World's Best Garden Hose Quick Connect Heavy Duty Coupler Washer Seal Set
Amazon's price: $9.95
$10 for 6 pieces. I can get three pieces for $2 at True Value, and I'm looking around because I think that price is too high.
Gilmour 114GAMP PRO Heavy-Duty Rubber Seals for Brass Female Quick Connector
Amazon price: $6.24, free Prime shipping.
3 per package. $2 and change apiece. Heavy duty rubber seals.
Gilmour Brass Quick Connector Seals 09QSRBAG
Amazon price: $5.47, free delivery.
3 per package. $1.83 apiece. These say "For 09Qc series female connector". So, do they fit any other QC fittings?
And the top of the Amazon page says "Heavy-duty rubber construction" but the "Compare items" section says they are vinyl.
I'd avoid these, because there's no good information here.
Nelson 50339 Hose Quick Connector Washer Set
Amazon price: $3.55, free delivery.
3 per package. $1.19 apiece. These say "for brass female quick connectors". The "Compare items" section says the seals are plastic. And under "size" it says "universal" which suggests they fit most brass quick connects.
GaiGaiMall 20Pcs Garden Hose Washer for 3/4" Hose Quick Connect
Amazon price: $9.99, and free delivery.
$10 for 20 pieces is half a buck apiece... "heavy duty thermoplastic rubber"... "heavy duty rubber". Sounds good.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Swivel hose connectors
I bought a Swan Swivel a couple weeks back (q.v.). Now I was thumbing thru True Value's Hose Fittings & Accessories and found not one but two additional brands of swivel fittings: One from Miracle Gro, and one from Green Thumb. Good price on that last one, $2.99.
And come to think of it, I remember Gardener's Supply offering something similar for half-inch hose, a bendy elbow but without an inlet-end swivel connection. Part of their Snip-n-Drip system.
I didn't know there were so many to choose from. Now I'm wondering what else I can find.
Amazon shows one from Melnor. The one from Swan. One by Gardena for 26 bucks. And Melnor again, for $20 plus shipping.
Home D has the Melnor for four bucks. Target, too. And Ideal True Value has the Green Thumb swivel -- identified as a Melnor product -- for $2.09 plus, ouch, shipping.
And there's a similar product from Pope, but for 12mm fittings. Never saw that before. It's probably the British standard, not GHT.
All in all, not a lot of variety in the manufacture of these things. More variety in seller and price.
And come to think of it, I remember Gardener's Supply offering something similar for half-inch hose, a bendy elbow but without an inlet-end swivel connection. Part of their Snip-n-Drip system.
I didn't know there were so many to choose from. Now I'm wondering what else I can find.
Amazon shows one from Melnor. The one from Swan. One by Gardena for 26 bucks. And Melnor again, for $20 plus shipping.
Home D has the Melnor for four bucks. Target, too. And Ideal True Value has the Green Thumb swivel -- identified as a Melnor product -- for $2.09 plus, ouch, shipping.
And there's a similar product from Pope, but for 12mm fittings. Never saw that before. It's probably the British standard, not GHT.
All in all, not a lot of variety in the manufacture of these things. More variety in seller and price.
Monday, November 26, 2018
My first shrinky hose was 3/4" diameter x 50ft unshrunk
Shrunk, it was 15 feet long maybe, and about 3/8" diameter, and weighed next to nothin.
What you give up when you get shrinky hoses is durability. I didn't know. After two, two and a half years, I found out the hard way. It wasn't pretty. There was a hole 10 feet from one end of the thing. So I cut it in two, at the hole.
So how do you put a new hose end fitting into a shrinky hose?
I did it last year. It took hours. I kept pushing the fitting with my thumb till it was all the way in.
Yeah, but the thing came out a few weeks later. Dunno, maybe I didn't tighten it enough. Or didn't check it and re-tighten. Definitely the latter. Lesson learned, I hope.
Since then, I sat down two or three times to stuff the fitting into the hose again. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. My thumb hurt just thinking about it. I pushed on that fitting and ignored my thumb, the first time, and when I was done it hurt for a week. Felt like I pushed my thumb out from under the thumbnail.
That was using a fitting designed for half-inch hose.
So recently I had a thought: Try a smaller fitting. Try a fitting designed for 3/8" hose. So what if it's small, at least I might be able to use the hose.
So I bought some fittings. The best I could come up with locally was
It took me two minutes to insert the barb into the shrinky end. Took me almost 10 minutes to find a wrench to tighten the hose clamp.
Didn't test it yet. I'll let you know how it holds up.
What you give up when you get shrinky hoses is durability. I didn't know. After two, two and a half years, I found out the hard way. It wasn't pretty. There was a hole 10 feet from one end of the thing. So I cut it in two, at the hole.
So how do you put a new hose end fitting into a shrinky hose?
I did it last year. It took hours. I kept pushing the fitting with my thumb till it was all the way in.
Yeah, but the thing came out a few weeks later. Dunno, maybe I didn't tighten it enough. Or didn't check it and re-tighten. Definitely the latter. Lesson learned, I hope.
Since then, I sat down two or three times to stuff the fitting into the hose again. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. My thumb hurt just thinking about it. I pushed on that fitting and ignored my thumb, the first time, and when I was done it hurt for a week. Felt like I pushed my thumb out from under the thumbnail.
That was using a fitting designed for half-inch hose.
So recently I had a thought: Try a smaller fitting. Try a fitting designed for 3/8" hose. So what if it's small, at least I might be able to use the hose.
So I bought some fittings. The best I could come up with locally was
- Green Leaf Garden Hose Adapter, 3/4 in. MGHT x 3/8 in. Barb @ $1.49 for the male end. And then because I didn't find a 3/4 in. FGHT x 3/8 in. Barb I had to invent one by combining a
- Green Leaf Nylon Straight Adapter, 1/2 in. MPT x 3/8 in. Barb @ $1.69 with a
- Green Leaf Nylon Garden Hose Coupling, 3/4 in. FGHT x 1/2 in FPT @ $2.29 for the female end.
It took me two minutes to insert the barb into the shrinky end. Took me almost 10 minutes to find a wrench to tighten the hose clamp.
Didn't test it yet. I'll let you know how it holds up.
Garden Hose Washers
Good prices
Litorange Outdoor Garden Hose Washers Gasket 30-Piece Combo Pack Red. Made from Soft Silicone (Not Rubber, Better Sealing Than Rubber),Used for Washing Machine Hot Water.
(30) pieces for $7.88 (less than 27 cents each)
or
(108) pieces for $12.99 (only about 12 cents apiece)
I'm thinkin
If I'm gonna spend $8, why not spend $5 more and get three and a half times as many washers?
The question is: Am I gonna spend the $8 or not.
Depends...
I might.
//
How many hose washers do I need for a season, all told? Still have to figure that one out.
//
At PexUniverse, 50 black rubber washers for $4. Eight cents apiece, plus shipping. Shipping's always a "gotcha" isn't it.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Monday, November 19, 2018
Pinkish
The wife came home with this plant last spring.
Kinda sparse now. Shows my skill level. But some of the stems are still full and lush, the way the whole plant was before I brought it inside for the winter. The new growth is green (lack of sun, probably) but the older leaves show an amazing amount of pink. The photo doesn't do it justice, either. It was the brightest, boldest pink, most unexpected on a plant.
I planted the thing outside when the wife brought it home, near a little rose bush. It won't survive the winter, she told me. It survived the summer, though. Meanwhile it grew. And it grew on me.
By the time we were starting to expect frost, I decided to bring the thing into the house for the winter. The photo above is how it looks now.
No no, actually it was the wife who suggested bringing the thing inside for the winter. My idea was to take some cuttings before first frost. Yeah, that's what happened. That was some time in mid-October. So maybe five weeks ago.
Here is one of those cuttings now:
Green shoots. This one's gonna make it.
The other one had little purple flowers a week or so ago. I picked em off because I figured they would just take energy away from the rooting-and-growth process. Looking at it now, I see new hints of growth (which may only be more flower buds). But I also see some new growth coming up from the soil near the stem of the cutting. So that one might just make it, too.
I keep the cuttings in a Ziplok bag on a windowsill in the kitchen, facing southeast. I open the baggie once or twice a week, and take the flowerpots out and see how things are going. Plus I deflate the baggie, to change the air. Then I put the flowerpots back in and zip the bag closed -- except I leave a couple inches unzipped. I exhale into the baggie to inflate it, then seal it up for another few days.
If that's more than you wanted to know, well, okay. But I always want more detail than I get when it comes to things like this. I'm often left figuring out "how" for myself. I definitely don't think I have the best methods. If you read this and you have better ideas, let me know.
