HoseSplitter

Hose splitters can feed two hoses from one hose or spigot. Sadly, some have tiny little plastic valve knobs which are difficult to turn. Fortunately, these knobs can be extended with longer handles, which can be made from the (bent) wire handles of an ACCO binder clip, bent washers, and a longer attachment screw.

The unbranded brass-and-plastic hose splitter (with quick connects, and after modification) is shown here:

Open image in new tab to get the full high-res photo.

The bent wire handles provide a longer and easier to turn lever. Each handle is held in place with a bent washer (intended for a #10 machine screw) plus a longer screw that replaces the original screw that held the small plastic handle.

Here are the parts:

The handles were removed from an ACCO Binder Clip, and bent 45 degrees near the "pivot". The pivot end is held in place with a #10 flat washer bent 60 degrees.

The original screw was a slotted metric M3 screw, 0.5mm pitch and 6mm long. I replaced the screws with 10mm M3-0.5mm-pitch screws from my junk box, which happened to have a 5.6mm diameter flat T10 Torx head ... your junkbox or hardware store may vary, but the important dimensions are the correct length and pitch. Note the thread gauge for measuring thread pitch; some M3 screws are 0.3mm pitch, not useful for the original brass valve head under the original plastic knob.

Here are the tools that I used:

• A flat-jaw vise
• A metric screw thread gauge
• A T10 Torx wrench - your screw head may vary
• A metric dial caliper
• A hammer, which can also be used for frustration relief on random inanimate objects
  • do NOT drop hammer on toes under the workbench, dimly lit at bottom of image
• A complete Torx wrench set ... normally missing one or two wrenches, replaced with Ebay substitutes
• A T2 Phillips screwdriver, for removing the old screw

Surprisingly, this junkbox modification worked for me ... Your Mileage May Vary.

If you can't figure out what to do from I've written, find a geeky friend to make this modification for you. My wife found me decades ago, and we've just about learned to accommodate each other by now. She uses the hose splitter for gardening, and we combine our horticultural and mechanical talents to eat healthy home-grown vegetables.