I need a replacement for a rubber faucet-to-hose adapter

February 24, 2015 3:34 PM

My ancient Kodak Photo Siphon needs a part, a rubber adapter to connect it to a kitchen faucet. I can't find a suitable part anywhere. This used to be something carried in every hardware store, but now I can't find anything even close to it, in stores or online.

Let me show you what it looks like in action, it's the orange thing on the faucet. Some of you might recall I did an elaborate experiment to prove that it is faster to thaw frozen food in a big sink full of cold water, rather than under running water, it looked like this.

But anyway. The collar broke and the whole adapter is unusuable. I have looked everywhere to find a replacement. And now this is getting serious because I have a photo project that is being delayed because my Kodak Siphon is not working so I cannot wash my prints properly.

Here's a pic of the broken adapter. Normally you would roll back the top of the collar until you got the diameter of faucetyou needed. Now that top part broke off and it won't hold on the faucet. The orange part is about 2.75 inches and the top is about 1.75 inches. It has a little tube on the bottom that is about 4/5 inch, it is hard plastic and inserts into rubber tubing with a hose clamp around it (sort of like you'd see hoses clamped on your car).

I remember replacing this before, it was a part you could get at any old hardware store. But I have searched and searched and found nothing in stores or online. And I can't use a screw on adapter, my faucets are too corroded and I have to take this thing on and off constantly.

So can anyone help me find this rubber nozzle adapter thing? My current photo project is totally dead without it.

posted by charlie don't surf to Shopping (26 answers total)

maybe try Swagelok?
posted by thelonius at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2015

I've seen something similar at an Ace Hardware store. Do you have one in your local area?

Also Amazon seems to have a selection if you search for "kitchen faucet adapter". A nice one is here. The other end is a regular garden hose connection. It might be easier to replace the adapter and the hose all at once since short garden hoses are easy to find too.
posted by Cog at 3:42 PM on February 24, 2015

Best answer: Here's a whole new one on sale on eBay.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 3:43 PM on February 24, 2015

How about this adapter which clamps down over the end of the faucet?
posted by zsazsa at 3:43 PM on February 24, 2015

Maybe this one - more like the rubber one you're looking for. Don't know about the other fitting on it, if it's what you want.
posted by BillMcMurdo at 3:47 PM on February 24, 2015

There's also this one.
posted by zsazsa at 3:55 PM on February 24, 2015

I googled 'hose adapter' and 'hose step reducer', and eventually found this adapter or this one. Maybe it could be modified.....
posted by TDIpod at 4:06 PM on February 24, 2015

Response by poster: Let me deal with all this stuff, most of which I have already considered.

maybe try Swagelok?

Good idea, I didn't find anything close. They are mostly industrial connectors.

I've seen something similar at an Ace Hardware store. Do you have one in your local area?

I am less than a block from an Ace Hardware. That's the first place I looked, they were stumped. I looked online. Nothing. If you can find this part, please write down the part number, and if possible, take a pic with your phone. If I can't order it locally, I might ask you to buy it for me, it might be the last of a discontinued item. I'm desperate.

Here's a whole new one on sale on eBay.

LOL $75. I have the whole rig, I just need the adapter, I'm trying to keep this reasonable, like under $5.

How about this adapter which clamps down over the end of the faucet?

I looked at the Claber, but it has multiple problems. It's expensive, the output connects to a garden hose so I'd need a bunch of other adapters, which will make it deeper than my sink, and it fits flush with the faucet which won't work due to accumulated lime and corrosion, I'll never get a good seal, and I cannot get the bubbler and filter off this faucet due to corrosion. I am trying not to turn this into a major project of replacing my faucets.

Maybe this one - more like the rubber one you're looking for. Don't know about the other fitting on it, if it's what you want.

Yeah, have seen that during my online searching, but it looks like it's designed for hose connectors with stripped threads. And the output is for a standard hose. But we're getting warmer. This might work, it's as close as I've seen but it's still a long shot.

There's also this one.

Yeah, I have used these quick-lock hose adapters, that's more for outdoor work, for people who are too lazy to screw and unscrew hoses. I need something that I can remove easily, the old rubber adapter was a quick friction fit.

