I'm sure a lot of you have figured this stuff out, but it took me awhile so I thought I would write down some of my more recent discoveries.
Those blue in-line water filters that you probably have attached to your fresh water hose come with the initial screen in backwards. It's the wire screen on the input side of the filter that dimples in. If you reverse it, so that it dimples out, the hose will seal better with the filter without torquing the connection within an inch of its life.
Speaking of the fresh water hose, I had three 25 foot drinking water rated hoses that I hauled around. The problem was, I rarely used more than one. It finally failed, but I inspected the backups and they both had mold in them (I store them with the ends connected to keep insects out of the hose). So I went to Costco and got a single 50 foot fresh water hose (Costco calls it an Eco friendly hose) and moved my old fresh water hoses to my non-drinking water stash. This way, I'll have to use the new hose every time which should keep it fresh. A bonus: the new hose has a female connector that I can get my entire hand on. Since we move fairly often, this should help hooking up and tearing down.
Speaking of Costco, we just joined last week. We've already saved enough to cover the cost of the membership (mostly due to both of us getting eye exams there). We put off joining despite many of you recommending it because we thought we didn't have enough room to store large quantities of any one item. Turned out not to be a problem. Now I wished we had joined earlier. This is also a store we can feel good about supporting, as well as being just a good idea financially:*
Costco's Profit Soars To $537 Million Just Days After CEO Endorses Minimum Wage Increase
- John