How Can I Get a Watertight Seal on my Drip System?

Question

I'm very new to gardening and am attempting to set up my first drip system for a potted plant I have on my deck since I travel quite a bit and want to make sure it's getting water.

Here is my connection (I should note too that my pieces are all of the 'Raindrip' brand):

Faucet -> Hose -> Filter Washer -> 3/4" Hose Anti-Siphon -> 3/4" Preset Hose Pressure Regulator -> Filter Washer -> 3/4" Hose Swivel Adapter (to 1/4") -> 1/4" tube with 4 0.5 GPH drippers in the line -> End with tube clamp

It's super leaky, to the point where water is spraying out particularly hard at the 3/4" Hose Swivel Adapter (where the hose is converted down to a 1/4" tube). It's not just dripping, it's spraying everywhere. I thought the pressure regulator would fix it because it would keep the water from flowing too strongly but it only helped a little bit.

I've Googled and can't seem to find any suggestions on this.

Answer 1

This is not an uncommon problem that appears to be chalked up to a design flaw (check out the amazon reviews). Quite honestly, I can't say I'm surprised. The website says no tools are required. Few things involving residential water pressures are reliable with "hand tight" for very long, so I'm pretty skeptical.

If it is leaking from somewhere other than at the connections, you are out of luck.

However, if it is leaking from the connection, you might try some of the following: Since it is plastic, teflon tape on the male end might help this problem, I'd definitely recommend trying this. The tap itself is about $2.00 at Home Depot or Walmart. Depending on what the fitting is, you should, generally, have a rubber gasket that sits at the inside-base of the female end as you do in a standard gardening hose, you might be able to re-purpose, or make your own (you can purchase rubber to make your own gasket from an auto store I believe, but that is a lot of work and will require careful measuring). If you can't return it, and you are prepared to potentially destroy it, you could try using PVC plumber's glue (I can't find what kind of material it is, so this might not work either). When making fittings that can handle water pressures, plumbers use a purple colored pipe cleaner and particularly noxious smelling glue/cement; I'm not sure it's worth a shot if you don't have the glue (~$12.00 at home depot). Hope this helps.