I googled 'hose adapter' and 'hose step reducer', and eventually found this adapter or this one. Maybe it could be modified.....

I looked at those, they are absolutely perfect except for one thing: they are too large. They're designed to fit bathtub faucets, not kitchen faucets

Now you see what I'm up against? There are tons of products like this for outdoor hoses and stuff. But this is just a simple rubber gadget. I am trying to think of other types of suppliers too. I checked chemical lab suppliers, they do just the opposite, they make faucets with conical tips that you can just shove a piece of plastic tubing right on it.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:47 PM on February 24, 2015

It's not exactly the same thing, but have you searched for "faucet barb adapter"? Most of them are made for outdoor faucets or garden hoses, but a combination of the rubber water-bandit/water-thief and a hose to barbed fitting adapter may work for you.
posted by bradf at 5:03 PM on February 24, 2015

Response by poster: Hey on second thought, cog linked to this "quick fit" adapter. Does that look like it just clamps on, no threads required? Or does it look like it supplies a replacement screw-on faucet filter, with a knotch for the rubber clamp to grab on to? In the expanded diagram, I really only need the middle piece marked "PUSH" to attach to a faucet. That would be enough, if it really made a tight fit.
posted by charlie don't surf at 5:09 PM on February 24, 2015

In my Amazon link, you get everything in the 2nd photo. You'd use one or both of those brass things to replace whatever on the faucet right now, and then attach the two plastic things.
posted by Cog at 5:15 PM on February 24, 2015

Best answer: I get you're being picky (I would be too), but I use a Paterson Film Washer Hose that fits over the faucet with friction and the other end plugs into the film tank. I know you don't want to plug into a film tank, but could you combine this with your thing? (Some rubber cement or a connector from Home Depot to join the bottom half of your rubber tube that connect to your tray siphon to the upper half of the tube from the Paterson film washer hose?)
posted by Brian Puccio at 5:20 PM on February 24, 2015

Search for "shampoo sprayer" at Amazon. The first few items look simpler and closer to what you're looking for.
posted by Cog at 5:20 PM on February 24, 2015

Response by poster: Cog, I wouldn't need the bottom piece, that seems to be an adapter to garden hose diameter. If the middle piece (marked PUSH) snaps on and off, I could put my tubing over that and use a hose clamp. I don't know how I could find this out without buying one.

I'm not sure how this gadget works, but I'm going to see if I can find something like that at the Ace store, I'm heading there in a few minutes. I can walk there faster than I can drive.

Hey Brian, I searched all over B&H and I couldn't come up with a thing. But you had some of this stuff so you knew right where to look. My Kodak siphon is actually is intended for archival print washing, and indeed, Patterson makes a print washer with the same hose fittings. But this probably could be adapted well.

But I think we may be getting close to a solution. I did manage to get the faucet bubbler off, oh god is it corroded. Cog's quick adapter might work, and even the faucet barb would probably work since it's screwed on. But jeez, it just should not be this hard to get that original stupid part.

OK I am off to the hardware store before they close.
posted by charlie don't surf at 5:45 PM on February 24, 2015

Response by poster: No joy at Ace Hardware. Again.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:42 PM on February 24, 2015

This is a garden hose adapter, but it's the snap on kind. What if you didn't snap on the adapter.

Here's a handheld shower adapter that seems to be made for sinks and not tubs.

Since you got the aerator off, maybe this would work.

Here's an industrial adapter for filling buckets.
posted by okieangel at 9:12 PM on February 24, 2015

Response by poster: The handheld shower gadget for $5 is looking like a better choice, since I can afford to blow $5 if it works poorly. I will have to revisit the hardware store, they have a little card with various size of holes in it, you drop your aerator in and see what diameter it is. Mine certainly doesn't seem to conform to any measurement. But then, look at it. Ick.

It looks like I will have to get accurate diameters and see exactly what fits what, so maybe one of these threaded snap on adapters will fit. Looks like a trip to the hardware store.. except I'm going across town to the plumber's wholesale supply shop, maybe they will like a challenge from outside the trade.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:31 PM on February 24, 2015

Submerge your aerator in some vinegar for 24 hours, then pick at it, it will have cleaned up substantially. You can repeat for the remaining. May also work with CLR, though not sure about soaking times.
posted by defcom1 at 7:57 AM on February 25, 2015

Response by poster: I went to another hardware store, I looked at a replacement aerator, $7. I'm going to call the landlord and ask him if I can buy one and take it off the rent. That's more than 1% of my total rent. I hate being nickeled and dimed. But they didn't have any of the other stuff I was looking for.

