Leaking hose fitting problem

[John Mayson]

I'm at my wit's end on this one. I don't remember this ever being a problem until recently.

Where ever I have a hose connection, it leaks like a sieve. And by leaks I mean it sprays a narrow jet of water 10 feet. It happens where my hose meets my faucet and the other end of my hose regardless of what it's attached to. It happens with my leader hose to my hose reel. It happens with my timer. It happens with all sprinklers and hand sprayers. I have replaced the washers. In fact I have replaced everything except the faucets themselves. But since this problem occurs from one end to the other I don't think the faucet themselves are bad. Something else is wrong.

Is there anything I can do to eliminate this problem? The person at the local home improvement store didn't seem to understand my problem and thought my hose had a hole or tear in it. That's not the problem. Let me know if I'm not being descriptive enough.

Thanks, John

[David Hare-Scott]

I don't understand the problem either. What kind of hose connection do you use? Where exactly does the water come out?

A guess (only a guess at this point) is that you are using a plastic snap fitting system and the O rings have come off the male ends of the fittings.

David

[hubops]

I was going to suggest it might be a bad batch / incorrect / very old washers .... but it would probably be obvious if that was the problem - as soon as you removed the connection & double-checked the washer. ... good luck. John T.

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[Frank]

Sometimes I have to make sure a new washer is completely seated and might have to tighten with pliers but that usually solves problem. On one, I did have to replace the hose end as they can sometimes fail (crack?).

[John McGaw]

Identical problem with more than one faucet? If so then you have either a disastrous coincidence or the items you are attaching are damaged or defective or misapplied.

To use a question I always seem to end up using when troubleshooting computer problems: You say that there was no problem 'until recently'. What happened immediately before 'recently'? Something clearly changed whether it was intentional or not and knowing what changed will probably answer your original question.

[Brooklyn1]

You're obviously left handed. I've yet to meet a lefty who has mechanical ability. Did you know that there are no left handed machine tools, not even sewing machines, and for very good reason. Even keyboards are made for righties. Lefties can barely write legibly, not even their own name. Ask a right handed friend to attach all your hose fittings, they won't leak... I'm not kidding.

[John Mayson]

I bought yet another bag of washers. Same problem.

I never had this problem until recently. And like I said before I honestly replaced every single hose and the problem persists.

John

[John Mayson]

Two faucets and every single sprinkler, hand sprayer, "Y" connector, timer, etc. does the same exact thing. Even when my wife attaches something the same thing happens. So if I'm doing something horribly wrong we're both doing it. I've been a home owner for over 15 years and have never had trouble like this.

First it was drips. Then it was leaks. Then it was the spraying. I replaced the washers. No change. I replaced the hoses and accessories. No change. I've tried washers from both Home Depot and Lowe's. No difference (other than the color of the washers).

[John Mayson]

I am right handed. :-)

[Brooklyn1]

Well, then you're afflicted with Klutzitis. LOL Ask a neighbor to make the attachments to see what happens.

[David Hare-Scott]

You still haven't said exactly where the water comes out or what kind of connections you are using.

D

[FarmI]

No, he hasn't answered that but I suspect he's not using 'click clack' type fittings. If he was then the problem would be easily fixed. I've found them to be the best thing since the invention of the flush toilet. With the 'click clacks', I've found that it's either minor operator error or a tiny part (washer or 'O' ring) needs replacing. As a gardener, I love those fittings.

[songbird]

John Mayson wrote: ...

not tight enough.

songbird

[Brooklyn1]

You talking garden hose or OB-GYN?

When hose fittings are clean (no grit), not distorted, and washers are supple then hand tightening is all that should be used... tightening with pliers destroys the fittings. And cheapo bargain basement hoses have distorted fittings right out of the box.

[John Mayson]

I thought I had.

It comes out where the hose connects to whatever accessory I'm using and where the hose connects to the faucet. It's the standard connections included with such items.

It's never a slow drip. It's a high pressure stream that shoots quite a distance. A slow drip I could live with.

[John Mayson]

Which raises another question. I don't exactly have to force these washers in. In fact they could be a little bigger. They have a slightly less diameter than the inside of the (whatever I've attached to the hose). Am I buying the wrong washers? So far I've seen Home Depot and Lowe's sells a grand total of one type each so I don't have much of a choice. Today I'm going to an actual, real hardware store. They might have more of a selection.

John

[John Mayson]

No comment. ;-)

I've thought of all of that.

As I said a moment ago, I'm going to visit a real locally-owned hardware store. Hopefully the old-timers who work there will know more than the 23 year-old whose probably doesn't even own a hose.

John

[Brooklyn1]

Go to a large plant nursery that sells gardening supplies... bring your hose and hose nozzle and have them fit a proper washer. I like the molded silicone washers the ones with tiny tabs on the perimeter that help center them, the stamped washers are typically old, dried out and brittle. And bargain basement hoses almost always leak at the fittings. Check your hose bib for nicks at the face of the threaded portion, you can smooth the face with a piece of emery wrapped on a wood block, do the same with the male hose ends. People bump those hose bibs with a lawnmower, etc. and drop the hoses so the fitting strikes a stone/pavement and nicks... doesn't take much to damage that soft brass and with cheapo hoses it's thin formed crap, not machined castings.

[John Mayson]

Okay, I give up.

I got the same confused look at this hardware store. They had an assortment of washers and he sent me home with ones larger and more pliable than what I had before. I went home during lunch and tried them. No change.

Thanks all for the help, but I really give up.

[John Mayson]

That's not a bad idea. Maybe once I had identified the correct washer I can buy a few and they'll work elsewhere.

I understand about the nicks and dings and such. But when it happened with a hose that went directly from my car to giving me the same shooting stream of water I decided it probably wasn't my hose.

Could there be something goofy with my water pressure? I haven't noticed any changes.

John