Inept design of a water hose attachment

Frederick Harvie · Jul 14, 2018

I bought a shut of valve for my wife's garden watering hose at the local hardware store. Screwed it onto the end of the hose and turned on the water . Valve leaks around the joint badly with water spraying every where . Took it apart and looked at the sealing washer in the valve that should seal against the hose end. The washer is hard rubber with the manufactures name printed on both sides in raised letters right in the area that is supposed to seal against leaks , see picture below. There is absolutely no way that this product will hold water. The design is so stupid I can't imagine that anyone involved in the design could possibly have ever used a hose . I know that simply replacing the washer with a decent rubber one is a one minute fix but it irritates me to but a new product at the store that has to be fixed before it can be used.

GregSY · Jul 14, 2018

Stupid yes, but it looks more like your problem is an uneven mating surface and that only one side of the washer was getting compressed.

Bill D · Jul 14, 2018

I bought a nice rubber garden hose from sears and they have cheaped out on the hose ends. the hex section is so thin you can not properly grip it with fingers to tighten the hose. Well maybe little lady fingers might fit in but my wife does not have the finger strength. So I tried to use a crescent wrench. too thick. end wrench too thick as well. I had to grind down a wrench to get it tight enough to stop leaking.
harbor Freight did the same with there air hoses when they switched from GoodYear to no name made in china suppliers.
many suppliers of garden hoses use roll formed ends which have a curved sealing surface not a flat one. this means they crush the washer and force it out of the way as it gets tightened. This might work but instead of a washer they give you an o-ring which just squirms out of the joint.
Bill D.

woodsrider845 · Jul 14, 2018

After a night of debauchery, when I wake up and take a piss, sometimes my stream of urine goes sideways. Always glad it's not my house, cuz, well, you know.

Who uses rubbers, anyway? (and if you have to unroll one far enough to see the writing? Good on you, mate!!!!!

Frederick Harvie · Jul 14, 2018

GregSY said:
it looks more like your problem is an uneven mating surface and that only one side of the washer was getting compressed.

replaced the washer with a decent rubber washer and it sealed up with minimal assembly tension and doesn't leak . The problem was definitely the poor washer

LKeithR · Jul 14, 2018

woodsrider845 said:
...After a night of debauchery, when I wake up and take a piss, sometimes my stream of urine goes sideways...

Wait till you get older--on many days you can take the word "aim" out of your vocabulary... :eek:

Who uses rubbers, anyway? (and if you have to unroll one far enough to see the writing? Good on you, mate!!!!![/QUOTE]

On the other hand, I always wondered if they made them in "stub" length?

WizardOfBoz · Jul 14, 2018

woodsrider845 said:
After a night of debauchery, when I wake up and take a piss, sometimes my stream of urine goes sideways.

Agree with LKeithR. At least if it goes in one direction, you can aim it. Wait til it goes allways, and not just sideways...

This thread highjack seems appropriate for the leaking gasket that sprays water everywhere..

Kenre · Jul 15, 2018

Back on topic...

I recently tried helping out a neighbor to screw a plastic fitting onto a new garden tap.
After trying a couple of fittings with no luck i suddenly noticed something strange.

The brass tap had a Left Hand Thread!!

yardbird · Jul 15, 2018

woodsrider845 said:
After a night of debauchery, when I wake up and take a piss, sometimes my stream of urine goes sideways. Always glad it's not my house, cuz, well, you know.

Who uses rubbers, anyway? (and if you have to unroll one far enough to see the writing? Good on you, mate!!!!!

Maybe you should probably squat to piss after a night of "debauchery"?

OP: I can buy extra thick rubber washers at the local hardware store. That seems to do the trick. Unfortunately it's not uncommon to buy something nowadays get it home only to find it defective in one way of another that wasn't noticed at the time of purchasing. It pisses me off too!

I'm having trouble with what would be the purpose of a lefthanded thread on a water hose fitting? Unless that's just the way it is down under?

Brent

Clive603 · Jul 15, 2018

Brent

According to Hoselink at Recycled Water Tap Converter left hand threads are for grey or recycled (non potable) water taps in Australia. Should be pretty (!) mauve colours too.

Clive

BobRenz · Jul 15, 2018

I learned years ago that the various molded plastic hose washers usually do a poor job of sealing. After a bit of looking, I found some rubber washers. They may be "old fashioned", but they seal a lot better than the plastic variety. Check a large garden store, and I'll bet that Amazon has them as well.

yardbird · Jul 15, 2018

Clive603 said:
Brent

According to Hoselink at Recycled Water Tap Converter left hand threads are for grey or recycled (non potable) water taps in Australia. Should be pretty (!) mauve colours too.

Clive

Well I'll be damn! That makes perfect/good sense.

Brent

crossthread · Jul 15, 2018

I've got another good one. I use those green repair fittings to fix hoses from time to time and the squirrels who make the hose now extrude a bead inside the hose so the repair fitting doesn't seal. You can get them to work by carefully removing the ridge but it's a pain in the ass. I guess they don't want you to repair the ends but just buy a new hose.

steve45 · Jul 15, 2018

Hey, Frederick, I bet I can guess where your valve was made....

They make a lot of junk.

Miguels244 · Jul 15, 2018

LKeithR said:
Wait till you get older--on many days you can take the word "aim" out of your vocabulary...

Who uses rubbers, anyway? (and if you have to unroll one far enough to see the writing? Good on you, mate!!!!!

On the other hand, I always wondered if they made them in "stub" length?

[/QUOTE]

I hear tell stub length is stiffer...especially in the smaller diameters.

Miguels244 · Jul 15, 2018

Clive603 said:
Brent

According to Hoselink at Recycled Water Tap Converter left hand threads are for grey or recycled (non potable) water taps in Australia. Should be pretty (!) mauve colours too.

Clive

Like gas tank fittings.

Kenre · Jul 16, 2018

Clive603 said:
Brent

According to Hoselink at Recycled Water Tap Converter left hand threads are for grey or recycled (non potable) water taps in Australia. Should be pretty (!) mauve colours too.

Clive

Well there ya go!

i never knew they existed! this one was natural brass.

My Grey water drains straight out onto the lawn. No need to store it doesnt rain enough.

DDoug · Jul 16, 2018

crossthread said:
I've got another good one. I use those green repair fittings to fix hoses from time to time and the squirrels who make the hose now extrude a bead inside the hose so the repair fitting doesn't seal. You can get them to work by carefully removing the ridge but it's a pain in the ass. I guess they don't want you to repair the ends but just buy a new hose.

I think the "inside ridge
hose is for "continuous flow" even when kinked.

crossthread · Jul 16, 2018

Digger you may be right but I don't see how this would facilitate continuous flow. It's just one single ridge about 1/8" in diameter molded into the hose. I really think it is there to keep people from trying to repair the hose. Anyone else run into this and have an opinion?

m-lud · Jul 16, 2018

Doug was't serious
That washer is an example of using every available space for advertising.
Not to hijack the thread but It's about [Petered] out anyway
The safety spouts on the fuel jugs are the winner of stupidity. The fuel jug is either ready to explode from pressure or it collapses. No one told them the temperature on earth changes.
All because they don't want it to vent. Leave the cap a little loose in storage. For safety.
Then the spout safety mechanism design kills the word ignorant. It takes ten minutes to pour five gallon's
OSHA on steroids.

Inept design of a water hose attachment

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