How To: Set up your inlet hose or garden hose with quick disconnects
If you want to make setting up your pressure washer easier and less time-consuming, quick disconnects (or QDs) allow you to quickly connect and disconnect the hose to and from the pressure washer. No more twisting for minutes to get your inlet set up and no more leaks!
Here is how to set up your Inlet Hose or Garden Hose with QDs to connect to your pressure washer or your Hose Nozzle:
Hose bibb > Garden Hose QD Coupler > Garden Hose QD Plug > Inlet Hose or Garden Hose > Garden Hose QD Coupler > Garden Hose QD Plug > Pressure Washer Inlet* or Hose Nozzle/Sprayer
*Keep in mind that some pressure washers come with an inlet adapter that you will still need to use on the inlet of the pressure washer.
If you want to upgrade or need the adapter for the inlet of your pressure washer, you can get this piece: Brass Pressure Washer Inlet Adapter for Garden Hose
Fittings/Items Needed
We offer brass and stainless steel quick disconnects. Below are the links to the pieces listed above.
Brass QDs:
Female Coupler - BRASS GARDEN HOSE 3/4” FEMALE QUICK DISCONNECT COUPLER
Male Plug - BRASS GARDEN HOSE 3/4” MALE PLUG
Stainless Steel QDs:
Female Coupler - STAINLESS STEEL MTM GARDEN HOSE 3/4” FEMALE QUICK DISCONNECT COUPLER
Male Plug -STAINLESS STEEL MTM GARDEN HOSE 3/4” MALE PLUG
Hoses:
Garden and Inlet Hose Connections
Garden Hoses and their respective connections are really pretty easy. These connections use 3/4" GHT threading and have a consistent orientation: outlets are always male threaded, and inlets are always female threaded. This consistency helps you make sure things are setup correctly since there is only one way that something can connect.
Here's an example of a setup from the hose bibb, connected all the way to a pressure washer:
Hose Bibb + 3/4" Female Garden Hose Coupler > 3/4" Male Garden Hose Plug + Inlet Hose Female End > Inlet Hose Male End + 3/4" Female Garden Hose Coupler > 3/4" Male Garden Hose Plug + Pressure Washer Female Inlet
Notice that every point where water is flowing out is male threaded with a female threaded coupler attached. And water is always flowing into a male threaded plug that is attached to the female threads of the next connection point. This system will always stay consistent unless there is an unusual setup.
Sometimes our clients find that their pressure washer has 3/4" male BSPP threads on the inlet. This is how most machines come from the factory. BUT, every machine also comes with an adapter: 3/4" female BSPP to 3/4" female GHT. This adapter fits the inlet and gets us back to the standard system that GHT connections define: male outlets and female inlets.
CR Spotless has incorrect threading on their units and defies the above system. Rather than having a 3/4" female GHT inlet, they utilize a male threaded inlet in order to match the other side of the system. Because of this, the small inlet hose that they provide is a female to female ended hose so that you can still connect to a standard setup that has male threads on the outlet, and female threads on the inlet. If you didn't have their inlet hose, or wanted to use a different hose, you would simply need a 3/4" Female to Female GHT adapter to be able to fit the male threaded end of a hose to the inlet of the CR. There are other times when you'll run into a situation like this, but they are rare.
Leaks are prevented in a garden hose scenario by the rubber washer in the female threaded end. These should always be present and the first thing to check if leaks appear. The use of pipe tape or sealant is not recommended as they can inhibit the firm seal of the rubber washer.