Designed exclusively for Delta faucets.
This hose is not 16” as the product description states. End-to-end, it is 19-1/8", and the white hose portion is 17”. This is the same hose as my original 1991 Delta sinks (Model 3543). Those old hoses are oozing a sticky green gel from the fittings (pictures attached), which runs down the hose. They do not leak water. I have no idea how long ago that started because they are pretty much hidden behind the sinks.
I sent pictures to Delta and they responded “The connections seal has worn out and the oozing sections are leaking. There are seals inside the compressed fittings, and once they start to go bad they will eventually start leaking. Our lifetime limited warranty did not start until 1995. There is no need for any thread or plumbers tape for the fitting. When they are tight they are water tight. Beveled fittings.”
Standard wrenches do not fit the nuts on the new hoses, so I measured them with a digital caliper. One end of the hose (spout end) has a 37/64” nut that rotates freely on the hose, and a 15 mm wrench will fit okay. The other end (faucet handle end) has a 17/32” stationary nut (=13.5 mm). A 14 mm wrench is the closest match, but it is not a good fit.
There is enough clearance under the sink for a wrench to loosen the spout nut first, but only 3.5” clearance to loosen the other end, which is adjacent to the soldered copper inlet pipe, preventing the jaws of a basin wrench from closing around the nut. After applying penetrating oil, I purchased a flexhead adjustable wrench, but the old hose nut is so thin (1/8”) that any wrench (even vise grips) will just grab hold of the attached fitting and rotate that instead of the nut. I finally sawed the old hose off with a mini hacksaw, leaving just the nut. There is not even enough clearance between the nut and the adjacent soldered copper pipe to insert a socket. I sawed a slot across the center of the nut, all the way through, with the mini hacksaw (which went quickly) so I could insert a wide screwdriver bit, and the nut turned pretty easily. Thankfully the shutoff valves under the sink work, so that sink was the only thing without a water supply for several days.
I purchased a Crowfoot set to use with my ratchet, and filed down one side of a 13 mm crowfoot because no one makes a 17/32” or 13.5 mm. The crowfoot is 3/8” thick, so I also used a Dremel to slice off 1/8” to match the new nut thickness. I used this modified crowfoot to remove and install the remaining three hoses (two sinks). The nut on the new hose is twice as thick (1/4”), which is certainly better, but should be as thick as the nut on the other end of the hose (3/8”) so a crowfoot or larger jaws can clamp onto it without contacting the fitting.
I still don’t understand what that green ooze is, or why the hoses are made with such odd sized nuts. Clearance is always an issue under sinks, but the manufacturer (Delta/Masco) should use standard size nuts to give the homeowner a fighting chance. The design of this sink model is also poor because the soldered pipe should face the spout so there is clearance to access the nut on the flexible hose.. Just Me. Wed Aug 28 2019