Meanwhile, I see green shoots!
 |
| Hypoestes Splash™ Select Rose |
Kinda sparse now. Shows my skill level. But some of the stems are still full and lush, the way the whole plant was before I brought it inside for the winter. The new growth is green (lack of sun, probably) but the older leaves show an amazing amount of pink. The photo doesn't do it justice, either. It was the brightest, boldest pink, most unexpected on a plant.
I planted the thing outside when the wife brought it home, near a little rose bush. It won't survive the winter, she told me. It survived the summer, though. Meanwhile it grew. And it grew on me.
By the time we were starting to expect frost, I decided to bring the thing into the house for the winter. The photo above is how it looks now.
No no, actually it was the wife who suggested bringing the thing inside for the winter. My idea was to take some cuttings before first frost. Yeah, that's what happened. That was some time in mid-October. So maybe five weeks ago.
Here is one of those cuttings now:
Green shoots. This one's gonna make it.
The other one had little purple flowers a week or so ago. I picked em off because I figured they would just take energy away from the rooting-and-growth process. Looking at it now, I see new hints of growth (which may only be more flower buds). But I also see some new growth coming up from the soil near the stem of the cutting. So that one might just make it, too.
I keep the cuttings in a Ziplok bag on a windowsill in the kitchen, facing southeast. I open the baggie once or twice a week, and take the flowerpots out and see how things are going. Plus I deflate the baggie, to change the air. Then I put the flowerpots back in and zip the bag closed -- except I leave a couple inches unzipped. I exhale into the baggie to inflate it, then seal it up for another few days.
If that's more than you wanted to know, well, okay. But I always want more detail than I get when it comes to things like this. I'm often left figuring out "how" for myself. I definitely don't think I have the best methods. If you read this and you have better ideas, let me know.
Meanwhile, I see green shoots!
Sunday, November 18, 2018
GHT plugs
Plugs? A hose plug is like a hose cap, except a cap screws onto the male end of the hose, and a plug screws into the female end.
Onto versus into, I like that. Gozonta versus gozinta.
Hose end caps are pretty easy to find in the "brick and mortar" places I look for such things: Lowes, Home Depot, True Value, Ace. But hose end plugs are hard to find in those places. That struck me as odd, at first, because every ordinary garden hose has male and female ends, both.
But maybe it's really not so odd. The spigot always has male threads, far as I know. So if you wanted to close it off, you would need a cap, not a plug.
If you attach a hose to the spigot, you attach the female end to the spigot, and the male end of the hose is open. If you want to close it off, you need a cap, not a plug.
If you attach another hose to the first hose, the free end of this new hose is male. To close it off you'd need a cap, not a plug. Or forget the second hose. Say you attach a splitter to the hose. Now you're left with two open ends, both male, and now you need two caps if you want to close them off.
But you almost never need a plug. Maybe that's why they're hard to find. (File this post under fascinated by simple things.)
Me, when I put my hoses away for the winter I like to close off the ends to keep dirt and bugs out. Just connect the ends together. But after I had my hoses rolled up this year, I kinked a couple of em when I was connecting ends together. Not happy about that. For next year I want to have hose caps and hose plugs enough to close all the ends.
So I've been looking for hose plugs. They're hard to find, but I gathered up some links. First, links for when I get a 3D printer. Yeah right... links for IF I ever get a 3D printer. Don't hold your breath.
Or I guess you could look elsewhere:
I found two other sources, which I find rather more interesting.
One of these sources is Specialty Sales Inc.
I found 3/4 GARDEN HOSE PLUG PP at Specialty Sales for $0.74 each. The "PP" in the description stands for "polypropylene" (I think). What it's made of. Anyway, 74 cents apiece is a good price. Dunno about shipping cost.
If the link to the plug page doesn't work, start at their Home page. On the left, under "Shop by Category" click the second item: "PLASTIC FITTINGS". On the Plastic Fittings page click "POLYPROPYLENE FITTINGS". And on the Polypropylene Fittings page click "GHT PLUG POLYPROPYLENE".
One last source:
$0.32 at Industrial Specialties Mfg.
JACKPOT!
Onto versus into, I like that. Gozonta versus gozinta.
Hose end caps are pretty easy to find in the "brick and mortar" places I look for such things: Lowes, Home Depot, True Value, Ace. But hose end plugs are hard to find in those places. That struck me as odd, at first, because every ordinary garden hose has male and female ends, both.
But maybe it's really not so odd. The spigot always has male threads, far as I know. So if you wanted to close it off, you would need a cap, not a plug.
If you attach a hose to the spigot, you attach the female end to the spigot, and the male end of the hose is open. If you want to close it off, you need a cap, not a plug.
If you attach another hose to the first hose, the free end of this new hose is male. To close it off you'd need a cap, not a plug. Or forget the second hose. Say you attach a splitter to the hose. Now you're left with two open ends, both male, and now you need two caps if you want to close them off.
But you almost never need a plug. Maybe that's why they're hard to find. (File this post under fascinated by simple things.)
Me, when I put my hoses away for the winter I like to close off the ends to keep dirt and bugs out. Just connect the ends together. But after I had my hoses rolled up this year, I kinked a couple of em when I was connecting ends together. Not happy about that. For next year I want to have hose caps and hose plugs enough to close all the ends.
So I've been looking for hose plugs. They're hard to find, but I gathered up some links. First, links for when I get a 3D printer. Yeah right... links for IF I ever get a 3D printer. Don't hold your breath.
- Thingiverse by hwright14
- Thingiverse by mrtaylor
- Thingiverse by sundewzer
- $20.11 at Amazon, plus $10.12 shipping. "PLUG W/CHAIN".
- $13.47 at Amazon. Package Quantity: 1
- $13.38 at Amazon .
- $9.37 at Amazon. (A week or two ago, this one was $10.87.)
- $8.22 at Amazon. (Can't tell if the quantity is 1 or 24 for this price.)
- $7.23 at Amazon.
- $6.95 at Amazon.
- INTERMISSION
- $6.10 at Amazon.
- $5.55 at Amazon. (The offer is 4 pieces for $22.20.)
- $4.92 at Amazon.
- $4.75 at Amazon .
- $1.62 at Amazon. And free shipping.
- $1.59 at Amazon.
Or I guess you could look elsewhere:
- $2.10 at eBay. (Free shipping)
- $1.99 at RV Plus.
- $1.62 at Walmart.
- $1.46 at Midland Hardware.
- $1.32 at RV & Auto Parts.
- $1.13 at RV & Auto Parts. (I bought some of these, couple months back.)
- $1.00 at dollar1.com.
I found two other sources, which I find rather more interesting.
One of these sources is Specialty Sales Inc.
I found 3/4 GARDEN HOSE PLUG PP at Specialty Sales for $0.74 each. The "PP" in the description stands for "polypropylene" (I think). What it's made of. Anyway, 74 cents apiece is a good price. Dunno about shipping cost.
If the link to the plug page doesn't work, start at their Home page. On the left, under "Shop by Category" click the second item: "PLASTIC FITTINGS". On the Plastic Fittings page click "POLYPROPYLENE FITTINGS". And on the Polypropylene Fittings page click "GHT PLUG POLYPROPYLENE".
One last source:
$0.32 at Industrial Specialties Mfg.
JACKPOT!
Friday, November 16, 2018
An oversize mender test
Well I have a whole baggie full of hose end fittings: brass, male, still in the package. But no females. It figures, right? End-of-season imbalances.
What I do have, a whole bunch of screw-on connectors from Ace that I got for $2.39 apiece. Remember? What the heck, I'll use two of them.
I still have this test case lying around. I need to cut that 8-inch piece of hose in half, fit the free half of it on the copper fitting that's half sticking out the hose, and clamp it. Then I'll put the Ace hose-end fittings on the open ends, and I'll be all ready to test my oversize mender.
//
Done. Just hooked it up to the utility sink and put a shut-off on the open end. Let it sit for a couple hours. Didn't leak, and didn't come apart from the psi.
Dunno how it would hold up if I treated it like a hose. Might come apart.
Didn't do any sort of pressure comparison or flow rate check. Some other day.
What I do have, a whole bunch of screw-on connectors from Ace that I got for $2.39 apiece. Remember? What the heck, I'll use two of them.
I still have this test case lying around. I need to cut that 8-inch piece of hose in half, fit the free half of it on the copper fitting that's half sticking out the hose, and clamp it. Then I'll put the Ace hose-end fittings on the open ends, and I'll be all ready to test my oversize mender.
//
Done. Just hooked it up to the utility sink and put a shut-off on the open end. Let it sit for a couple hours. Didn't leak, and didn't come apart from the psi.
