By Nanci Dixon
We love quick connector hose fittings. I use them everywhere we have a hose going anywhere… one on the water faucet pressure valve, one on the hose going to and from the water filters, another on the water softener, one on the flush hose and even on the water sprayer!
We travel a lot in the RV and if we have a park water hookup we will usually connect to water. Quick connectors make it so much quicker… except when they don’t. And when they don’t, they leak. Having RV’d for so many years, we seem to have acquired a collection. A collection of different brands, different sizes and different materials. Mixing and matching does not work on hose connectors!
We have been through plastic ones and they last, if we’re lucky, for just one season. Aluminum lasts a little longer but are easily bent and eventually leak, too. My husband was truly tired of trying to stop large leaks and tiny drip, drip, drips when connecting the water, filters and softener.
I bit the proverbial bullet and bought two full sets of SHOWNEW garden hose quick connectors. One female and one male set. I wanted solid brass, no plastic, lead or aluminum ones, and wanted all the same brand. I looked at dozens of connectors and purchased these SHOWNEW quick-release garden hose connectors from Amazon. [NOTE: These are not for drinking water.]
Hose quick connectors
I checked the connection before installation and they inserted easily and held securely. They also disconnected easily. No tugging or twisting to disengage.
We installed them on all the hoses and then turned on the water again for a true test. Wait, not even a drip. Turned the water off and on again, not quite believing all the connections were drip-free.
Drip-free! Yippee!
Went back and checked in the morning. They were still drip- and leak-free.
Out with the old
Success! Only one thing left to do—reluctantly toss out the old, worn, mismatched hose connectors. Why in the world didn’t I change them up sooner?
Again, these were the ones I bought. [Not approved for drinking water.]
These are approved for drinking water usage.
##RVDT2411
The brass ones will need the o-rings replaced every year or two, also available on Amazon. That’s what I use. However some hoses use aluminum fittings. If you put brass quick connects on them they will corrode and become unremovable.
Due to the high Temps where I store my RV, and hoses, I put Vaseline on the o-rings. We carry bottled water for drinking because my wife doesn’t believe my dual canister water filter effectively filters campground water enough to drink.
Have been using these for years. Brass ones are best. On my hose ends, I add Teflon tape. I also use the J.R. Wright connector. Its large diameter makes connecting the hose easier and more secure.
Brass fitting set is also available at Aldi’s occasionally.
#1 – many brass quick connectors contain lead, VERIFY yours are rated for potable water!
#2 – quick connectors are narrower than your hose. If water volume (as opposed to pressure) is too low, it will generally be better without quick connectors in the line.
#3 – most leaks can be fixed with a little food grade silicon grease on the rubber pieces.
And tight old-fashioned hose clamps.
I agree. Quick connects also double as an orifice. While pressure will equalize across the orifice in a no-flow condition, once flow is initiated pressure will decrease on the receiving side. I have improved my application of teflon tape to stop drips. As recommended by RVT, I have found that by not taping the entire threaded end of a hose but leaving the first few threads bare, I have fewer/no leaks.
I have been using the aluminum type for years but recently have not been happy with them. Every time I hook them up or off/on, I get drips. I hate drips so I spend hours trying to get them to stop. Washers, new fittings, add lubricant, etc. I do hope the one’s recommended here will do the trick and stop the drips. I’m willing to give it a chance. As also suggested by others, teflon tape should be used on the threads if the metals are different so they don’t have a reaction with each other. Thank you for the tip!
I used Teflon tape on every threaded connection I have. Get the blue kind. It’s superior to the white and yellow kind. The blue can be used on water and natural gas fittings. I even use it on the water filter canister threads.
I switched to good quality brass quick connectors a couple of years ago. Not sure why I didn’t do it sooner as it is so quick, easy, and drip free! Now if the industry only made better water filter fittings!
For convenience, attach a hose bib permanently to the black tank spray inlet. Put a garden hose gallon meter on the male end of spray hose using an adapter/connector to the male end of your hose. Add 2 way hose splitter with QCs your pressure regulator. Now hook up your potable water hose to the splitter and RV water inlet. When you want to flush your black tank, turn off water to RV, and hook spray hose, meter end, to hose bib and other end to the splitter. Good idea to have back flow preventer permanently on the spray side of the splitter. Now you can regulate the amount of water used and not have to guess and run back and forth to park faucet. Use brass and QCs everywhere possible
Thank you, Nanci! 🙂 I think that you wrote of quick connectors in the past. Whoever did so caused me to buy brass ones from Amazon and we have used them for the last 4 or 5 years. We typically do not run on city water. Instead, I put an amount of water into the fresh water tank that seems appropriate for our planned trip plus another 10 gallons as a kind of insurance against the unexpected. We then use the water pump. It seems to give us better water pressure when showering. Thanks again, have a great week, and SAFE travels! 🙂
We have had brass quick connects for years, but rarely use them because, even with thread tape and silicone grease, the water faucet itself often leaks. Once, when snowbirding, we completely filled the fresh tank in our fifth wheel and pulled in the slides due to a forecast of 50-mph crosswinds. The lowered center of gravity definitely helped our stability and we now had a tank of fresh water. A few days later, a city maintenance crew dug through a water main, filling it with dirt, then shut off all city water to the park for 3 days. We disconnected the hose and switched on the pump, while neighbors had to buy drinking water and forget showering. Now I just carry a spare pump.
Thank you, Steve H! 🙂 We usually travel with 20-25 gallons of freshwater if the campground offers water at our reserved site. When we arrive, I usually connect to water and add approximately the amount of water we anticipate using during our stay. We then use the water pump and usually prefer its pressure over that of city water. Thanks again, Steve H! Safe travels and safe stays! 🙂
Depends on where you are. In some places in AZ the water is so bad that even those brass ones will get the white crusty deposits in the o-ring grooves and leak. Or get “welded” together from those deposits. I gave up on them.
a little coat of Vaseline on the threads keeps the “welding” from happening, Arizonan here!
I’ve been using these QD’s for a couple of years now. They are great. I have the water softener, dual canister water filters, the flush port, spray nozzle, and water pressure regulator. Hooking them all up is quick and easy now.
I love seeing the working pressure regulator dial. I have been through 3 of these and the dials seem to stop working after a year or less. Any way to fix?
First always keep the gauge in an upright position. They contain about a 1/4 inch of light oil in them. If that is lost you can refill it by removing the rubber cap on top. They operate using a bourdon tube that expands (unfolds) as pressure is exerted. The hand you see on the gauge is mechanically attached to that tube. If the tube develops a hole, it’s toast.
Bruce, I just went through a similar experience that might help you in the future. My regulator gauge also quit working, but it’s screwed onto the regulator body so I thought I’d just purchase a new gauge. What I discovered (after I took it apart) was that the bottom of the gauge has a really tiny hole that didn’t look right. I used a pocket knife to scrape it off, and just like that it worked perfectly again.