# garden hose water spillage questions



## mcvane (Mar 19, 2007)

Hi All.

I don't know if the title explains this, but I have had this frustrating problem. We have 2 water taps for the outside watering. One is in the back yard, where it's not a significant issue (but still annoying). One tap is in the garage (which is really annoying).

Basically, I have setup one of those winding wheel hose units that you wind and store the hoses away for storage.

What happens though is there is a leakage when I start watering the lawn and it's at the point where the hose meets the reel. The washers are in place (I think correctly) and it's just frustrating. The sprayer I have is sort of an advanced one where you can adjusting mists and so on. However, when I finish my watering, I turn off the water and as soon as I start reeling the hose in, there is a water backup that leaks where the hose meets the tap. It almost floods my garage and makes a mess.

Anyways, before I installed this wheel reel, I used to wind it around this post manually. But I had to bring the hose to a bucket so that as I wound, the water left in the hose wouldn't run.

This is a long explanation, but I'm unsure how else to explain it. Basically:

1) Why is the hose end at the tap always leaking/spilling after I shut off the water
2) Why is the hose part that links with the hose reel leak (it is quite tight)

3) Does this tend to happen if you have funky hose head that mists, etc

4) What is the proper way to put on a washer?

Any help would be appreciated.

P.S. I've visually observed the hose for holes...there are none.


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## SecretSquirrel (Jun 22, 2007)

There's a couple of possiblities;


There remains pressure on the hose after you cut it off.
The elevation of the hose reel is lower than the delivery end of the hose and gravity is forcing the water back to the spigot.
What I do after turning off the spigot is disconnect whatever is on the delivery end of the hose, make sure that it is lower in elevation than the supply, then vent the hose by loosening the connector at the spigot. Gravity should siphon out the remaining water and keep it from backing up on you as you reel it in.


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## mcvane (Mar 19, 2007)

Thanks for the reply.

I think I know what you mean. There is still pressure / water in the hose when I cut off the water, when I reel it in, there is a backslash...

Isn't there a way that this can be prevented? I mean, I wouldn't mind it if the end of the hose (the delivery part where the nozzle is) lets out all the water as I reel it in, but instead it goes the opposite way to the where the on/off faucet is.

I am not going to do anything like weld it on!

Thanks though for your help!


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## tribe_fan (May 18, 2006)

Look closely to see if it is leaking to the washer, but I'm guessing the end of the hose needs to be replaced. You can buy replacement ends really cheap. A knife, screwdriver and a cup of hot water is all you need.


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## ron schenker (Jan 15, 2006)

Did you tighten the hose onto the tap real tight, you need a pair of channel lock pliers to get it good and snug.


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## Jeekinz (Jan 29, 2007)

omg


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

Take a close look at your hose reel. There are black rubber O-rings that allow rotation and frequently they go bad and the leak. The water could actually be coming from there.


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## mcvane (Mar 19, 2007)

On All ends, I did tighten the hose ends very tight, but not with any wrench or tools. Last year I replaced the rubber washers inside to see if it would make a difference...and in some instances it does. This is what seems to happen:

-If I get rid of the windy hose reel, there appears to be little or no backlash of the water in the hose that leaks at the tap end

-If I totally disconnect the hose head (i.e. the misty spray thing), the backlash of water doesn't appear to happen either

-If I was to disconnect the hose head and bring the bare watering end of the hose to a bucket close to the pipe and put it in there, I can either wind or wrap the hose around and basically a good amount of water will spill into this bucket.

Should I need to use a wrench to totally tighten the hose to the pipe? Isn't that a bit of overkill?

A few questions:

1) Is there a proper way to install the rubber washer things? Could I put it upside down by mistake?

2) Is there a rubber washer thing in the tap part too?

3) What is the purpose of buying a fancy misty spray or hose reel wheel if it causes more problems? I shouldn't have to do all these shannigans to prevent leaks from happening. Do you understand my frustration?

Thanks


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## KUIPORNG (Jan 11, 2006)

mcvane said:


> 1) Is there a proper way to install the rubber washer things? Could I put it upside down by mistake?
> 
> 2) Is there a rubber washer thing in the tap part too?


 
I got similar problem with mine, and I fixed mine, here is what I did:

the washer thing you mentioned is unfixable in my case... it basically structural damaged... doesn't matter you put more tape...tight it as hard as you could...etc. it still leaks....

how I fix it? I bought those new one with a ring where you tightened it up using a flat screw driver... and cut and replace that part... then everything work....

one more trick.... there is a part where the wheel hardware connecting to the water hose, I install a copper coupler in between so that I don't need to touch that magic plastic hardware all the time instead I touch the copper coupler and the water host... as that magic rotatinng switch is an expensive hard to find part to replace, I try not to touch it.... (you know, when you need to change a hose... you want to keep that plastic magic isolated)


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## Dusty (Aug 9, 2006)

I had a problem one year and the metal end (that screws into the spigot or nozzle) had to be replaced. No washers could help that. The problem was I was not letting the water out after I turned the hose off so when it got hot one day the hose or something swelled (someone told me it would have looked like a snake eating an egg if I had seen it happening) right by the metal end. I don't know if it bent the metal or what, but it was no good and I had to get a kit to fix it. That meant cutting the hose end off and putting a new metal part on. It basically clamped down and held tight and that stopped the drips.

My lesson learned was to turn off the spigot and keep the nozzle open until the pressure was out of the hose. There is still some water in it, but room to expand and contract. I imagine if you are winding that hose that is putting pressure on it too and that seal between hose and fitting could be loose now. So it's probably best to leave your nozzle off, or open while you are winding it up. The other lesson I've learned is never to drop the nozzle even on the lawn. I think it took me 3 or 4 nozzles to get that one through my head.

BTW I had one of those hose storage things and found it to be a total pain between making it work properly and hoses that ended up coiled and kinked. Much easier to just use one of the type you loosely loop the hose over manually.


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## HiFi (Jul 27, 2007)

The most obvious and possible reason is that there is still pressure remaining in the hose pipe causing the water to leak.U will have to check the connections


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