Dunno how it would hold up if I treated it like a hose. Might come apart.
Didn't do any sort of pressure comparison or flow rate check. Some other day.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
"Choosing the Right Garden Hose"
Hose manufacturer Terraflex has some thoughts on what questions to ask and what to look for in a garden hose, including vinyl versus rubber. "Vinyl often costs less", they say. Vinyl is good for "a mild climate" and for "light watering". They say "Choose heavy-duty rubber hoses for intense commercial applications".
So rubber makes a better hose.
I had no idea. But I did notice, couple days back, Mr. Hardware likes rubber, not vinyl, for hose washers.
Two sources, one thought. I'll remember now. Rubber is better.
//
Let's see what sort of hose washers I have on hand.
What's "poly"?
Not rubber, huh.
I went to OrbitOnline and searched for the part number that's on the Orbit package:
I was thinking about using different color washers in different years, so I could tell by the color how old a washer was. I still like that idea, but it ignores rubber/vinyl/poly quality differences. More recently I was thinking about changing all the washers once a year. Quality differences might not matter if I did that. Even a light-duty hose washer should be good for a year, right?
The red ones from U.S Plastic are vinyl.
An idea worth trying, from skruft:
So rubber makes a better hose.
I had no idea. But I did notice, couple days back, Mr. Hardware likes rubber, not vinyl, for hose washers.
Two sources, one thought. I'll remember now. Rubber is better.
//
Let's see what sort of hose washers I have on hand.
- Gilmour 10-pack: "durable rubber"
- Yardsmith 10-pack: "durable vinyl"
- Green Thumb 10-pack yellow: "light duty poly"
- Green Thumb 10-pack black: "light duty rubber"
- Orbit 6 o-rings, 6 washers: (doesn't say)
What's "poly"?
Not rubber, huh.
I went to OrbitOnline and searched for the part number that's on the Orbit package:
Orbits Hose Washers Combo Pack are soft and resilient for a water-tight seal. This combo washer pack includes 6 red rubber washers and 6 black O-ring rubber washers. The O-ring design allows for maximum sealing performance. Saves water and helps prevent leaks between your hose, sprinklers, and hose-end products. Use with any standard female hose end product. Durable rubber material resists hardening and cracking. For outdoor use with cold water only.Good to know, but I wouldn't call em "red". U.S Plastic has red washers. I like em, them and True Value yellow. Yardsmith green ain't bad.
I was thinking about using different color washers in different years, so I could tell by the color how old a washer was. I still like that idea, but it ignores rubber/vinyl/poly quality differences. More recently I was thinking about changing all the washers once a year. Quality differences might not matter if I did that. Even a light-duty hose washer should be good for a year, right?
The red ones from U.S Plastic are vinyl.
An idea worth trying, from skruft:
"Also - I have found that the trick to a garden hose that will last a long time is to get one rated for hot water."That's what the guy who fixed my boiler had -- a hose rated for hot water.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
The times they are a-changin
Well, some weeks back I was looking at "screw-on" hose menders. Compression style, I guess they're called. Anyway, I was looking.
One of the ones I found was this, at Amazon:
I liked it a lot, but not for the price.
Later, when I found more, similar fittings, I linked to them in the comments. I want to look at some of those fittings now: in particular, fittings from alexnld.com
Let's start with this:
These are the five different views you can look at for the Expert Brass Car Garden Hose Pipe Connector Joint Repair Joiner, $5.99 from alexnld.com. Look at the fourth of these, going from left to right:
This is quite clearly the same as the fitting shown above, connecting blue hose to blue hose. It is a mid-hose mender.
Notice that the left-side cap and the right-side cap are equal in width. You could turn the fitting end-for-end, and the caps would still fit. You could turn the whole thing end-for-end, and hoses would still attach at both ends. Okay? Now look at the first two views of this Expert Brass Car Garden Hose Pipe Connector Joint Repair Joiner -- quite a name, isn't it? -- these two views:
Now we're looking at a fitting that connects a hose (on the left) to a quick-connect male (on the right). This is no mid-hose mender. This is a hose end mender.
This is a hose end mender, but it doesn't end with the GHT fitting we all know and love. It ends with a quick connect. If I was gonna do this with common, ordinary fittings, I would need two fittings to do it: a hose-end mender, to put a male or female GHT on the end of the hose... and an ordinary quick-connect fitting to convert the GHT end to a QC end.
This fitting costs five dollars. Six dollars, I guess: $5.99. Six dollars. And you do it with one fitting.
If you did it with two fittings it would cost more than six bucks, that's for sure. Brass? You'd be lucky to do it for less than ten. What could I get at True Value, my regular haunt, to make that conversion?
What I would have done before I got interested in these screw-on fittings would have been a hose-barb insert and a QC fitting that screws onto it. These are the ones I would have picked:
These two fittings would have cost me about $12.
Alexnld offers one fitting that does the work of two for six bucks. One piece instead of two, and half the cost. Without garden hose threads.
What do I need garden hose threads for, anyway? Only to connect to my other garden hose threads. If everything goes direct to quick-connect, I don't need anything with garden hose threads.
This is a mind blower.
Here's another one from alexnld:
You can use it to connect two hoses together by their female quick-connects. Because obviously all hoses come with quick connects on the ends -- or they will, soon.
Oh by the way: At the page for this fitting, one of the other views they provide shows this double-male fitting connecting two hoses together. The fittings on the other hoses are the ones we saw above, hose mender to quick connect. And the hose they show connecting to these fittings is the same reinforced blue hose shown in the first picture I show in this post.
I don't see much use for this particular fitting, actually. Have not run across a need for it. But the point is, you would only ever need this fitting if the hoses you wanted to join together had QC connections on the end and to get them off you'd have to cut them off. For example, if you bought hoses that had QC ends rather than the old, threaded GHT ends. See what I'm sayin?
Alexnld.com is making garden hose threads obsolete.
One more to look at. Check out the spray nozzle in this photo:
I have a nozzle like that, but mine has garden hose threads and I have a quick-connect screwed into it. Mine was two purchases, theirs is one. Mine is female, with a swivel nut. Theirs doesn't need a swivel nut because after the QC connection is made, the two sides still turn independently.
I tell ya, alexnld.com is making garden hose threads obsolete. It's a mind blower.
One of the ones I found was this, at Amazon:
I liked it a lot, but not for the price.
Later, when I found more, similar fittings, I linked to them in the comments. I want to look at some of those fittings now: in particular, fittings from alexnld.com
Let's start with this:
These are the five different views you can look at for the Expert Brass Car Garden Hose Pipe Connector Joint Repair Joiner, $5.99 from alexnld.com. Look at the fourth of these, going from left to right:
This is quite clearly the same as the fitting shown above, connecting blue hose to blue hose. It is a mid-hose mender.
Notice that the left-side cap and the right-side cap are equal in width. You could turn the fitting end-for-end, and the caps would still fit. You could turn the whole thing end-for-end, and hoses would still attach at both ends. Okay? Now look at the first two views of this Expert Brass Car Garden Hose Pipe Connector Joint Repair Joiner -- quite a name, isn't it? -- these two views:
Now we're looking at a fitting that connects a hose (on the left) to a quick-connect male (on the right). This is no mid-hose mender. This is a hose end mender.
This is a hose end mender, but it doesn't end with the GHT fitting we all know and love. It ends with a quick connect. If I was gonna do this with common, ordinary fittings, I would need two fittings to do it: a hose-end mender, to put a male or female GHT on the end of the hose... and an ordinary quick-connect fitting to convert the GHT end to a QC end.
This fitting costs five dollars. Six dollars, I guess: $5.99. Six dollars. And you do it with one fitting.
If you did it with two fittings it would cost more than six bucks, that's for sure. Brass? You'd be lucky to do it for less than ten. What could I get at True Value, my regular haunt, to make that conversion?
What I would have done before I got interested in these screw-on fittings would have been a hose-barb insert and a QC fitting that screws onto it. These are the ones I would have picked:
These two fittings would have cost me about $12.
Alexnld offers one fitting that does the work of two for six bucks. One piece instead of two, and half the cost. Without garden hose threads.
What do I need garden hose threads for, anyway? Only to connect to my other garden hose threads. If everything goes direct to quick-connect, I don't need anything with garden hose threads.
This is a mind blower.
Here's another one from alexnld:
 |
| Brass Two-way Quick Joint Hose Connector Fitting For Wash Car Pipe Garden Water Hose The names they give these things are a nightmare. I'll grant you that! |
You can use it to connect two hoses together by their female quick-connects. Because obviously all hoses come with quick connects on the ends -- or they will, soon.
