h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi
Give me a list of what you want to know about plumbing washing machines and I'll see if I can answer your questions - between us we might get an entry for the guide out of it(?)

I'm new to this too so a bit of mutual help might make things easier.

Nick

Hi Nick
Thanks for replying. I have a washing machine that is filled using a hose attached to the cold kitchen tap. Everything was OK until we had new taps fitted and the hose will not fit the new taps. I now have to use that tape that electricians use and wrap it round the hose{quite a lot of the stuff) to hold it on to the tap so as to fill the machine. I know the simple answer is to get a plumber to plumb in the machine but I wonder if he/she would have to go down to the cellar and that worries me as my computer sits above the trap door. (Bad planning!) Anyway, we are a bit hard up at the moment and I just wondered if it was a horribly complex procedure or if it was possible I might be able to do it myself. I would be so grateful for any advice. The machine in question is a Hoover "Soft Wave" Automatic 800.
Best wishes
Charlie

Hi Charlie

I forgot to ask what country you are in but it may be possible to solve this problem really easily(sort of). If you can reach the pipe feeding the present tap you can buy a DIY kit to fit another tap that will fit your hose, possibly without even turning off the main water suppley, in addition to the taps you have fitted.

Plumbing in a washing machine is really easy if you have a bit of common sense. If your machine has a red hose and a black hose then it is designed to be connected permantly to the pipe-work in your house, if it has a grey hose and is a top loader then it is designed to be filled by hose every time.

The proceedure to solve your problem is different in each case.

If you visit your local library you will find DIY manuals which describe this very clearly.

So step
1 decide which type of machine it is
2 look at your sink - can you see the pipework leading to your sink(look in the press under the sink, it has a false back, look behind that)?
3 can you see a gate valve (a fitting with a red knob on it in the middle of the pipe) that turns your water off to the sink [turn the red knob, count the turns, then try the water in your sink and turn the red knob the same amount of turns back]?
4 do you have a steel sink?
5 Call me again and we can go from there.

I'm in the republic of Ireland but our systems are quite similar to British systems, if you live somewhere else we can access the information we need.

The basic idea is to fit additional taps to the pipework to accomodate the needs of your machine.

Meantime try this - visit a really big garden/DIY shop and visit the hose section. There are fittings quite cheap to fit a hose to square or other shaped taps.

Plumbing is common sense. Dont cut pipes with water in them, it will fall out, turn the warter off first.
Dont cut a pipe unless your sure you have a fitting to fit.
If you do cut a copper or lead pipe and you dont have a fitting to fit bash the pipe flat with a hammer. Don't try that on plastic or steel pipes.
If you find steel or really small copper pipes leave them alone they could be gas or central heating.
If you get fittings for copper pipe be sure you know how to fit them, some need to be soldered, dont try that if you have never done it before.

Dont be put off, just gather the info you need and then decide if you want to try.

see you soon

Nick