Hello there Terry's forum! Orange smock wearer here(HD "associate"). I work in the plumbing department. I've got a question that perhaps you folks may be able to answer. I am by no means an expert, but I know quite a bit more than Joe American.
I've been getting a lot of customers lately who have been bringing their old flex supply lines into the store, so that they can buy a new one the same size. Most of the time it is because they bought an appliance from us (dryer, range, water heater) and they want to use a new flex line with it. There is something odd: a lot of times, they will have a gray coated flex line and I will have no equivalent for it! I don't have any hoses whose end connectors are the same size! My 1/2" flare end flex lines are smaller, and my 5/8(15/16) flare flex lines are too big! So one day, I headed over to my brass fittings area and tried a 5/8" flare to 1/2" mip connector and tried it on a customer's old flex line and it fit! Woo hoo! This 5/8" was much smaller than the fittings by my gas flex lines that were marked as 5/8"(15/16).
So now I know there are two 5/8" flared sizes out there: 5/8" and 5/8"(15/16). I have fittings for both, but only 5/8"(15/16) flex lines, none that are 5/8". Did they stop making flex lines that size? My customers give me the look of death when I tell them that they need to change their valve(turn off gas, run pipes till empty, check for leaks etc.) Is there an easier solution for them? Do other stores still carry the old 5/8"? A lot of them ask me for reducers or increasers but I'm pretty sure that only a tube with a flared end is allowed to go on a flared valve. I've googled and can't find any information on why this old flex line size isn't carried anywhere anymore.
I've been getting a lot of customers lately who have been bringing their old flex supply lines into the store, so that they can buy a new one the same size. Most of the time it is because they bought an appliance from us (dryer, range, water heater) and they want to use a new flex line with it. There is something odd: a lot of times, they will have a gray coated flex line and I will have no equivalent for it! I don't have any hoses whose end connectors are the same size! My 1/2" flare end flex lines are smaller, and my 5/8(15/16) flare flex lines are too big! So one day, I headed over to my brass fittings area and tried a 5/8" flare to 1/2" mip connector and tried it on a customer's old flex line and it fit! Woo hoo! This 5/8" was much smaller than the fittings by my gas flex lines that were marked as 5/8"(15/16).
So now I know there are two 5/8" flared sizes out there: 5/8" and 5/8"(15/16). I have fittings for both, but only 5/8"(15/16) flex lines, none that are 5/8". Did they stop making flex lines that size? My customers give me the look of death when I tell them that they need to change their valve(turn off gas, run pipes till empty, check for leaks etc.) Is there an easier solution for them? Do other stores still carry the old 5/8"? A lot of them ask me for reducers or increasers but I'm pretty sure that only a tube with a flared end is allowed to go on a flared valve. I've googled and can't find any information on why this old flex line size isn't carried anywhere anymore.