Oh by the way: At the page for this fitting, one of the other views they provide shows this double-male fitting connecting two hoses together. The fittings on the other hoses are the ones we saw above, hose mender to quick connect. And the hose they show connecting to these fittings is the same reinforced blue hose shown in the first picture I show in this post.
I don't see much use for this particular fitting, actually. Have not run across a need for it. But the point is, you would only ever need this fitting if the hoses you wanted to join together had QC connections on the end and to get them off you'd have to cut them off. For example, if you bought hoses that had QC ends rather than the old, threaded GHT ends. See what I'm sayin?
Alexnld.com is making garden hose threads obsolete.
One more to look at. Check out the spray nozzle in this photo:
 |
| 4pcs Brass Hose Pipe Connector Irrigation Tools Garden Tap Quick Connectors Spray Nozzle |
I tell ya, alexnld.com is making garden hose threads obsolete. It's a mind blower.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Mr. Hardware
Found an interesting youtube while looking for other things: Garden hose connectors explained with tips, repairs, options and tricks by Mr. Hardware. Things I didn't know: Use rubber washers, he says, not vinyl. Things I did know: Use a cup of hot water to make the hose pliable.
Worth watching.
Worth watching.
Monday, November 12, 2018
An Oversize Mender Example
As noted in An Oversize Mender Fantasy, half-inch copper pipe measures 1/2" ID and 5/8" OD. You can get a coupling for it, a short copper sleeve that just fits over the pipe. They're normally used to splice two lengths of copper pipe together, soldered in place.
The copper coupling measures 5/8" inside diameter, just like a 5/8" hose. I thought I'd try using one of those couplings to make a splice in 5/8" garden hose. A typical "hose mender" for 5/8" hose has an ID that is smaller than the hose ID, and is said to create a pressure drop:
"avoid the use of hose menders. The longer your hose, the greater the pressure drop is going to be between the faucet and the far end of the hose. The pressure drop is minimized by using large-diameter hose and by avoiding the use of restrictions such as hose menders."
"Couplings of the insert type, attached with bands or clamps are restrictive. Pressure loss resulting from use of these couplings is approximately equal to 5% of the loss through 100’ of hose."Ah-ha! Maybe instead of fiddling with copper pipe fittings I should be looking for alternatives to "couplings of the insert type" for my garden hoses. From the quote it sounds like there are other types. I never noticed any. But I didn't notice the possibility until just now.
Oh, well. So I got the copper pipe fitting and peeled the sticker off it, and scrubbed off the sticker glue with WD40. The fitting was too big to fit into the 8" length of 5/8" garden hose I had handy. So I got myself half a cup of instant coffee-water (without the instant coffee) and stood the hose in it for less than half a minute. Took it out, and it went onto the fitting easily. (They always tell you garden hoses are not meant for hot water. We'll have to see if I did damage to this piece of hose by heating the end of it.)
Actually, I put the fitting on a piece of copper pipe first, so I could better hold the fitting. Then I soaked the hose and slipped it over the fitting. The hose went on the fitting easier than the fitting went on the pipe.
The fitting has a dimple that ordinarily stops the fitting when you get it halfway onto a copper pipe. I used the dimple as a center mark and pushed the hose on, up to the center mark. Then I put a hose clamp on it.
I used a #6 hose clamp. It slipped onto the bare end of the hose and I slid it down to the other end without problem. But when it got near the fitting, the hose OD gets bigger and the fitting got stuck. I turned the hose clamp screw to make the clamp as big as I could. I had to wiggle it then, but I got it on. Coulda used a #8 hose clamp instead, but I try to avoid the long hose clamp tails whenever I can.
//
I didn't do anything with it yet, so there are things I don't know. The copper fitting doesn't have hose barbs: Will the hose stay on when there is water pressure in it? The fitting is only 11/8" long: Can I get longer ones? And the big question: This fitting isn't meant to be used as a garden hose mender: Can I find alternatives to couplings of the insert type?
Hm.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Quick Connect Options
I knew about quick-connect fittings from work. They had em on their air line conduit and their pneumatic tools, back in the '70s. But the first time I saw the QCs for garden hose connection was when I got a Craftsman mower, ten years ago. For washing out the mower deck.
I tried it, back then. But every time I used it I had to unscrew the garden hose sprayer nozzle and screw on the QC attachment. And every time I finished washing the mower deck I had to remove the QC attachment and reattach the sprayer nozzle. It just didn't seem worth the effort. And that was my experience with garden hose quick connects.
I just didn't get it. It wasn't until about seven years later that I realized if all my hoses and fittings had the quick connects, QCs would make my life easier instead of harder. Most people might have figured that out right away. Not me.
Anyway, I went out then and bought some at True Value. Plastic, because the brass ones were more expensive.
The female has a shut-off valve. That turned out to be useful! You can turn the water off before you disconnect the QC, without walking back to the house to do it.
The first thing I learned about QC fittings is that the plastic ones were no good the second year. I couldn't slide the green collar back to connect or disconnect them. Maybe if I lubricated em things would have been different. But I didn't. So after that, I bought brass ones.
The second thing I learned about QC fittings is that the plastic and brass don't fit together. If you're gonna go brass, you've gotta go all brass. At least, that's how I remember it.
I don't remember what the prices were two years ago. These images show current (late October 2018) prices. The brass is more expensive than the plastic, as it was two or three years back. I remember that.
These brass ones I got didn't have a shutoff valve. That's inconvenient. What I ended up doing was keeping the old plastic ones and using them for the shutoff valve, and adding the brass ones on the end for the quick connect feature.
Later I discovered that these brass ones from True Value have a safety feature: You have to shut the water off before you can break the QC connection. So my original purchase of the plastic QC fittings saved me a lot of walking back to the house to turn the water off. These days I keep plastic shutoff valves on hand, to install along with my brass QC fittings.
Recently True Value has been offering another style of quick connect, with the black plastic grip. I don't find a photo of the set (one male and one female); this image shows two male fittings.
I see True Value calls these hose quick connects, rather than brass quick connects. So they are probably not brass; the relatively low price suggests that this is correct.
Looking further, True Value also offers Gilmour quick connects. These also have a black plastic grip. But these are not easily confused with the others, as the Gilmours have the highest prices.
I'm using the word "set" to mean (1) male fitting and (1) female fitting.
Camco Quick Hose Connect Brass with Auto Shut-Off at Home D: (1)M, (1)F ... $4.59
Good price.
The "specifications" section of the Home Depot page tells us that the Color Family is brass for these fittings. But the "Product Overview" section says they are of "solid brass construction" and that this item is "CSA low lead content certified and complies with California's AB1953 and Vermont act 193 low lead laws". So I guess these are the good brass.
That automatic shut-off sounds like a good feature, too. I wouldn't have to install shut-off valves with these. Good price to begin with, plus I'd save the price of the shut-off.
SOMMERLAND 3/4" Brass Garden Hose Quick Connector Value Pack (4Male+2Female) at Amazon of course ... (4)M, (2)F ... $9.99
Amazon's blurb says "compatible with standard garden hose", but the same sentence says "3/4 in. NH thread". NH thread? I looked it up. Wikipedia says
Say one set from Camco is $5. The Sommerland deal is two sets for $10 and you get two extra male connectors. So that's a better price than the Camco. You want the extra males, because they go in all the things you connect to your hose, so you can change them easily with one female on the business end of the hose.
Looks like a good deal.
Greenwood 6 pc Garden Hose Quick Coupler Set at Harbor Freight ... $6.99
Four males and two females, just like the Sommerland set, but for three dollars less.
These fittings look very similar to the brass QCs I've been getting from True Value. Not identical, but very similar. I avoided straying from True Value before, because I don't know if quick-connects from elsewhere will fit the ones I already have. But at this price, I'll gamble.
I tried em: The Harbor Freight male fits the True Value female, and the True Value male fits the Harbor Freight female. For both males, the fit is sloppy in the True Value female and snug in the Harbor Freight, but that's probably just washers. I'm comparing a brand new HF fitting to a two-year-old TV fitting with a used washer in it.
Oh, I have to check that.
Yeah, definitely: With a new washer in the old fitting, the "snug" is about the same no matter which fitting I put with which. The old washer was the source of the sloppy fit. Good to know.
One more thing to check. If using HF with TV QC connectors causes leaks, I can't use em. I have to test for leaks.
I got my new faucet-to-garden-hose adapter for the sink in the garage yesterday, so I think I'm good to go.
Also, I couldn't get the male out, the second time. I thought it was the safety feature like the TruVal has, and it may have been; but I am not sure: Turned out I had to push the male back in, reversing the "jump", before I could get it out of the Harbor Freight female.
