hose repair fittings

I was looking at the Snip-n-Drip Soaker Hose System this morning. They encourage you to cut lengths of regular hose and soaker hose and splice em together as needed to optimize your water use. I grabbed this picture from their site:

I read a bunch of reviews. The soaker hose itself gets a lot of criticism for leaking (oh, irony) but the system is generally well liked. I like it. I haven't tried it, but I definitely like the idea of optimizing the layout.

Also, a lot of the reviews said it was an easy system to set up. So I got thinking the connectors must be good ones.

Screw-on connectors, as opposed to stainless steel hose clamps or the clam-style plastic clamps.

Interesting. But in the reviews I was reading, people were saying "store bought hose doesn't always fit the connectors" and it "does not work with one from the store" and like that. Granted, one guy said "I still use the connectors, but go to my hardware store for their 'off the shelf' soaker hose" and he didn't seem to have the compatibility problems. So now I don't know if there's a fitup mismatch or not. But I'm wary.

I can get six of those connectors (six, as the picture shows) for ten bucks: Less than $2 each. That's a good price, if I can use em. Maybe I'll risk it.
// EDIT 26 Oct 2018: Ten bucks (actually $9.95) plus shipping. I always forget shipping. Looks like "Economy Shipping and Delivery Charges" would be $8.50 for an order of $20 or less. So... $9.95 for the fittings plus $8.50 shipping... $18.45 for the six fittings... that comes to $3.08 apiece. A little less of a bargain than I first thought.

Meanwhile I went looking for similar screw-on fittings from other suppliers. I found a nice looking brass one at Amazon:

For ten dollars apiece. No no no no. It's only good for half-inch hose. Pretty, though.

I found a plastic one, looks like a female hose end repair fitting

But no male mate.

Speaking of plastic, I wonder how long the white plastic dentures on that brass fitting would last. I've broken way too many plastic connectors. I like the barbed brass insert fittings, with an ss hose clamp. But the eye does wander.

//

Gilmour has one: a Medium Duty Compression Repair fitting. For five and change apiece. "Metal body and collar," it says. And they have em for 3/4" hoses, 5/8 and 3/4. That's a plus.

//

I should get a 3D printer and make my own.

hose washers: tabs "up"

For a long time I thought garden hose washers were an unnecessary expense. Not that the washers were unnecessary, but that the expense must surely be.

Now I think garden hose washers are inexpensive, at least if you shop around, and, if not necessary, at least a brilliant solution to a problem. I want to throw them all away every winter and put new ones in all my hoses and fittings. Every year. I don't actually do that... but maybe this year I'll start.

Why did I change my tune? I don't remember exactly, but it has to do with threaded pipe. I was gonna make a pressure tank for my garden sprayer using 2-liter soda bottles and threaded PVC piping. But I read up on pipe threads and it seems they are designed to leak. You have to use something to prevent the leak. And I'm no good at that kind of work. So I thought: Why not just use garden hose fittings? And that's what I ended up doing.

Yeah, I remember. I made the decision to use hose fittings on my way home from Lowes, after buying threaded pipe fittings for the project. I returned 'em next day, the threaded fittings; Lowes took em back no problem. I didn't even have to explain that I was returning them because of my own foibles.

Anyway, when you buy hose washers, often they come with little tabs on 'em, like the ones pictured here:

Nobody ever told me this, and (as always) I could be wrong, but the tabs go "up". Turn the washer so that the tab side is near the inlet end of the fitting. Near to you as you peer into the fitting while putting the washer in.

Does it matter? I have no idea.

I read some comment on the internet where the guy was uncomfortable calling hose washers "washers" because he didn't want people to think they were metal washers. Good point. They're rubber, or something like rubber. They're squishy, more squishy or less depending which ones you buy. They're squishy so they can prevent a leak when you hand-tighten the connection.

Speaking of hand-tightening, lately I've been holding the fitting with a wrench and holding the hose in my hand when I make a connection. I think my connections are tighter than I could get them just by hand. But my hands are old: that's why I need a wrench. You, yeah, your day will come.

The tabs go "up". How do I know? Because every time I buy something with a hose washer in it and I take out the washer and look at it, the tabs are up. That's how I know.

And what are they for, the tabs?

