YouAreNotMyPlumber: How to connect a washing machine

July 14, 2010 12:33 PM

daisyk and I have just moved into a spiffy new flat. Unfortunately, we can't figure out how to connect the washing machine drain. Our drain hose looks this. There is a passage from the washing machine cubby leading to the cupboard under the sink, clearly meant for the drain hose. However, in the cupboard, we only have this weird conical attachement. How do we mate the two without creating a mess?
posted by Zarkonnen to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

but in the middle of the photo, there's a horizontal off-shoot pipe that looks as if your hose should attach to that just fine. Doesn't it fit or screw tightly on to that?

(sorry- no technical terms here, I am so NOT a plumber)
posted by Eicats at 12:39 PM on July 14, 2010

If the mouth of the hose fits around the mouth of the drain, I'd try seeing if the hose fits *snugly* over or into the drain entry, and then securing the two with water-tight tape, like (good strong) duct tape, wrapping it around both parts a few times. Otherwise, print your pictures out and bring them to Home Depot (if one is nearby), or see if you can glean any identifying numbers, makes, or model from the hose, the washer, and the drainpipe, and bring those to Home Depot.

I am definitely not a plumber, though. My washer hose fits vertically into a standing-up drainpipe behind the waher; if I wanted, I could easily lift the hose out while it's draining the washer and use it to make a mess; there's nothing attaching the two in my system.
posted by not_on_display at 12:44 PM on July 14, 2010

Response by poster: To clarify: the thing in the middle of the photo has no holes. It's just a weirdly shaped cap. (And it's all one piece of plastic, I checked.)

@not_on_display: That's how the drain was plumbed in at our old place.
posted by Zarkonnen at 12:47 PM on July 14, 2010

Looking at the way you are holding the washer hose. it appears to be a standard hook-shaped hose intended to slip down into an open drain. It appears as though the previous user had a hose that directly connected to the connection under the cabinet. These are not compatible. What is that flex pipe that is coming down toward the back of the cabinet (behind the white PVC drain? Does it terminate in an opening above the cabinet or is it connected to something else?

I would not connect a washer drain to that little connection under the cabinet. You should have an air gap and a much larger inlet to accept water from the washer. Take a printout of the two photos you've shown us to your friendly neighborhood plumbing store and show them to the owner. He or she will be able to explain what you have and what you need to do.
posted by Old Geezer at 12:50 PM on July 14, 2010

First, you need to unscrew the conical thing completely. You'll probably find a plastic disc inside sealing the thing off. This needs to come out for obvious reasons.

Next, compare your rubber hose with the conical attachment. If it's push-on-able, you're nearly set. Just use a hacksaw to cut off the very end of the cone to open it up. If the hose is too wide, you may need to cut the cone further down, so that the big ring halfway down is the new end. Try the hose again.

Finally, attach your hose. There's usually a plastic U-shaped guide thing on the hose, which needs to be mounted on the wall of your cubpoard so that the U-shaped bit forms an 'n'. Unlike a horeshoe, doing this will not bring you bad luck. In fact, it will help to prevent water poured down the sink from flowing up the hose to the washing machine.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 12:54 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Amusingly amateur diagram of connection (with hook) here.

The cone is a spigot, by the way.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:00 PM on July 14, 2010

It looks, to me, like the hose should fit fairly snugly on the 'weirdly shaped cap', you could then secure it with an ordinary hose clamp. The reason it all one piece of plastic is that if it had a hole in it it would leak water when you ran water in the sink above. It's probably a 'knock-out', all you should have to do is put a screwdriver in the hole and give it a good solid whack with your palm and then finish breaking it out by hand and dispose of it.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:02 PM on July 14, 2010

Best answer: Sorry, but a hose clamp wouldn't be a good idea. This type of PVC spigot is a universally used piece of plumbing hardware in the UK. The rubber of the hose-end grips the ribbed end of the plastic spigot perfectly well. If you tighten a hose clamp round the hose and spigot you'll almost certainly squash the spigot and either break it or cause a leak.

Trust me. I've fitted half a dozen of these. I suspect plumbing for washing machines may be very different in the US.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:08 PM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, I don't think it'll be a knock-out. The material is PVC, not ABS, and so won't have the necessary brittleness. Better in this instance to cut the end off with a hacksaw or a carefully-wielded stanley knife. Or even a good bread knife if that's all you've got.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:10 PM on July 14, 2010

Response by poster: @Old Geezer The flex pipe connects to the sink overflow.

So as I understand it, the thing to do is to cut off the end of the conical thingy and screw on the drain hose?
posted by Zarkonnen at 1:15 PM on July 14, 2010

Response by poster: @le morte de bea arthur Unfortunately the pipe is slightly narrower than the end of the cone.
posted by Zarkonnen at 1:23 PM on July 14, 2010

screw on the drain hose?

You just need to shove it on there.
posted by ssg at 1:23 PM on July 14, 2010

Unfortunately the pipe is slightly narrower than the end of the cone.

'Slightly' should be ok if a good solid push/twist will get it onto the spigot. It should be a tight fit.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:34 PM on July 14, 2010