I could try this again (and again and again) with the other female and the three other males from Harbor Freight. Maybe I will, but not now. Even with a jumping fitting, the thing didn't leak. And I already know I'll have to push it back in before I can disconnect it.
They fit, and they didn't leak. But I don't think I'll buy more of them from Harbor Freight.
I tried it, back then. But every time I used it I had to unscrew the garden hose sprayer nozzle and screw on the QC attachment. And every time I finished washing the mower deck I had to remove the QC attachment and reattach the sprayer nozzle. It just didn't seem worth the effort. And that was my experience with garden hose quick connects.
I just didn't get it. It wasn't until about seven years later that I realized if all my hoses and fittings had the quick connects, QCs would make my life easier instead of harder. Most people might have figured that out right away. Not me.
The female has a shut-off valve. That turned out to be useful! You can turn the water off before you disconnect the QC, without walking back to the house to do it.
The first thing I learned about QC fittings is that the plastic ones were no good the second year. I couldn't slide the green collar back to connect or disconnect them. Maybe if I lubricated em things would have been different. But I didn't. So after that, I bought brass ones.
I don't remember what the prices were two years ago. These images show current (late October 2018) prices. The brass is more expensive than the plastic, as it was two or three years back. I remember that.
These brass ones I got didn't have a shutoff valve. That's inconvenient. What I ended up doing was keeping the old plastic ones and using them for the shutoff valve, and adding the brass ones on the end for the quick connect feature.
Later I discovered that these brass ones from True Value have a safety feature: You have to shut the water off before you can break the QC connection. So my original purchase of the plastic QC fittings saved me a lot of walking back to the house to turn the water off. These days I keep plastic shutoff valves on hand, to install along with my brass QC fittings.
I see True Value calls these hose quick connects, rather than brass quick connects. So they are probably not brass; the relatively low price suggests that this is correct.
Looking further, True Value also offers Gilmour quick connects. These also have a black plastic grip. But these are not easily confused with the others, as the Gilmours have the highest prices.
Current prices, for comparison:
| True Value | male | female | set |
|---|---|---|---|
| plastic | $1.99 | $3.99 | $6.99 |
| brass | $3.99 | $5.69 | $8.49 |
| metal | $2.50 | ? | ? |
| Gilmour | $5.99 | $8.99 | ? |
I'm using the word "set" to mean (1) male fitting and (1) female fitting.
Other Brands
Camco Quick Hose Connect Brass with Auto Shut-Off at Home D: (1)M, (1)F ... $4.59
Good price.
The "specifications" section of the Home Depot page tells us that the Color Family is brass for these fittings. But the "Product Overview" section says they are of "solid brass construction" and that this item is "CSA low lead content certified and complies with California's AB1953 and Vermont act 193 low lead laws". So I guess these are the good brass.
That automatic shut-off sounds like a good feature, too. I wouldn't have to install shut-off valves with these. Good price to begin with, plus I'd save the price of the shut-off.
SOMMERLAND 3/4" Brass Garden Hose Quick Connector Value Pack (4Male+2Female) at Amazon of course ... (4)M, (2)F ... $9.99
Amazon's blurb says "compatible with standard garden hose", but the same sentence says "3/4 in. NH thread". NH thread? I looked it up. Wikipedia says
The thread standard for garden hose connectors in the United States, its territories, and Canada is known colloquially as "garden hose thread" (GHT), but its official designation is NH ...Okay, same thing, the garden hose standard. And the link says the females have a "flow stopper": the automatic shut-off, I imagine.
Say one set from Camco is $5. The Sommerland deal is two sets for $10 and you get two extra male connectors. So that's a better price than the Camco. You want the extra males, because they go in all the things you connect to your hose, so you can change them easily with one female on the business end of the hose.
Looks like a good deal.
Greenwood 6 pc Garden Hose Quick Coupler Set at Harbor Freight ... $6.99
Four males and two females, just like the Sommerland set, but for three dollars less.
These fittings look very similar to the brass QCs I've been getting from True Value. Not identical, but very similar. I avoided straying from True Value before, because I don't know if quick-connects from elsewhere will fit the ones I already have. But at this price, I'll gamble.
I tried em: The Harbor Freight male fits the True Value female, and the True Value male fits the Harbor Freight female. For both males, the fit is sloppy in the True Value female and snug in the Harbor Freight, but that's probably just washers. I'm comparing a brand new HF fitting to a two-year-old TV fitting with a used washer in it.
Oh, I have to check that.
Yeah, definitely: With a new washer in the old fitting, the "snug" is about the same no matter which fitting I put with which. The old washer was the source of the sloppy fit. Good to know.
One more thing to check. If using HF with TV QC connectors causes leaks, I can't use em. I have to test for leaks.
I got my new faucet-to-garden-hose adapter for the sink in the garage yesterday, so I think I'm good to go.
- Install faucet adapter.
- Put a second washer in a hose end cap.
- Put the hose end cap on the faucet; check for leaks and stop em.
- Remove hose cap.
- Put extra hose washer in Wye fitting, and install the wye.
- Install the True Value female on one leg and the Harbor Freight female on the other.
- Put the hose cap on the True Value male & test it on the True Value female. [no leak]
- Test the TV male on the Harbor Freight female [no leak]
- Move the hose cap to the Harbor Freight male.
- Test the HF male on the TV female [no leak]
- Test the HF male on the HF female [no leak. But...]
Also, I couldn't get the male out, the second time. I thought it was the safety feature like the TruVal has, and it may have been; but I am not sure: Turned out I had to push the male back in, reversing the "jump", before I could get it out of the Harbor Freight female.
I could try this again (and again and again) with the other female and the three other males from Harbor Freight. Maybe I will, but not now. Even with a jumping fitting, the thing didn't leak. And I already know I'll have to push it back in before I can disconnect it.
They fit, and they didn't leak. But I don't think I'll buy more of them from Harbor Freight.
Friday, November 9, 2018
The mower deck weighs so much less after you wash it!
In October I put the garden hoses away for the winter. In November I still have to mow the lawn. How do I wash the mower deck when I'm done?
I could drag out the hoses and 'nect em up, but drag hoses are such a drag. I could use my shrinky hoses instead, but I have only one fifty-footer left. The rest of em sprung holes or have torn sleeves. And it's damn hard to get a hose mender into that shrinky tube, even a half-inch mender. And dammit, two of the menders I managed to get into it worked their way out.
I can't bring myself to make those repairs again. So I only have one fifty-footer, and that ain't enough to reach the spot where I wash out the mower deck... Hm, maybe I should try metal menders instead of plastic, as they might have a smaller OD. Or, worst case, 3/8" menders. Not a terrible idea.
And then I saw 75-foot shrinkys on clearance at Walmart, 20 bucks apiece. Good price, I thought, so I bought two of em. Spur of the moment.
This was the other day, after I discovered my utility sink has garden hose threads and before I got the faucet/GHT adapter stuck in the quick-connect fitting. Come to think of it, it was after washing out the mower deck last week that I found the faucet adapter stuck in the quick-connect fitting.
Anyway, I'm ready to have another go at washing the mower deck using my utility sink as a water source. I got the new faucet adapter installed. I got the new shrinky hoses. And I even got a Swan Multi-Purpose Hose Swivel. The faucet points down toward the bottom of the utility sink, so I got the Swan swivel to point the hose out of the sink.
It's almost like playing with Tinker Toys, getting these fittings and assembling them to suit my imagination. And less $$ than car parts or computers.
I turned the fitting far as it would go in one direction, and got a 90 degree elbow. For comparison, the Swan card shows it straight.
If you look closely at the upper photo (or click the photo to see it bigger) you'll notice a circular joint in the top face of the swivel nut. So this is a two-piece nut, like the one noted at the end of Putting away. But you can see the underside of the swivel nut in the photo on the Swan card, and the nut doesn't have the teeth that break off. With luck, my Swan will last.
I'll put a second washer in the female end, in case the faucet adapter comes off the faucet again, so I can get it out of the Swan.
I'll use a quick-connect on the outlet side of the Swan (to match my shrinky hoses) but not one on the inlet side. I don't want to have a QC on the utility sink faucet permanently; it wouldn't look like it belongs there. And to put it on before every use, and take it off after, serves no purpose. I'll just put the Swan on before every use, and take it off after.
The outlet side quick-connects to the hose. I've gotta get the hose out the door, or out the garage door. I'm thinkin, open the garage door, put some 1x4 across the bottom of the opening, two pieces end-to-end with a one-inch gap between em, run the hose thru the one-inch gap, and close the garage door on the 1x4. Should keep most of the cold and wind out. Throw some rags up against it, maybe.
Now the hose is outside.
I think I need a shutoff on the first hose, so I can open the faucet and let the shrinky hose expand. Otherwise even the 75-foot shrinky isn't long enough to get comfortably out of the garage.
