Please help 😔 washing machine inlet hose won't stay on

Bubbles_0412

Currently sobbing in my kitchen on a Friday night. New washer delivered today, didn't pay for install as I've done it several times myself. The only thing I questioned myself on was using the existing inlet hose - the one supplied isn't long enough - but I bought the exact same machine (updated display that's about it).
Put the first load on and the inlet hose burst off after about 5 minutes. Luckily I was watching it (paranoia wins sometimes) and got the tap turned off in less than 10 seconds. 
Obviously that's still a lot of water and the electricians, when I had my new kitchen fitted 2 years ago, decided to install the new double socket for my washer and dishwasher behind the washer. At floor level. 
So now I'm petrified of what might happen regarding the electrics as well as too scared to try and use washer again! It's the weekend (obviously, it's always the weekend when this stuff happens to me) so I won't get any joy with the landlord. 
As I said, this was in the first 5-7 minutes of the cycle so it's not even as if it was vibrating or spinning like mad. 
Do I pull it back out and attempt to dry the plug socket or not go near it at all? Any ideas what's gone wrong here? tia 😭

MikeJXE

It sounds as though you didn't tighten the inlet pipe enough ?

Maybe cross threaded ? Is it the correct size (diameter) ?

Water and electic don't mix so don't mess with both at the same time, have you some rubber gloves ? Leave the electrics alone. 

What do you mean at floor level ???

cymruchris

First things first - you've stopped the water - so there's no immediate panic. The house isn't going to fall down - step back - get a nice cup of coffee (or something more suitable) - and think about what to do next.

If the machine still has power - and there's an LED on or display - can you find the electric circuit box in the house? (You might be lucky there's a breaker labelled washing machine/kitchen sockets or something similar) - turn it off. Go back and check the machine to see that the display is now off. If there's no labels - you might need to turn them off one by one to find which circuit the washing machine is connected to. (You're house will likely flash like Blackpool illuminations as you're switching things on and off) - what you're doing is isolating the socket the washing machine is plugged into.

Once the washing machine won't power up - you can safely pull it out and unplug it.

Then once you can see what's going on a bit more easily.

When you say inlet hose - you mean the cold water feed into the machine right? And it's burst off at the washing machine?

Bubbles_0412

cymruchris said:

First things first - you've stopped the water - so there's no immediate panic. The house isn't going to fall down - step back - get a nice cup of coffee (or something more suitable) - and think about what to do next.

If the machine still has power - and there's an LED on or display - can you find the electric circuit box in the house? (You might be lucky there's a breaker labelled washing machine/kitchen sockets or something similar) - turn it off. Go back and check the machine to see that the display is now off. If there's no labels - you might need to turn them off one by one to find which circuit the washing machine is connected to. (You're house will likely flash like Blackpool illuminations as you're switching things on and off) - what you're doing is isolating the socket the washing machine is plugged into.

Once the washing machine won't power up - you can safely pull it out and unplug it.

Then once you can see what's going on a bit more easily.

When you say inlet hose - you mean the cold water feed into the machine right? And it's burst off at the washing machine?

Thanks cymruchris - that makes me feel a lot better, thanks so much for the detailed advice. On my electric box it's just 'downstairs sockets' etc so I haven't knocked that off...should I?
And yes, cold water feed into washing machine and it appeared to be perfectly fixed on, turned tap on before wiggling it under the counter, no leak at all. Got it under the counter and turned on, all fine 
Just couldn't make it through a full wash 😔 I wouldn't be quite as worried if it wasn't for that socket sat at skirting board level right behind it 😔

Bubbles_0412

MikeJXE said:

It sounds as though you didn't tighten the inlet pipe enough ?

Maybe cross threaded ? Is it the correct size (diameter) ?

Water and electic don't mix so don't mess with both at the same time, have you some rubber gloves ? Leave the electrics alone. 

What do you mean at floor level ???

MikeJXE said:

It sounds as though you didn't tighten the inlet pipe enough ?

Maybe cross threaded ? Is it the correct size (diameter) ?

Water and electic don't mix so don't mess with both at the same time, have you some rubber gloves ? Leave the electrics alone. 

What do you mean at floor level ???

Hi Mike, I know the obvious answer is that I didn't thread it right or tighten it enough, I'd obviously like to insist I did but wouldn't put my life on it. Just wondering if I've missed some important stage and that's where it's gone wrong. 
I've even had small drip leaks from here previously with old machine and managed to fix by re-threading so I'm worried it's something much worse 😔

cymruchris

Bubbles_0412 said:

cymruchris said:

First things first - you've stopped the water - so there's no immediate panic. The house isn't going to fall down - step back - get a nice cup of coffee (or something more suitable) - and think about what to do next.

If the machine still has power - and there's an LED on or display - can you find the electric circuit box in the house? (You might be lucky there's a breaker labelled washing machine/kitchen sockets or something similar) - turn it off. Go back and check the machine to see that the display is now off. If there's no labels - you might need to turn them off one by one to find which circuit the washing machine is connected to. (You're house will likely flash like Blackpool illuminations as you're switching things on and off) - what you're doing is isolating the socket the washing machine is plugged into.

Once the washing machine won't power up - you can safely pull it out and unplug it.

Then once you can see what's going on a bit more easily.

When you say inlet hose - you mean the cold water feed into the machine right? And it's burst off at the washing machine?

Thanks cymruchris - that makes me feel a lot better, thanks so much for the detailed advice. On my electric box it's just 'downstairs sockets' etc so I haven't knocked that off...should I?
And yes, cold water feed into washing machine and it appeared to be perfectly fixed on, turned tap on before wiggling it under the counter, no leak at all. Got it under the counter and turned on, all fine 
Just couldn't make it through a full wash 😔 I wouldn't be quite as worried if it wasn't for that socket sat at skirting board level right behind it 😔

Ok - so start with downstairs sockets - switch it off. It'll likely knock out your sky box/internet who knows what else, and you might have to reset all your clocks later -  but the key thing is once switched off - make sure the washing machine doesn't turn on. If it doesn't - you've flicked the right switch. Then you can pull out the machine - unplug it - and see where the water might/might not have gone. See if the area above the socket is wet. With the socket turned off and nothing plugged in, if it's not dripping with water, I'd have a wipe up with a towel to make sure the immediate floor area is dry, and any standing water removed, then turn back on the power so that everything that's off works again, and then just leave the washing machine unplugged until tomorrow. By then any water should have a chance to evaporate away. 

Then you can have a look at the inlet hose again. What did you use to tighten it when you fitted it?

Flugelhorn

I would get a new longer inlet hose today if you can - I never re-use them as they never seem to be 100% 

Emmia

A few years ago our sink tap came off the sink whilst I was washing my hands creating a great new internal water feature (not) of hot water spraying all over the kitchen - including adjacent plug sockets. 

Got the water off and a plumber came to sort it - we dried the plug sockets after a lot of wiping to mop up the water with my hairdryer,  to be sure they were really dry before using them again. 


*The tap was replaced shortly after that incident as we didn't trust it not to do it again!

cymruchris

How’s it looking in the cold light of day ? 

victor2

@Bubbles_0412, now you have it safe, perhaps you can provide a photo of the pipe and connector. 
Welcome to the forum BTW!
As a new user you may not be able to attach a picture to your post, but if you can upload it to a file sharing system, you should then be able to tell us where we can see it. 

tacpot12

Check that the hose connector has a fibre or rubber washer in it. If there isn't one there, they can be obtained easily enough, but without one it might not be possible to do the threaded nut up tightly.