DANGER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Bad Plumbing

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We were replacing a faulty built in clothes washer with a new appliance for our client.

She gave us the history of the washer and the original installation.  The first installer had to come back thrice to repair a leaking drain hose. That was followed by a warranty repair a month later. But once the warranty repair was completed the washer was leaking again!

The repair person representing the manufacturer wrapped the joint in duct or duck tape and legged it! Not a unique solution and certainly not very professional.

For the record, if you connect two rubber fittings together without a means to keep them from collapsing when the hose clamp is tightened as is the case with this and many others we have seen like this then you will get a leak when the pump starts running. As the back pressure in the hose increases the rubber to rubber seal can allow water to escape all over your nice floor.

The solution to the problem is easy. Make sure the two pieces of hose you are connecting have something solid to keep the soft rubber from collapsing as the clamp is tightened and equally as important, use the proper gasket seal to assemble the joint.

If you do it correctly it will never leak as is the case with the connection we left. No duct tape, no duck tape and no leaks.

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