Now the hose is outside. I'll connect the other 75, and the 50-footer; that gets me to my deck-wash area. And the 50 already has a shutoff on it... In the future, I think I'll only buy shrinky hoses that have a built in shut-off valve.
Then I've got a short length of hose, 15 inches, with a brass True Value QC on one end (to connect to the 50) and the plastic QC on the other (to connect to the fitting on the mower deck).
The only other thing I need is to get started.
// [a couple hours pass]
Okay, I washed the mower deck. My plan worked well, except for one thing: I need a wye between the swan and the first hose. So that when I'm ready to drain that hose I can open the spare leg and relieve the pressure in the hose.
I could drag out the hoses and 'nect em up, but drag hoses are such a drag. I could use my shrinky hoses instead, but I have only one fifty-footer left. The rest of em sprung holes or have torn sleeves. And it's damn hard to get a hose mender into that shrinky tube, even a half-inch mender. And dammit, two of the menders I managed to get into it worked their way out.
I can't bring myself to make those repairs again. So I only have one fifty-footer, and that ain't enough to reach the spot where I wash out the mower deck... Hm, maybe I should try metal menders instead of plastic, as they might have a smaller OD. Or, worst case, 3/8" menders. Not a terrible idea.
And then I saw 75-foot shrinkys on clearance at Walmart, 20 bucks apiece. Good price, I thought, so I bought two of em. Spur of the moment.
This was the other day, after I discovered my utility sink has garden hose threads and before I got the faucet/GHT adapter stuck in the quick-connect fitting. Come to think of it, it was after washing out the mower deck last week that I found the faucet adapter stuck in the quick-connect fitting.
It's almost like playing with Tinker Toys, getting these fittings and assembling them to suit my imagination. And less $$ than car parts or computers.
I turned the fitting far as it would go in one direction, and got a 90 degree elbow. For comparison, the Swan card shows it straight.
If you look closely at the upper photo (or click the photo to see it bigger) you'll notice a circular joint in the top face of the swivel nut. So this is a two-piece nut, like the one noted at the end of Putting away. But you can see the underside of the swivel nut in the photo on the Swan card, and the nut doesn't have the teeth that break off. With luck, my Swan will last.
I'll put a second washer in the female end, in case the faucet adapter comes off the faucet again, so I can get it out of the Swan.
I'll use a quick-connect on the outlet side of the Swan (to match my shrinky hoses) but not one on the inlet side. I don't want to have a QC on the utility sink faucet permanently; it wouldn't look like it belongs there. And to put it on before every use, and take it off after, serves no purpose. I'll just put the Swan on before every use, and take it off after.
The outlet side quick-connects to the hose. I've gotta get the hose out the door, or out the garage door. I'm thinkin, open the garage door, put some 1x4 across the bottom of the opening, two pieces end-to-end with a one-inch gap between em, run the hose thru the one-inch gap, and close the garage door on the 1x4. Should keep most of the cold and wind out. Throw some rags up against it, maybe.
Now the hose is outside.
I think I need a shutoff on the first hose, so I can open the faucet and let the shrinky hose expand. Otherwise even the 75-foot shrinky isn't long enough to get comfortably out of the garage.
Now the hose is outside. I'll connect the other 75, and the 50-footer; that gets me to my deck-wash area. And the 50 already has a shutoff on it... In the future, I think I'll only buy shrinky hoses that have a built in shut-off valve.
Then I've got a short length of hose, 15 inches, with a brass True Value QC on one end (to connect to the 50) and the plastic QC on the other (to connect to the fitting on the mower deck).
The only other thing I need is to get started.
// [a couple hours pass]
Okay, I washed the mower deck. My plan worked well, except for one thing: I need a wye between the swan and the first hose. So that when I'm ready to drain that hose I can open the spare leg and relieve the pressure in the hose.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
There's something in there...
Following up mine of 4 November...
Remember this?
The one on the left has something in it. What is that?
I thought it was metal threads from a cheap hose that was coming apart. So I took all my "put away" hoses out of the 55-gallon barrel. Re-rolled each hose using a hose-rollup fixture I made for rolling the hoses at the max diameter that fits in the barrel: to reduce the risk of kinked hoses, and to make the best use of the barrel-space, hopefully.
And I disconnected the hose ends and checked to see if there was a missing piece that looked like the piece that was stuck in my QC fitting. (I connect the hose ends together to keep dirt and bugs out. Again, hopefully. But I created some kinks by bending the hose to connect the ends. That's why I made the rollup fixture, and why next year I want to use hose caps and hose plugs to close off the ends instead. (Hose caps are easy to find; hose plugs, not so much.))
None of the hoses was missing that piece, the chrome piece inside the QC fitting in the photo.
I slept on it. But I awoke with no great insights, so I decided to do something else instead. I've been wanting to compare my brass QCs from True Value with the new ones I got at Harbor Freight. So, that.
By inspection, they are very similar.
By fit, they are very similar. The True Value male fits the Harbor Freight female, and the HF male fits the TruVal female, no problem. So I have one thing left to try: see if the brand mixing causes leaks.
I grabbed the Harbor Freight fitting and tried to screw it on to the faucet in the garage. No good: the QC fitting is too big.
What? Wait a minute... I tried the old True Value fitting, which fit before. Too big.
Then it hit me: The piece stuck in the fitting in the photo is the garage sink faucet adapter!
So that means it's not stuck because of corrosion. Hasn't been in there long enough. So that means, if I could grab it, I could get it out. It was kinda like inspiration.
I put a rag thru the hole in the chrome fitting, grabbed my triangular shaped file, stuck the file in there, and unscrewed the stuck fitting. EASY!... but only after two or three days of zero progress.
//
For a good part of the day then, I was looking for a replacement adapter to go from faucet threads to garden hose threads.
Next day, today, I had the chance to stop at Home D. So I decided that for five bucks I could risk guessing which adapter would fit my faucet. I guessed this one: Female 55/64"-27 x male 3/4" hose. It helped a lot that the review by AscendedMind said
Oh by the way, when I got the new fitting home I found a rubber washer in it. On the female side, just like hose washers in garden hose fittings. But this one is smaller: 55/64, whatever that is.* The once-folded 3.25"x3.75" paper that serves as documentation for this adapter tells me "For manufacturer warranty information visit www.faucetaerator.com. I'm thinking that's my best first place to look for replacement washers or at least what size they have to be.
Yeah, no. Their home page offers three product categories: bathroom products, kitchen products, and garden & laundry products. None of them showed a fitting like the one I got from Home Depot.
Next: Their home page offers a Product Selection link. I clicked that and it offered a Housing Size link. Yeah, good, okay. The picture on that page shows that some of their fittings are about as big around as a quarter, and others as big as a nickel. Mine's the nickel. The text on that page is about something entirely unrelated:
Next step: Housing Gender.
Well, I am "unique and have a faucet with a male outlet (threads on the outside)", so I need a fitting with the threads inside. But I knew that before I went to Home D.
This site seems to be all about faucet aerators, not faucet adapters. And they don't identify their products by part number or even by the same description they give on the tiny page of documentation that comes with the adapter.
Well, I got tired of dickin around with this, so I went to see if the thing I bought fits my faucet.
Yep.
But I still don't know the size of the washer. I better find out.
It's just a hair bigger than a nickel, OD. I get 7/8" OD, 9/16 ID, 1/16" thick. Pretty soft rubber. Actually no: It does not seem to compress much when I pinch it, but it is pretty damn flexible because it's so small.
The same washer fits my old fitting, the chrome thing that got stuck in my QC fitting the other day. Good to know. But I don't think I'll be using the old fitting because it's only about 5/16" high. You can lose it down inside a garden hose fitting and spend three damn days trying to fish it out.
I''m not very comfortable with the new one, either, because it's only about half an inch high. A lot of garden hose females could easily swallow it whole. I'll want to remember to use two garden hose washers in whatever fitting I connect to this squat little adapter.
Anyway, the thing fits my faucet. I didn't waste the five bucks. And that's a good thing.
// Note
* : 55/64 turns out to be about the size of a nickel, a tad over 13/16. A quarter measures about 15/16" and fits easily in the female end of a hose fitting.
Remember this?
I thought it was metal threads from a cheap hose that was coming apart. So I took all my "put away" hoses out of the 55-gallon barrel. Re-rolled each hose using a hose-rollup fixture I made for rolling the hoses at the max diameter that fits in the barrel: to reduce the risk of kinked hoses, and to make the best use of the barrel-space, hopefully.
