Plumbing in two washing machines (again! sorry!)

[Mark Hewitt]

So I've got a Y-piece connection which I connected to the stand pipe, what I thought was securely, and then I have two hoses going off from that.

trouble is that the base of the Y-piece just will not make a water tight fit with the stand, no matter what I do, it still moves around. However if I connect a hose directly to the stand, it causes no problems at all.

So what I would like to do is leave the present hose connected to the stand pipe as I know that works reliably, and then split the water supply further down the line by somehow connecting the the other two hoses two it.

So coming out of the stand pipe you have one hose and then it goes into a connector of some sort which splits into two hoses.

Trouble is what can I use for a connector? A Y-piece with all three sides the same would probably do the job, but I can't find one of these.

Anyone got any bright ideas, I've flooded the kitchen too many times already :)

Mark

[Rick]

Why don't you forget the "Y' stuff, and alter the fixed copper piping so that it has two connctors. You can aither do this with joins and pipes and stuff, or use one of those clamp on washing machine adaptors. Fot these you find a bit of bare pipe, and clamp them on, They cut a hole in the pipe and seal it.

Rick

[Jonathan Pearson]

you need a male to male 3/4' BSP adaptor - wickes & B&Q warehouse have them - around £1 each, its better if you take the hose n y piece with you, and show they guy in the shop of what you want to conect to what

Jon

[Jonathan Pearson]

......... part no 11267 at

but wickes B&Q have them Jon

[Mark Hewitt]

Excuse my extreme ignorance.. What is a BSP adapter? Screwing things together is about my limit unfortunately.. and recent experience suggests it's probably beyond my limit :-\

[david lang]

Hi Mark

I think Rick is spot on. If you are having that much trouble with the 'Y' piece forget it and start again.

[Mark Hewitt]

that I mean can an idiot like me still manage to put something together iwth them without everything leaking? :)

So to connect my hoses together could I get a 15mm x 3/4" value like this

put a short piece of pipe on the end of it (just pushes in?) and connect it to an equal tee and then at each end of the tee put on two more adapters I can then connect my hoses to?

And if this is sensible is there anything else I would need apart from three adapaters, a tee and some piping that I can cut?

[Mr Fizzion]

BSP = British Standard Pipe. It's the threaded connectors that BSP refers to. Normally 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch though other sizes exist. Washing machine connectors are 3/4 inch BSP. The thing that sticks out the floor is 3/4 inch BSP male and the washing machine hose is 3/4 inch BSP female.

How about you do some pushfit plumbing? That's even easier than screwing things together. Look here for inspiration:

F.

[david lang]

Pretty much. Have a look at

[zikkimalambo]

The OP wrote.....

That he couldn't get the tail of the Y to seal.

One thought that no one has voiced is does the OP know he should be using a rubber washer between the existing outlet and the Y piece?

If not, that should fix the problem.

If so, then it's time to fit an extra connector to the fixed piping.

[Set Square]

YES - but not idiot-proof!

I doubt it! I cannot believe that, if you followed the advice given, you

*still* haven't made the existing setup leakproof. So we're obviously starting from a different base from most people who frequent this NG!

[Pete C]

Hi,

First thing is, does the 'Y' connector have a rubber washer in the bit that screws onto the standpipe?

If not and it does seal OK with one it might be better to use the 'Y' thing with an extra hose and an inlet connector eg:

so you can put the Y thing safely out of the way where it won't get stressed or damaged in any way.

Or I believe a 22mm compression tee:

has 3/4 BSP threads on it, if so you could use one instead of the inlet connector and 'Y'. You might have to sand the end of the threaded parts using some fine sandpaper on a flat surface to give a good seal onto the hose ends though.

If you're worried about the hoses leaking or getting damaged you can get steel flexibles with 3/4 at each end in different lengths (see part no 8109 and similar):

I'd tend to go for an extra hose and 22mm compression tee as they are widely available bits.

cheers, Pete.

[Mark Hewitt]

I doubt it too. I blame the equipment ;-)

[Mark Hewitt]

PS. I've ordered a load of push fit stuff, I'll post another thread after my inevitable failure!

[Set Square]

OK - well here's a few basic tips for using copper pushfit fittings - presumably with copper pipe.

The basic principle is that the fittings use a rubber (or probably neoprene) O-ring for the seal, and a gripper ring (like a star washer) to hold the pipe in place. The end of the pipe must be smooth, and clean, and it must be pushed in fully. I will deal with each of these in turn:

SMOOTH: Cut the pipe with a proper pipe cutter with a cutting wheel - *not* with a hacksaw. A pipe cutter will give a square cut and a smooth surface with a slight taper right at the end - just what you want. A hacksaw will give a snaggly end which will damage the O-ring and cause a leak.

CLEAN: Give the last inch or two of the pipe a wipe with some wire wool - until it shines - then wipe it with kitchen roll.

INSERTION: Note how far the pipe needs to go into the fitting (there is usually a mark on the fitting). Make a pencil mark on the pipe the appropriate distance from the end. Push the pipe squarely and firmly into the fitting until you can only just see the pencil mark.

That's all there is to it! Good luck!