing and dishwashers, who have to run their pumps much more often in order to pump the amount of water required for their cycles through a tube with a hole of only 8 mm.
For connecting plumbing equipment that requires increased water supply, such as storage water heaters, hydraulic accumulators, etc., a special GIANT liner is used.

Specifications:
Metal hose material: stainless steel AISI 304L (annealed, the hose retains its bending shape);
Material of union nuts: stainless steel AISI 302 (08X18H10 GOST 5632-72);
Connecting nut size: 1/2";
Fitting material: stainless steel AISI 302 (08X18H10 GOST 5632-72);
Connection type: nut-nut, nut-fitting;
Minimum internal diameter of metal hose:
-12mm (DN12) - for liner type 1/2" nut-nut, nut-fitting;
Eyeliner length: from 25cm to 500cm inclusive;
Temperature range: from -50 to +150 degrees Celsius, that is, the eyeliner can easily withstand exposure to overheated water;
The use of fluoroplastic gaskets expands the upper limit to +250 degrees.
Working pressure: 16 atm;
The destruction pressure is over 50 atm. Bellows water liner: Reviews...

Flexible connection for mixer: Design features

Flexible connection for mixer has the following features:
1. M10 threaded fittings are made of AISI304 stainless steel and welded to the metal hose using argon arc welding, which is an additional guarantee of its reliability and durability
2. The nut is attached to the sleeve using a special part - an end clamp made of low-carbon stainless steel. The retainer is also welded to the metal hose using argon welding. Neat welds are marked with arrows in the photo on the right.
3. The inner diameter of the metal hose is DN8. For reference: well known to everyone flexible hose for mixer made of a rubber tube in a metal braid also has DN8. The fact is that, regardless of the type of liner, the limiting factor is the standard diameter of the holes in the mixer itself, so the diameter of the passage of the liner fittings screwed into these holes physically cannot exceed 6 mm.
Bellows connection for mixer easily bends without changing the cross-section. However, the corrugated profile gives the liner transverse rigidity, as a result of which it not only cannot be accidentally pinched, but also cannot be crushed on purpose with your foot (our employees pressed it, but only ruined their shoes). That is, during such “tests” this product behaves no worse than a rigid faucet liner. When installing a corrugated pair, no special tools or professional skills are required, and it is not necessary to know the required length to the nearest centimeter. Therefore, metal spiral flexible connection for faucets easier to install than, for example, copper.
Available sizes: 30 cm; 40 cm; 50cm; 60cm; 80cm; 100cm; 120cm; 150cm; 200cm.
Each set (2 eyeliners) is equipped with two sealing gaskets and packed in a plastic bag.

Flexible bellows-type hose for WATER are flexible metal pipes, with the help of which water is supplied from the pipe to the device. This product recommended for use in accordance with GOST R 52209-2004. The liner is made of AISI316L stainless steel.

The bellows connection for water differs from the bellows connection for gas in that the fittings that are attached to the hose using argon-arc welding are also made of AISI316L stainless steel.

The liner has a maximum service life of 25 years. The range of applications is very diverse, and can be used wherever installation using conventional flexible hoses is difficult or a much more reliable connection is required

The bellows connection is very convenient, since you do not have to precisely adjust the location of the device to the location of the water supply, as you have to do when using pipes.

The bellows liner is made of stainless steel and can withstand a working pressure of 16 Bar. Another important advantage, which the bellows eyeliner has, is temperature resistance: the eyeliner can withstand frost of - 40 and heat of + 120 degrees Celsius. The bellows liner does not have a significant number of disadvantages inherent in the rubber liner. With proper use, the service life of the bellows liner can reach up to 25 years.