I have been on the fence about upgrading to a 5.5gpm gear drive with buffer tank to replace my 4gpm direct drive unit. Decided to price everything out, and saw a lot of recent negative amazon reviews on the hudson float valves. According to the reviews, like everything else, they seem to be built cheaper than they used to be and they dont hold up as long and/or fail right out of the box. A few reviewers say their tanks overflow because the stop ball does not seat properly due to ridges in the plastic from the manufacturing process. Is anybody noticing this lately? And is there a better alternative out there? I would rather pay double the price for something that is going to last.
Everyone uses them for a reason, it’s because they work well.
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Anyone out there use a solenoid and float switch? Seems like that would be the most reliable way to do it and really isn’t all the expensive. You could easily wire in a couple floats at different heights with a simple toggle switch if you wanted to adjust your tank level.
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Hudson float valve is about as simple a design as it gets… makes it reliable. Mount it in a secure location and forget about it lol
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for every bad review there’s always 100 good reviews people didn’t post. As long as you filter the water coming in you’re good. I used to not have a filter and debris would clog up the valve but they’re super easy to clean.
I’ve had mine for two years, no issues. The spare has sat on my workbench the whole time.
I’ve had this one in my cart for a while, it’s gone up $10 since, but it allows much more flow. Less restrictive.
Here’s a video explaining the difference between Hudson and the Jobe and a link where you can buy it
Jobe Valves J-TPV20DLT Black Topaz Valve with Detach Long Tail, 3/4", Yellow https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OV5QRK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_F7WGF2CVYEHQHB747QHC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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This looks awesome comparatively but I’m kind of surprised it’s never been mentioned as an alternative to the Hudson float valve. Would be good to hear from someone who has used it in their tanks.
I used to use one until it got clogged up. Since then, nothing. Unless you’re running in an enclosed truck or trailer, who cares if it over flows?
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I saw it mentioned on Facebook. There is a revolt against the Hudson growing slowly. I don’t like their flow either. This new style is said to have the best flow and allow your tank to fill higher.
I guess commercial doesn’t matter but residential, I don’t want the customer to see my tank overflowing like I don’t know what I’m doing and also their water going to waste.
Imagine driving down the road and seeing another pressure washers trailer and water just pouring out the back of it and the tank overflowing and him not in control of it, I would shake my head at that guy.
I mean realistically we don’t care as washers much but I don’t want people to see that image with me
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Shake away. I don’t like running out of water. I overflow maybe once a week. And you’d be surprised how little people notice.
I agree it does look unprofessional but again it doesn’t happen often and no risk of clogging.
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Hudson too slow? I take the worthless filter out of the top before installing. Never had an issue
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When I used to operate a hydroblaster, we used Jobe valves in our tanks. We ran off of a hydrant usually because the machine uses 50 gallons per minute. The Jobe valve easily shuts off a high pressure hydrant running at full open. They are rugged as heck. But much more expensive than a Hudson.
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Looks like a really similar design so I’d say flow is the same obviously less durable but my biggest issue is someone said the bolts aren’t stainless and were rusting… I guess not the end of the world for an 8th of the price but still
Oh, its definitely less durable. But I do 99% residential and basically all of them are on wells so I dont worry about to much incoming water pressure. I installed my first one at the beginning of last season and its been great. I changed from the hudson float valves because of so many solids in our water, it kept clogging the internal filter. Yes i could have just removed the filter, but i figured there was a better way.
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Make sure you get the 1" Hudson. A lot of people sell the 1/2" and you will have more trouble with those.
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I read that the white slotted plastic piece inside the Hudson is not a filter but a piece required for it to function correctly. Full disclosure, I read it in Facebook. Have you had any problems with your Hudson since you removed it? I’d like to pull mine out.
I know the reply wasn’t for me but I put mine back in once I learned it’s mechanical use. But for more flow through it because I don’t care about filtering things out because of my filters down line, I drilled two big holes on the side of the filter to allow better water flow.
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