That picture above, that's from Amazon, of course. By Tatuo, it says. And the title of the page at Amazon is Tatuo 20 Pack Garden Hose Washers Rubber Washers Seals, Self Locking Tabs Keep Washer Firmly Set Inside Fittings for Garden Hose and Water Faucet.

It's self-explanatory.

SS Hose Clamp size chart

From DeLorean Auto Parts, Inc. via Google Images

Lowes has 'em by the number like that, but they don't have #6. My local True Value has the #6, but by size, not by the number.

I like #8 for a typical garden hose end repair. You get too much ss "tail" sticking past the screw if you use the one that comes with the fitting.

Down by the pond

Been thinkin about takin the unmowed area far side of our pond, and putting a pretty garden in front of it. Been thinkin about it for three years. A hedge of Japanese Maples, and in front of that a lawn of these kinda golden Spirea, the first of which came up autonomously (from seed). So, red and gold. Full across the entrance side of the unmowed area, except at the entrance path near the middle, just to the right of that rock that's too big to move. I think it would look real nice.

So I spent three years thinking about it, one year just thinking, one year taking cuttings which turned into half a dozen viable plants (reduced to three survivors after some rodent ate then down to the roots during the winter), and then 36 cuttings early this year and 36 more late this year. 30 of the first 36 survive, and maybe half of the second batch: It's too soon to tell.

Along the way I discovered that Japanese Maples tend to lose their "red" during the summer and, more importantly, one variety that does not (lose its color) is called "Inabe Shidare". Beautiful, beautiful, outstanding red. That's the one you want.

So I planted our new reds down by the pond, along with my Spirea, and mulched it all up nice with black mulch. This is the first time we're using mulch for mulch since the wife came home six years ago with a Honda Pilot full of black mulch, and we spent the afternoon spreading it, and the next morning it was, like, literally all gone, thanks to the wind we had overnight. And that was the last time she bought mulch, till now. We've been buying stone and using that for mulch. The lawn mower doesn't like it; neither does the guy who mows the lawn and writes this blog.

So anyway the wife came home recently with these gold, gold barberry bushes, Aurea they are called, and we planted them down there too. It's gonna be a pretty spot.

Remains to be seen

My Husqvarna garden tractor calls for a 5066 spark plug. The nearest I could find was a 5066K at Amazon, for six dollars apiece.

So I got a pair, along with air, oil, and fuel filters. Well, I got em because the tractor would suddenly stall out while I was using it. Two, three times it happened, in a month. Not a fluke, obviously. So I changed the plugs and the filters.

That was about four weeks ago, with 130 hours on the motor.

After I fixed it, it was hard to start.

Since I had the thing it always started easily, even with the engine speed lever down as low as it could go. But since I fixed it, I play with the throttle and try several times, cranking longer than I should, before it finally starts. After it starts, it is good for the day, but not as good as it was originally. Curse my luck... and curse my skill.

Yesterday (27 August) I went out looking for a new fuel filter. Found two guys that had one. Neither guy accepts credit cards. So I was at a loss. Got replacement plugs (Champion RC12YC, $2 apiece), got home, and changed the plugs. 187.5 hours on the motor. About 57 on the 5066K plugs.

If it is still hard-starting today, it's the fuel filter. If not, it was the plugs.

...

It's the fuel filter.

That works

The screw-on cap from an old 1-pint ArmorAll bottle (with spray capability) screws easily onto a one-liter Schweppes bottle.

What use this may be, I don't know. But it works.

One lever, two mistakes

I have one of those lawn tractors where the gas tank is under the seat. Flip the seat up and there's a lever that lets you switch from "primary" to "reserve". Two mistakes I've made:

1. Ran out of gas while mowing. Flipped the seat up and switched the lever to "reserve". Started the tractor again, drove to my gas can, filled up the tank, and forgot to switch the lever back to "primary". So the next time I ran out of gas, I was totally out. I had to walk back to get the can!

2. Same, except after I switched to "reserve" and headed for the gas can, I got distracted and totally forgot to put gas in the tractor. So the next time I used the tractor, I ran out of gas again, but it was way too soon: I just filled the thing, I thought. But I didn't.

So this is the mind you're dealing with, when you read my blog.