EZ-Fluid 12" x 3/4-Inch FIP x 3/4-Inch FIP, Corrugated Flexible Stainless Steel Water Heater Connector Supply Line for Female Iron Water Pipes Fit...

WORKS GOOD

So I've used this brand of hoses many times. I find these to be longer lived, more flexible and less likely to kink then any others that I've used. I particularly dislike the copper varieties. These will last the life of your typical water heater. Here's one caveat that applies to all the flexible hoses that are all the rage these days. At the end of the day, it's just a little rubber hose washer in there providing the seal. Rubber washers CAN and DO deteriorate over time. The heat doesn't help. If you're connected to municipal water, there's chlorine (or chloramine) in your water and that doesn't help either. Check these connections now and then - better, just plan on replacing them every five or six years or so. That will save you from coming home from vacation one day and finding an unpleasant surprise. Hose washers are CHEAP!

Overall the connectors are great but after a few times of trial and error I found that even though they use a thick rubber washer they still need lots of teflon tape. By the time I was done I had probably 8 layers thick of tape on the water heater nipples when they finally stopped leaking. For some reason that end of each connector was hardest to make leak-free. The other end of each connector went to a standard 3/4" pipe thread copper fitting which never leaked even with no tape. I'm not sure why but it may be that the reason it was much harder to make the tank end leak-free is that the steel tank nipples had a plastic insert that came up through the nipple and covered some of the top edge of the nipple. This may affect how well the rubber washer can seal against the surface of the nipple. I have used teflon tape many other times over the years and never needed this much on threads - usually a few layers was sufficient. But all connections are now bone dry. I am really impressed by the quality of the connectors. I also like that these connectors do include a white plastic sleeve on each end which some other SS connectors look like they do not include. From my limited research I think the sleeve is not technically required for dielectric isolation because stainless does not react much, if at all, with steel, brass or copper. But having the plastic/nylon insulator gives me more assurance that over time there will be less chance of any type of galvanic corrosion, and I would think give it a quick pass during an inspection as a replacement for a dielectric union that is required in our locality.

Some pipe end connections will require two gaskets. The fitting end bound up before it could seat all the way. Otherwise, it works great.