Sunday, October 7, 2012

Quick Disconnect Shower Shot Setup



Did you ever need to put your shower shot out of sight?

Do you ever need to use your shower shot hose for a typical handheld shower head?

Do you ever need to swap out nozzles on your shower shot quickly?

Have you ever wanted to take your shower shot to a second home?

Not only is it possible, but it's also easy and fairly cheap.

I bathe my dogs in the shower also and for that I must use a handheld shower head with an integrated on-off switch so I can control the water flow with one hand while holding the dog in place with the other.

I needed a way to swap them out easily while maintaining a watertight system. I was concerned about damaging my 18-inch neoprene shower shot nozzle by repetitively screwing it in and out of the hose after trying it a couple of times. 

So I set out to install a system that didn't require me to track down pliers and wrenches and Teflon plumbers tape every time I needed to swap them out. Not to mention the potential for damaging the plastic threads at the base of the neoprene nozzle.

I found out you can convert your existing handheld shower head and/or shower shot hose system to a quick disconnect or hideaway system using common parts sold at Lowe's and other home improvement stores. The parts to do both connections are less than $20 total, and to do just the shower shot portion (hideaway) would be even less expensive.

Tools needed:




Teflon plumbers tape and scissors or knife to cut it with






Adjustable pliers to hold garden hose connectors





Crescent (adjustable) wrench or set of open-end wrenches



Parts needed:




Bottom row, from left to right:

1/2 inch male to 3/4 inch female adapter; garden hose male quick connect; garden hose female quick connect; male 3/4 inch to female 1/2 inch adpater. Total cost of these four pieces at Lowes: $12.40 plus sales tax. This is all you need to convert your existing shower shot system to a hideaway setup.

Top row from left:

1/2 inch male to 3/4 inch female adapter; garden hose male quick connect. Total cost of these two pieces at Lowes: $6.29 plus sales tax. You only need these if you want to swap out a standard handheld showerhead with a shower shot nozzle. 



The first steps are to attach the male 3/4 inch to 1/2 inch female adapter to your existing shower diverter valve. Then attach the garden hose female quick connect to the adapter, above.
 



Then you attach the 1/2 inch male to 3/4 inch female adapter and the garden hose male connector to the hose of your shower shot, above, and the same parts to your hand showerhead, below.



Pull back the spring-loaded middle black ring on the female garden hose connector, push in the male end of the connector and release the spring and you have the finished setup. Whenever you don't want the shower shot visible, simply pull back the spring loaded ring and the hose pops out so you can put it away from prying eyes or switch to using the regular handheld shower head of your choice.



Now, if you don't need the hideaway setup but simply want to swap out nozzles quickly and easily using the same hose, simply place your quick connect fittings at the other end of the hose and to the base of each nozzle you want to use. 

If you want to use your shower shot hose in a second home, simply install a second female garden hose connector at your alternate location, and simply plug the male end of your shower shot hose in to it.

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