And I disconnected the hose ends and checked to see if there was a missing piece that looked like the piece that was stuck in my QC fitting. (I connect the hose ends together to keep dirt and bugs out. Again, hopefully. But I created some kinks by bending the hose to connect the ends. That's why I made the rollup fixture, and why next year I want to use hose caps and hose plugs to close off the ends instead. (Hose caps are easy to find; hose plugs, not so much.))
None of the hoses was missing that piece, the chrome piece inside the QC fitting in the photo.
I slept on it. But I awoke with no great insights, so I decided to do something else instead. I've been wanting to compare my brass QCs from True Value with the new ones I got at Harbor Freight. So, that.
By inspection, they are very similar.
By fit, they are very similar. The True Value male fits the Harbor Freight female, and the HF male fits the TruVal female, no problem. So I have one thing left to try: see if the brand mixing causes leaks.
I grabbed the Harbor Freight fitting and tried to screw it on to the faucet in the garage. No good: the QC fitting is too big.
What? Wait a minute... I tried the old True Value fitting, which fit before. Too big.
Then it hit me: The piece stuck in the fitting in the photo is the garage sink faucet adapter!
So that means it's not stuck because of corrosion. Hasn't been in there long enough. So that means, if I could grab it, I could get it out. It was kinda like inspiration.
I put a rag thru the hole in the chrome fitting, grabbed my triangular shaped file, stuck the file in there, and unscrewed the stuck fitting. EASY!... but only after two or three days of zero progress.
//
For a good part of the day then, I was looking for a replacement adapter to go from faucet threads to garden hose threads.
Next day, today, I had the chance to stop at Home D. So I decided that for five bucks I could risk guessing which adapter would fit my faucet. I guessed this one: Female 55/64"-27 x male 3/4" hose. It helped a lot that the review by AscendedMind said
This faucet adapter works perfect on my kitchen sink for connecting a standard garden hose to. Perfect for when the weather is freezing, but you still need access to a garden hose w/o worrying about your outside faucets or hoses freezing.Because that's exactly what I want to do. Yeah, it's not freezing yet. But it will be.
Oh by the way, when I got the new fitting home I found a rubber washer in it. On the female side, just like hose washers in garden hose fittings. But this one is smaller: 55/64, whatever that is.* The once-folded 3.25"x3.75" paper that serves as documentation for this adapter tells me "For manufacturer warranty information visit www.faucetaerator.com. I'm thinking that's my best first place to look for replacement washers or at least what size they have to be.
Yeah, no. Their home page offers three product categories: bathroom products, kitchen products, and garden & laundry products. None of them showed a fitting like the one I got from Home Depot.
Next: Their home page offers a Product Selection link. I clicked that and it offered a Housing Size link. Yeah, good, okay. The picture on that page shows that some of their fittings are about as big around as a quarter, and others as big as a nickel. Mine's the nickel. The text on that page is about something entirely unrelated:
Need to repair the entire faucet aerator or just the insert?Thanks.
If your metal faucet aerator housing is in good condition, you can decide to replace the insert only. A damaged metal housing requires replacement of the entire unit.
Next step: Housing Gender.
Well, I am "unique and have a faucet with a male outlet (threads on the outside)", so I need a fitting with the threads inside. But I knew that before I went to Home D.
This site seems to be all about faucet aerators, not faucet adapters. And they don't identify their products by part number or even by the same description they give on the tiny page of documentation that comes with the adapter.
Well, I got tired of dickin around with this, so I went to see if the thing I bought fits my faucet.
Yep.
But I still don't know the size of the washer. I better find out.
It's just a hair bigger than a nickel, OD. I get 7/8" OD, 9/16 ID, 1/16" thick. Pretty soft rubber. Actually no: It does not seem to compress much when I pinch it, but it is pretty damn flexible because it's so small.
The same washer fits my old fitting, the chrome thing that got stuck in my QC fitting the other day. Good to know. But I don't think I'll be using the old fitting because it's only about 5/16" high. You can lose it down inside a garden hose fitting and spend three damn days trying to fish it out.
I''m not very comfortable with the new one, either, because it's only about half an inch high. A lot of garden hose females could easily swallow it whole. I'll want to remember to use two garden hose washers in whatever fitting I connect to this squat little adapter.
Anyway, the thing fits my faucet. I didn't waste the five bucks. And that's a good thing.
// Note
* : 55/64 turns out to be about the size of a nickel, a tad over 13/16. A quarter measures about 15/16" and fits easily in the female end of a hose fitting.
Monday, November 5, 2018
An Oversize Mender Fantasy
Following up mine of 3 November...
Okay. We know that for half inch, five eighth inch, and three quarter inch hose, the name describes the inside diameter of the hose. We know that "hose mender" fittings have a smaller ID than the hoses they fit. And we know that using hose menders reduces the pressure of the water exiting the hose. What we don't know is if we can fit an oversize mender into the hose to reduce the pressure loss.
Technically, we also don't know if using such a mender will actually reduce pressure loss and maintain flow. But that should be a pretty easy thing to check, once we have hoses with oversize menders in them.
//
Let's say our hose mender needs the same ID as the hose. So, 5/8" ID for a 5/8" hose. What to use for an oversize mender? I rummaged the internet for a while, found an interesting page on copper pipe:
And then I found copper pipe couplings that just fit over the pipe -- 5/8" ID for half inch copper pipe. Exactly what I'm looking for, for 5/8" hose. For half a buck apiece, I'll try them.
They're thin, too, so the hose should have little trouble fitting over the coupling. I'll get some of those copper couplings and see what I can do with them. And I'll let you know how it goes. But today's not the day for that.
Okay. We know that for half inch, five eighth inch, and three quarter inch hose, the name describes the inside diameter of the hose. We know that "hose mender" fittings have a smaller ID than the hoses they fit. And we know that using hose menders reduces the pressure of the water exiting the hose. What we don't know is if we can fit an oversize mender into the hose to reduce the pressure loss.
Technically, we also don't know if using such a mender will actually reduce pressure loss and maintain flow. But that should be a pretty easy thing to check, once we have hoses with oversize menders in them.
//
Let's say our hose mender needs the same ID as the hose. So, 5/8" ID for a 5/8" hose. What to use for an oversize mender? I rummaged the internet for a while, found an interesting page on copper pipe:
Copper pipe ... is sold in nominal sizes which are 1/8 inch less than the actual outside diameter.Okay, so the copper pipe we call "half inch" is 5/8" OD.
And then I found copper pipe couplings that just fit over the pipe -- 5/8" ID for half inch copper pipe. Exactly what I'm looking for, for 5/8" hose. For half a buck apiece, I'll try them.
They're thin, too, so the hose should have little trouble fitting over the coupling. I'll get some of those copper couplings and see what I can do with them. And I'll let you know how it goes. But today's not the day for that.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Why I'm gonna use teflon tape from now on
Been livin in this house ten years now, and I just figured out that the utility sink in the garage, the faucet has garden hose threads. So of course, now I have to use it.
There's a wet spot on the driveway blacktop. Been there two days now. It's not just water. Antifreeze, I think, from the guy that serviced our furnace the other day. I want to go hose it down.
So I grabbed a quick connect fitting, one of the fittings I took off my hoses before I packed them away for the winter. It caught my eye that it didn't have a hose washer, the special one you need for QC fittings. So I grabbed the washer, and noticed that I only have one more. Gotta get more.
The washer for the QC fitting is flat on one side, but the other side has a step in it. So which side goes up -- flat or step? So I grabbed another QC fitting, moved to better light, and compared the two:
No... It's not missing a washer... There's something in there, covering up the washer. I took another look:
Yeah, you can see it. The one on the left has something in it. Looks like the metal-threads part of something that was screwed in there before I put my hoses away for the winter.
I didn't notice till now. But one of those hoses I put away must be missing the "metal threads" part of its male end connection. Or one of the fittings I put away for the winter. I'll have to look.
Dunno if I can get that piece out. Hope so. These QC fittings are too expensive to throw away.
I know one thing for sure. From now on I'm using teflon tape on my hose ends and fittings.
Oh, and you can see the step in the washer from the female end of the QC fitting. So now I know which way the washer goes.
Well, back to work.
There's a wet spot on the driveway blacktop. Been there two days now. It's not just water. Antifreeze, I think, from the guy that serviced our furnace the other day. I want to go hose it down.
So I grabbed a quick connect fitting, one of the fittings I took off my hoses before I packed them away for the winter. It caught my eye that it didn't have a hose washer, the special one you need for QC fittings. So I grabbed the washer, and noticed that I only have one more. Gotta get more.
