Two of Mary’s garden soaker hoses failed their pre-installation checks with leaks from around their connectors. The problem seemed to be a break in the hose inside the connector, with water spewing out of the connector around the hose. Having previously fixed a gash in another hose, I figured I might have some success at fixing these leaks.
The general idea is to squish enough silicone rubber inside the connector to seal around the hose, then clamp the hose and connector snugly enough to hold the rubber in place:
The enlarged recess fits around the brass connector shell, which is squashed loosely around the hose and from which the leaking water emerges. Of course, because this is a different hose, the previous model didn’t quite fit and I had to doodle up new geometry:
As before, I bandsawed aluminum backing plates to ensure the plastic didn’t get all bendy in the middle:
The hose clamp (!) around the connector on the far right ensures a split in the brass shell doesn’t get any larger.
They’ll spend the rest of their lives under the garden mulch, where nobody will ever see those bulky lumps. Life is good!
The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:
| // Rubber Soaker Hose End Connector Clamp | |
| // Helps hold silicone rubber in connector | |
| // Ed Nisley KE4ZNU June 2019 | |
| Layout = "Build"; // [Hose,Connector,Block,Show,Build] | |
| //- Extrusion parameters must match reality! | |
| /* [Hidden] */ | |
| ThreadThick = 0.25; | |
| ThreadWidth = 0.40; | |
| HoleWindage = 0.2; | |
| Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly | |
| inch = 25.4; | |
| function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit); | |
| //———- | |
| // Dimensions | |
| // Hose lies along X axis | |
| Hose = [200,26.5,11.6]; // X=very long, Y=width, Z=overall height | |
| RimThick = 10.3; // outer sections | |
| RimOD = RimThick; | |
| RimFlatRecess = 1.0; // recess to front flat surface | |
| OuterOC = Hose.y – RimOD; // outer tube centers | |
| RecessM = 0.8; // back recess chord | |
| RecessC = OuterOC; | |
| RecessR = (pow(RecessM,2) + pow(RecessC,2)/4) / (2*RecessM); | |
| RidgeM = 1.6; // front ridge chord | |
| RidgeC = 7.5; | |
| RidgeR = (pow(RidgeM,2) + pow(RidgeC,2)/4) / (2*RidgeM); | |
| HoseSides = 12*4; | |
| Connector = [5.0,33.0,13.0]; // oval brass: X=snout Y=width Z=dia | |
| Block = [20.0,50.0,4.0 + Hose.z]; // overall splice block size | |
| echo(str("Block: ",Block)); | |
| Kerf = 0.5; // cut through middle to apply compression | |
| ID = 0; | |
| OD = 1; | |
| LENGTH = 2; | |
| // 8-32 stainless screws | |
| Screw = [4.1,8.0,3.0]; // OD = head LENGTH = head thickness | |
| Washer = [4.4,9.5,1.0]; | |
| Nut = [4.1,9.7,6.0]; | |
| CornerRadius = Washer[OD]/2; | |
| ScrewOC = Block.y – 2*CornerRadius; | |
| echo(str("Screw OC: x=",ScrewOC.x," y=",ScrewOC.y)); | |
| //———————- | |
| // Useful routines | |
| module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) { // based on nophead's polyholes | |
| Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2); | |
| FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides); | |
| cylinder(d=(FixDia + HoleWindage),h=Height,$fn=Sides); | |
| } | |
| // Hose shape | |
| // This includes magic numbers measured from reality | |
| module HoseProfile() { | |
| rotate([0,-90,0]) | |
| translate([0,0,-Hose.x/2]) | |
| linear_extrude(height=Hose.x,convexity=4) | |
| difference() { | |
| union() { | |
| for (j=[-1,1]) // outer channels | |
| translate([0,j*OuterOC/2]) | |
| circle(d=RimOD,$fn=HoseSides); | |
| translate([-RimOD/4,0]) // rear flat fill | |
| square([RimOD/2,OuterOC],center=true); | |
| translate([(RimOD/4 – RimFlatRecess),0]) // front flat fill | |
| square([RimOD/2,OuterOC],center=true); | |
| intersection() { | |
| translate([Hose.z/2,0]) | |
| square([Hose.z,OuterOC],center=true); | |
| translate([-RidgeR + RimOD/2 – RimFlatRecess + RidgeM,0]) | |
| circle(r=RidgeR,$fn=HoseSides); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| translate([-(RecessR + RimOD/2 – RecessM),0]) | |
| circle(r=RecessR,$fn=2*HoseSides); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| // Outside shape of splice Block | |
| // Z centered on hose rim circles, not overall thickness through center ridge | |
| module SpliceBlock() { | |
| difference() { | |
| hull() | |
| for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1]) // rounded block | |
| translate([i*(Block.x/2 – CornerRadius),j*(Block.y/2 – CornerRadius),-Block.z/2]) | |
| cylinder(r=CornerRadius,h=Block.z,$fn=4*8); | |
| for (j=[-1,1]) // screw holes | |
| translate([0, | |
| j*ScrewOC/2, | |
| -(Block.z/2 + Protrusion)]) | |
| PolyCyl(Screw[ID],Block.z + 2*Protrusion,6); | |
| cube([2*Block.x,2*Block.y,Kerf],center=true); // slice through center | |
| } | |
| } | |
| // Splice block less hose | |
| module ShapedBlock() { | |
| difference() { | |
| SpliceBlock(); | |
| HoseProfile(); | |
| Connector(); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| // Brass connector end | |
| module Connector() { | |
| translate([-(Block.x/2 + Protrusion),0,0]) | |
| rotate([0,90,0]) | |
| linear_extrude(height=Connector.x + Protrusion) | |
| hull() | |
| for (i = [-1,1]) | |
| translate([0,i*(Connector.y – Connector.z)/2]) | |
| circle(d=Connector.z); | |
| } | |
| //———- | |
| // Build them | |
| if (Layout == "Hose") | |
| HoseProfile(); | |
| if (Layout == "Block") | |
| SpliceBlock(); | |
| if (Layout == "Connector") | |
| Connector(); | |
| if (Layout == "Show") { | |
| ShapedBlock(); | |
| color("Green",0.25) | |
| HoseProfile(); | |
| } | |
| if (Layout == "Build") { | |
| SliceOffset = 0; | |
| intersection() { | |
| translate([SliceOffset,0,Block.z/4]) | |
| cube([4*Block.x,4*Block.y,Block.z/2],center=true); | |
| union() { | |
| translate([0,0.6*Block.y,Block.z/2]) | |
| ShapedBlock(); | |
| translate([0,-0.6*Block.y,Block.z/2]) | |
| rotate([0,180,0]) | |
| ShapedBlock(); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| } |
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 