hansgrohe 06510000 External Vacuum Breaker, Chrome

Worked as advertised. The old one is about two years old and leaded water profusely. I took it off and found that the gasket had gotten compressed and brittle. Unfortunately, even after replacing it, the was would still pour out when the shower was turned on. I then placed it in a cup of vinegar for an hour. That helped, but still some water was leaking out. I have left it in vinegar for overnight. That should fix it, but I had not bothered to test it, since I now have a new one.

Many cities require these to be installed between the lookout nipple on the wall of the shower and the hand-held shower head. You simply screw the fitting onto the hose and then screw this combination onto the connection at the wall. This prevents any water or any other liquid (I.E. chemicals that might be in a bucket, etc.) from getting sucked back into the water supply if the hand-held shower head were to be immersed in something bad and someone creates a suction on a lower level of the home. This is priced about right, and is good quality. Even if it's not required by code, not a bad idea to install one on your hand-held shower heads.

Easy to install, solidly made, and worked with my Delta showerhead with spray arm. Not sure it was actually needed as the tub would have to be completely full for the spray arm to be in the water, but it's up to code now.

It's February 2021 and after installing this breaker in September 2018, it's spitting water from the ports. I just ordered an identical as a replacement, only because Amazon Warehouse had an open box return for ten. Otherwise, may have chosen Delta, which is supposedly rebuildable. A bit more than four years before that, I started with a Kohler K-9660 ASIN B0014YGM3K, which failed in the form of slowing my shower head water flow to a barely usable trickle. Other than the short service life, I was unhappy with the Kohler's appearance. Amazon stock photos don't show the white plastic threaded portion (you can see it in the photo I included) that made this look like cheap and hacked together. So for about half the cost, I was happy to give this Hansgrohe unit a try, as it features an all-chrome body. Other than it failing, the Hansgrohe performance has fine. In fact, I'm nearly certain I saw higher pressure from my shower head than I was getting with the Kohler when it was working -- the shower head visibly "jumps" in its cradle when I pull the diverter handle from the pressure. Will this stand the test of time? We'll see; I'll update if necessary. The downsides? - This vacuum breaker has its own ugliness to it. Instead of white plastic showing through, it's the funny looking holes that are visible from the underside (as I see it looking at it when in the shower -- shown in the picture). If my hand shower had a larger threaded ring to match the diameter of the vacuum breaker, this wouldn't be visible, but nevertheless, it's ugly and looks hacked in. - The piece came to me in a tiny white box, no label, no instructions, and unlike the Kohler, doesn't even have a "Flow" indicator on it (refer to the Flow marking on the Kohler breaker in my photo). The direction might not be obvious to someone installing their first vacuum breaker. The Hansgrohe website has a 4-page installation guide that clearly shows the correct orientation. - There are no flats on this piece. You'll need decent soft-grip pliers to install it without marring the chrome finish.

Hansgrohe does not have the correct name for this part on their web site, so when got a leak it took us four hours of searching to find, External Vacuum Breaker. Purchased this part on the chance that it matched our part and we were lucky that is worked great, very thankful for the quick shipping from Amazon.

This vacuum breaker failed (started spurting water from the ports) after only 14 months. I contacted Hansgrohe customer service and after I emailed a video of the defective unit they agreed to send me an replacement as a courtesy. The warranty statement on the Amazon website is false and misleading as it states that there is a lifetime warranty for consumers. Limited Consumer Warranty; Replacement or repaired parts of products will be covered for the term of this warranty, as stated in the following two sentences. If you are a consumer who purchased the product for use primarily for personal, family or household purposes, this warranty extends for as long as you own the product and the home in which the product is originally installed. This is their "official" warranty policy for the vacuum breaker which I received from the customer service rep: ** Please note vacuum breakers are not covered under our limited lifetime warranty which only covers the manufacturing defects of the product. Vacuum breakers are considered wear and tear items that are expected to wear out over time. I'm sending out a courtesy vacuum breakers but in the future you would have to purchase them.** What exactly is "wear and tear" on a vacuum breaker?

This replaced a leaking part and was an easy fix. As another reviewer mentioned, you just have to use non-marking tools or some sort of padding to avoid scratching the finish while installing.

Well made product, however after about 3 weeks of use the valve started leaking. Called Hansgrohe customer service and the representative was trying to blame the shower valve and fittings for the leak even though I explained that water was spraying from the air inlet holes at the bottom of the valve. Tried to return valve through Amazon and it is not returnable. I do not recommend buying this product from Hansgrohe.