opening old hose fittings-use heat

[Dave22q]

This may be obvious to some but possibly not all. In removing my jammed Y valve for the head the barbed 1.5" hose connections were hard to access and jammed very tight. After some struggle I thought of heat. A few minutes from hot air gun made the removal and the reconnections easy.

[peghall]

Just be careful not to overheat the hose...you only need to WARM it a bit. I used to keep a small travel size blow dryer in my tool box just for this purpose. Heat also makes it easier to put hoses onto fittings.

When replacing a hose, you also want to lubricate the end of the fitting and inside of the hose with a little dishwashing detergent--or better yet, K-Y jelly, which despite its personal uses, is actually a water soluble surgical jelly that's a lot more slippery than dishwashing liquid and will dry out, not leaving the connection permanently greasy. Do NOT use vaseline or any other lubricant.

Peggie
"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't completely understand it yourself." --Albert Einstein