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.

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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.