It occurred to me, with the aerator off, maybe I could get the broken adapter to work. I tried it. Nope, the rubber is too deteriorated.
posted by charlie don't surf at 11:52 AM on February 25, 2015

There's an old-timey hardware store in my neighborhood that has stuff like this. Problem is they close at 4pm. I'll try to get down there on my lunch tomorrow and show them your pictures.
posted by slogger at 1:52 PM on February 25, 2015

Response by poster: Hey I would really appreciate that, slogger. If you can find something close enough, I would be overjoyed, especially if it was cheap.

The scale is difficult to judge in the pic, but it should be easy to see if it would attach to a kitchen faucet. The output tube looks about 3/8 inch, I can stick a pencil in it and wiggle it around a bit.

I am trying to do some developing without my siphon and it is just not working. I had water spilling and splashing and I ruined a print already.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:04 PM on February 25, 2015

So I talked to my old-timey hardware store, and unfortunately they do not have the part in question. They did recommend going to an appliance store. Have you tried that? Once they mentioned that, I remember seeing such an adapter on my grandmother's washing machine that she used to hook up to her sink.
posted by slogger at 7:32 AM on February 26, 2015

Another thing you could try is a threaded adapter into your kitchen faucet connected to a thread-to-barb fitting that would connect to your hose.

Something like this would screw into your faucet where the aerator is, then you could connect that to a female 3/4" fitting that steps down to a 3/8" barb, which you could probably find here at McMaster.
posted by slogger at 7:43 AM on February 26, 2015

Response by poster: I was thinking Brian's suggestion of the Paterson film washer hose is the best solution, then I read some of the reviews:

Required some home depot adapters to use with standard kitchen/bathroom sink. I got a long tipped aerator for the kitchen/bathroom faucet that plugs down into the rubber end.

And

May require a longer faucet spout than is standard on your faucet.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Paterson's attachment is basically the same design everyone uses. Now it's obvious why the old-style conical adapter is such a good design, and why I'm looking everywhere for one. Why the hell don't they make it anymore?

I'll take one last crack at this, I'll check a couple of appliance stores. Hey come to think of it, there is one remaining photography shop here that sells developing equipment, why didn't I think of that earlier? Maybe they will have something.
posted by charlie don't surf at 10:20 AM on February 26, 2015

Response by poster: Problem solved. I can't believe it. I will give credit to Ruthless Bunny.

I figured it would be hard to do better than Brian's recommendation of the $14 Paterson film washer hose from B&H photo. But it was still worth a shot, a replacement adapter really should cost around $5.

So I went to the local photo store, they still sell film developing equipment. They had the Paterson developing tanks, but they didn't have the hose. I asked the clerk about it, I showed him the broken adapter. He said hang on, he'll look in the back.

He came back with a used Kodak siphon. The whole thing. He set it on the counter and water ran out of it, LOL. The store owner (an old friend) came out and said, "what's it worth to you, twenty bucks?" I said I was really hoping to keep it around $5 just for the rubber adapter, how about $10. He gave a little scowl, so I looked in my wallet, I said I have $14 cash, how would that work? Sold.

I appreciate you guys helping out. I was thinking hardware stores, we were all thinking hardware, until Brian recommended a photo store. Ultimately I got to spend my money with a local business, for the same money I was prepared to spend online (and way less than the $75 siphon on eBay). I should have thought of them first. Sometimes it does not pay to be so ingenious and fix old hardware.

Hey, come to think of it, that photo store was where I bought the Kodak siphon in the first place, probably 40 years ago. I am an idiot.
posted by charlie don't surf at 2:50 PM on February 26, 2015

Response by poster: Final plot twist: the used siphon tubing was full of mold. I could not clean it out. I pulled off the rubber adapter and stuck it on my siphon. ROFL.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:43 PM on February 26, 2015