List Price: $48.00
Sale Price: $44.99
Today's Bonus: 6% Off
I am really torn here. On the positive side, this item seems to be of really excellent quality. On the negative side, the description is totally useless, as it is either completely wrong or missing vital information. This situation required multiple phone calls to investigate and clarify exactly what fittings the product contains and its BTU rating, as well as the product's country of origin. Therefore, I'D RATE THE ITEM AT FIVE STARS, BUT I'D RATE THE DESCRIPTIONS AT ZERO STARS, if I could. I guess that will have to average at three stars.
I always prefer to buy items made in the USA whenever reasonably possible. I specifically paid more for this item than other comparable items because the description states "USA" under "Origin". My understanding, confirmed verbally by Amazon, is that this means it is made in the USA. However, the label on the reusable plastic storage bag in which this 21st Century Company product unit is packaged clearly states the product is made in Mexico, NOT IN THE USA.
I called 21st Century's "tech support" to find out why the both the Amazon.com descriptions and the package descriptions were incorrect and/or missing information as to the connection fittings (more on that below), the BTU rating of the unit, and what was, exactly, the country of origin. Their "tech support" was an absolute joke, able to provide no information at all. I found that 21st Century is just a distributor which re-packages the item for retail sale, so they know absolutely NOTHING about the item specifications.
The short version of the long process I went through that I found out that the hose and all of its fittings are actually made by a company called Fairview Fittings and Manufacturing in New York, so they ARE made in the USA. 21st Century's packaging is apparently what is made in Mexico, or maybe they were previously using a product made in Mexico. Fairview's descriptions of its products are correct, so no one seems to know why Amazon's and 21st Century's descriptions are wrong.
So, just to be clear for any of you considering buying this item, the connections stated in the description are not correct. The descriptions state, in two different places, that the hose has 3/8-inch MALE flare and 3/8-inch MALE pipe thread. THIS IS WRONG! The ends it actually has on it for connection to other fittings are the OPPOSITE of the descriptions.
One end of the hose has a 3/8-inch FEMALE flare fitting with 3/8-inch SAE thread to attach it. This end of the hose is what is usually connected to your appliance (in my case, a natural gas barbecue). If you need a connection on the hose for your appliance other than a 3/8-inch female flare fitting, you'll have to buy some combination of adapter fittings to do so.
The other end of the hose is the male half of the quick-disconnect coupler.
This kit also comes with a 2&1/2-inch long fitting that has the female half of the quick-disconnect coupler on one end, and 3/8-inch FEMALE pipe thread on the other end. This fitting is usually connected to your natural gas supply pipe, so again, if you need anything other than 3/8-inch female pipe thread to connect to that pipe, you'll have to buy some combination of adapter fittings to do so.
The gas volume flow this unit will allow should be critically important to you before you purchase it, yet that information is not available anywhere in the descriptions. I found out, directly from Fairview Fittings and Manufacturing's Tech Support agent, that it is rated at 80,000 BTU at 1/2 PSI (or 14-inch water column) gas pressure. My barbecue, for example, uses a maximum of 52,000 BTU if all five burners are on "High" at the same time, and our local gas company says our meter outlet pressure is 1/2 PSI, so this hose assembly should work just fine for me (if not, I'll update this review). However, be sure to check your appliance's requirements (and your gas company's supply pressure on the outlet side of your gas meter) to make sure it will work for your application.
Hopefully this information will be helpful, allowing you to know what you're buying, to be sure you get whatever additional fittings or adapters may be necessary to connect it properly for your application, and to determine if its flow capacity will meet your needs.
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I ordered two hoses in order to get the length that I needed, had to buy additional couplers to make it work but the price was right.
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