The washer for the QC fitting is flat on one side, but the other side has a step in it. So which side goes up -- flat or step? So I grabbed another QC fitting, moved to better light, and compared the two:
 |
| The one on the left isn't right. The one on the right is okay. |
No... It's not missing a washer... There's something in there, covering up the washer. I took another look:
|
| The one on the left clearly has something in it |
I didn't notice till now. But one of those hoses I put away must be missing the "metal threads" part of its male end connection. Or one of the fittings I put away for the winter. I'll have to look.
Dunno if I can get that piece out. Hope so. These QC fittings are too expensive to throw away.
I know one thing for sure. From now on I'm using teflon tape on my hose ends and fittings.
Oh, and you can see the step in the washer from the female end of the QC fitting. So now I know which way the washer goes.
Well, back to work.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
A look at an Ace compression fitting
I got my fittings from Ace. Compression fittings for 5/8" and 3/4" hose. I want to look at one.
I don't have a caliper -- I'm not even sure if that word is okay without an "s" on the end -- just a tape measure. But I want to take some measurements anyway, crude as they will be. Maybe I'll get a caliper sometime and do this exercise over. Meanwhile ...
I'm looking at the mid-hose mender:
When you take the green caps off you're left with one black piece which includes
The two caps are identical, far as I can tell, and the black piece symmetrical.
This photo of the disassembled Snip-n-Drip fitting shows a comparable design:
To use the fitting, you slide the cap onto a hose, fit the hose over the tube and under the teeth of the fitting, and push the hose and fitting together as far as they go; then screw the cap onto the fitting, which compresses the teeth and keeps the fitting and hose together. Repeat for the other side, and you're done.
By the way, the threads on the cap and fitting are not garden hose threads. Outside the threads of a male GHT, I measure one and one sixteenth; on the Ace fitting, about one and three eighths.
Oh, and I noticed that the fittings as received had the caps only loosely screwed on. That's probably so the teeth aren't already compressed the first time you use the fitting, and you can fit the hose in.
//
That opening in the cap, that the hose goes thru: just about an inch. That means a 5/8" hose will fit thru it even if the hose wall is 3/16" thick. But a 3/4" hose won't go thru if the wall is more than 1/8". Won't slip thru, anyhow.
Real-world conditions often override dimensional estimates. You may have no trouble getting a fat 3/4" hose thru the hole in the cap. I may not, either, when the time comes. For now, I'm just looking at a tape measure and looking ahead.
I'd say the cap will fit easily on almost all 5/8" hoses; but there will be a lot of 3/4" hoses where the cap doesn't fit.
//
The flow tube that the hose fits on: I measure 5/8" OD and just under 1/2" ID. The OD allows a 5/8" hose (measuring 5/8" ID) to fit nicely. A 3/4" hose will fit loosely on the tube. To fit easily under the teeth, the hose OD wants to be about one and a sixteenth max, same dimension as the male hose thread OD.
The OD of the tube was not what I expected. I thought it would be somewhere between 5/8" and 3/4". An average of the two, perhaps. Nope. I expected the tube OD to be something over 5/8" for a snug fit. Dunk the end of the hose in hot water for a moment and it goes on easy, snug. Nope. So if the tube cannot be more than 5/8" OD, and the tube wall has to be a little over 1/16" then the tube ID comes out to less that half an inch. Say 1/32" less.
For a tube of that diameter, the cross section area is only a little more than half that of a 5/8" hose.
Q: Can I get a half inch hose onto that tube in the Ace fitting? I'll have to try the hot water trick. If the hose goes on, then my idea about bigger flow tubes could work.
What idea?
I don't have a caliper -- I'm not even sure if that word is okay without an "s" on the end -- just a tape measure. But I want to take some measurements anyway, crude as they will be. Maybe I'll get a caliper sometime and do this exercise over. Meanwhile ...
I'm looking at the mid-hose mender:
- the flow tube you slip the hoses onto,
- the threads that the caps screw onto, and
- the teeth that the caps compress when you tighten them, to hold the hoses in place.
The two caps are identical, far as I can tell, and the black piece symmetrical.
This photo of the disassembled Snip-n-Drip fitting shows a comparable design:
By the way, the threads on the cap and fitting are not garden hose threads. Outside the threads of a male GHT, I measure one and one sixteenth; on the Ace fitting, about one and three eighths.
Oh, and I noticed that the fittings as received had the caps only loosely screwed on. That's probably so the teeth aren't already compressed the first time you use the fitting, and you can fit the hose in.
//
That opening in the cap, that the hose goes thru: just about an inch. That means a 5/8" hose will fit thru it even if the hose wall is 3/16" thick. But a 3/4" hose won't go thru if the wall is more than 1/8". Won't slip thru, anyhow.
Real-world conditions often override dimensional estimates. You may have no trouble getting a fat 3/4" hose thru the hole in the cap. I may not, either, when the time comes. For now, I'm just looking at a tape measure and looking ahead.
I'd say the cap will fit easily on almost all 5/8" hoses; but there will be a lot of 3/4" hoses where the cap doesn't fit.
//
The flow tube that the hose fits on: I measure 5/8" OD and just under 1/2" ID. The OD allows a 5/8" hose (measuring 5/8" ID) to fit nicely. A 3/4" hose will fit loosely on the tube. To fit easily under the teeth, the hose OD wants to be about one and a sixteenth max, same dimension as the male hose thread OD.
The OD of the tube was not what I expected. I thought it would be somewhere between 5/8" and 3/4". An average of the two, perhaps. Nope. I expected the tube OD to be something over 5/8" for a snug fit. Dunk the end of the hose in hot water for a moment and it goes on easy, snug. Nope. So if the tube cannot be more than 5/8" OD, and the tube wall has to be a little over 1/16" then the tube ID comes out to less that half an inch. Say 1/32" less.
For a tube of that diameter, the cross section area is only a little more than half that of a 5/8" hose.
Q: Can I get a half inch hose onto that tube in the Ace fitting? I'll have to try the hot water trick. If the hose goes on, then my idea about bigger flow tubes could work.
What idea?
if the fitting is big enough that you have to force it into the hose, maybe it is big enough that it doesn't restrict the flow, and maybe the 5% pressure-loss problem would go away.That idea.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Hose Barb ponderings
At SME, under Garden Hose Fittings, a comparison of hose barb sizes:
I'm thinkin the fractions are the nominal size, and the decimals are the actual OD. For the half-inch barb, for example, the OD is .03 bigger than half an inch, about 1/32 of an inch bigger. So the ID must be less than half an inch, or the piece would have essentially no thickness.
I want to know the IDs.
In particular, a lot of "hose mender" fittings are sold as suitable for either 5/8" or 3/4" hose. Those fittings must be tighter on the 5/8" hose than on the 3/4". So, how big is the fitting relative to the hose ID? How big is the fitting ID? And does anybody make a "bigger" fitting for each size hose? Because if the fitting is big enough that you have to force it into the hose, maybe it is big enough that it doesn't restrict the flow, and maybe the 5% pressure-loss problem would go away.
If the fitting is tight, soaking the end of the hose in hot water for a few seconds will soften it up and the fitting will go in easier.
But apparently they don't make oversize fittings, as the pressure-loss problem hasn't gone away.
Could be the problem is different that I think. Could be the pressure loss results from a disruption of the smoothness of the inside of the hose, and not from the smaller diameter of the fitting. Could be both these factors. If so, then using fittings with a larger diameter would likely reduce the 5% number, meaning less pressure loss from the fittings. That would be an improvement.
All of this is just a guess, at this point.
 |
| Source: SME Industrial Company, Ltd. |
I'm thinkin the fractions are the nominal size, and the decimals are the actual OD. For the half-inch barb, for example, the OD is .03 bigger than half an inch, about 1/32 of an inch bigger. So the ID must be less than half an inch, or the piece would have essentially no thickness.
I want to know the IDs.
In particular, a lot of "hose mender" fittings are sold as suitable for either 5/8" or 3/4" hose. Those fittings must be tighter on the 5/8" hose than on the 3/4". So, how big is the fitting relative to the hose ID? How big is the fitting ID? And does anybody make a "bigger" fitting for each size hose? Because if the fitting is big enough that you have to force it into the hose, maybe it is big enough that it doesn't restrict the flow, and maybe the 5% pressure-loss problem would go away.
If the fitting is tight, soaking the end of the hose in hot water for a few seconds will soften it up and the fitting will go in easier.
But apparently they don't make oversize fittings, as the pressure-loss problem hasn't gone away.
Could be the problem is different that I think. Could be the pressure loss results from a disruption of the smoothness of the inside of the hose, and not from the smaller diameter of the fitting. Could be both these factors. If so, then using fittings with a larger diameter would likely reduce the 5% number, meaning less pressure loss from the fittings. That would be an improvement.
All of this is just a guess, at this point.
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