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Well, the makers of true arrestors claim that the air filled pipes eventually become water logged and lose their effectiveness. Some claim this is worse the smaller the pipe diameter. Since the air filled vertical pipe is a time honored plumbing tradition, I suspect it works better than the arrestor makers make it out to. Thing is, 18 inches of horizontal pipe (dont go there Wahoo) is tough to tuck behind a washing machine. And ten bucks isnt that much money.
The old fashioned plumbers point out that the diaphragm in the arrestor will eventually fail, but the arrestor makers claim 500,000 (or more) actuations before failure. Thats a lot of loads of laundry.
Your analogy is good enough as to the problem. You make a pulse and it has to be dissipated somehow. In normal operation, this is dissipated by shaking the crap out of your pipes. Over time well fastened pipes will loosen, making the problem worse. Newer valves with faster, more direct on/off operation, faster and cheaper solenoids all contribute.
I'm gonna slip one on the dishwasher next week when I have a chance. Looks like they make one sized for that.
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