connecting water supply to new dishwasher

[Bill]

Hello. I'm trying to connect a flexible hose to a new Maytag dishwasher. One end of the hose is connected to the hot water supply and the other end is connected to one end of a 90 degree elbow. The other end of the elbow connects to the dishwasher water input connection.

I can connect the hose to the hot water supply and to the elbow. The problem is connecting the elbow to the dishwasher. There's about 0.5" of (male) threading on the elbow and about the same amount of (female) threading on the dishwasher connection.

I can turn the elbow into the dishwasher connection for about two revolutions of the elbow but after that, it gets really hard to turn the elbow any more (I'll break the dishwasher connection if I try to turn it any more). Two turns means the elbow threading is only about 0.25" into the dishwasher connection threading.

Since there's 0.5" of threading on both the elbow and the dishwasher connection, it would seem I should be able to turn the elbow further into the dishwasher connection threading. And with the elbow only 0.25" into the dishwasher connection, I'm afraid of water leaking there.

I thought that possibly the threading on the elbow was screwed up so I bought another one (they cost $3) but got the same result. I then thought that maybe the threading on the dishwasher was screwed up so I went to Home Depot where we got it. I explained the situation to the HD person and asked if I could try to turn the elbow I brought with me on one of the Maytag dishwashers there.

They let me do that but I got the same result. The two HD sales people didn't know the answer. They referred me to a place that sells parts to dishwashers but I couldn't get any answers there.

I called a few appliance repair places and left a message at each one. One guy called me back and said something about a compression something-or-other. He had an accent and was hard to understand him.

Does anybody know the answer to this? I emailed Maytag a few hours ago but don't expect to hear back until tomorrow (and I don't have a lot of confidence I'll get a satisfactory answer). I called customer service but that did no good.

Thanks in advance for any help provided.

Bill

[David Martel]

Bill,

A 1/4 " is plenty of connection. If the water isn't leaking you are done. Use pipe dope or teflon tape. Plumbing fittings are meant to get tighter as they go on.

Dave M.

[Sacramento Dave]

appliance man is talking about a compression fitting, the part of the ell sticking out it's a 3/8 compression fitting. On the nipple that is sticking out of the machine, put some pipe dope on it, put about 6 wraps of Teflon tape on it looking at it in a clockwise direction and the put dope on that. I also put dope on compression fittings . Now I like to use those flexible stainless steel lines. If you have a leak after all this at the nipple there is a product called x-pando (Try a plumbing Supply ) Be warned if it has to come apart then it's a bitch. But you should need this. When your done and there is no leaks leave the cover off put a piece of news paper under fitting let it sit for a day any wet spots would indicate a leak/ slow drip.

[Bill]

I just found it strange that there would be 1/2" of theading on both the elbow and dishwasher connection. And it just didn't look like it had gone on enough. But I guess that's the way it's supposed to work.

Thanks for your help.

Bill

[Bill]

"Sacramento Dave" wrote

Yep.

The

Why is that considered a compression fitting? I'm just screwing the male threading on the 90 degree elbow into the female threading on the dishwasher.

On the nipple that is sticking

I just put the white thread sealant (I assume that's the Teflon you speak of) on the elbow threading. "Pipe dope" plus Teflon plus pipe dope seems like overkill.

I don't have any compression fittings - just the elbow and the threaded input on the dishwasher.

Yeah that's what I'm using.

I'm assuming you meant "should not need this."

Thanks so much for the excellent information. I really appreciate.

Have a great one,

Bill