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Why does water flow twist my shower hose? Question
I have a showerhead with a flexible, 5 foot hose. I don't know if this matters, but the flexible hose is made of metal rings. When you yank on it, it stretches a little (there's probably some elastic inside) and the rings move a bit further apart. It's a very common design that you will find if you search for "flexible shower hose" online.
Normally the showerhead sits in a bracket on the wall, with the hose hanging in a long U shape. The twist on the hose is about 1/4 turn.
When I turn on the water, the hose suddenly coils up, to about 2.5-3.5 turns. If I try to untwist it, it resists. When I turn off the water, the resistance disappears and the hose untwists.
Why would water through a hose twist it?
1 answer
The hose is probably coiled up normally. When there is no water pressure, there is little force trying to uncoil it. When water pressure is increased in the hose, the little extra diameter from uncoiling it provides a force to do just that.
Try letting the hose uncoil when under pressure. If the above is correct, then it shouldn't try to coil up when the pressure is released.
Another possibility is that what you call "rings" are really a continuous spiral. I've never seen a hose with real rings, but plenty sheathed in a metal spiral. The metal is so that the hose can resist internal pressure, and the spiral is so that the metal "pipe" becomes flexible.
In the case of a spiral, there can be some spring-action to keep the hose twisted, but internal pressure then acts against that to try to minimize twist.
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