Opening the water supply tap for the washing machine

In the life of every housewife, sometimes absurd situations happen that require urgent emergency measures. For example, it is worth understanding how to close or open the water supply tap for a washing machine in case of a sudden shutdown and restoration of the water supply in the house. Not everyone will be able to orient themselves in time and remember the correct position of the lever. Let's figure out how you can understand that the tap is closed, and consider how to bring it to the desired position.

Is the tap turned off?

In most cases, small tee taps with straight handles of various shades, made of plastic and other materials, are installed on washing machines. Often there are no markings on the levers indicating the position of the tap, so it is quite difficult to immediately determine whether it is open. As a rule, with correct installation of the structure, the handle in the “open” position is located parallel to the fitting to which the inlet hose of the device is fixed.

Thus, you can simply carefully inspect the outlet section of the tap, onto which a colored nut made of plastic is attached. When the handle is placed parallel to the hose, this indicates its open position, and perpendicular to the closed position. However, experts admit that this method is not informative enough, since there are many different models of cranes. In addition, sometimes parts are installed in a “makeshift” way; connection points may turn out to be non-standard.

A more reliable method of determining the position of the tap is to check after water has been supplied to the water supply.The handle rotates alternately in different directions. If during manipulations a hissing sound appears and the inlet hose begins to vibrate slightly, it means the tap is open. The absence of sounds indicates closure.

Important! If the pressure in the water supply is low, the hissing sounds may be so quiet that it will be impossible to hear them, so it is better to use another method.

In this case, you should adhere to the following algorithm of actions:

• close the hatch and connect the washing machine to the power supply;
• start the device in the “Rinse+Spin” mode;
• if the machine did not draw water and signaled an error, the tap was turned off;
• if water is drawn normally, you need to stop the program and select drain without spinning;
• Upon completion of work, it is worth disconnecting the equipment from the power supply.

Thus, only the machine itself can accurately determine whether the water is turned off or not. It is strictly not recommended to unscrew the inlet hose nut for diagnostic purposes. If you neglect this rule, you can quickly flood the room with water due to increased pressure in the water pipes.

What happens if you leave the machine tap open?

There is a common misconception that if you do not move the lever to the closed position and leave the house, a flood will occur after the utilities turn on the water supply. Fortunately, washing machines have a part called an inlet valve. If the device is turned off, it is closed, which means that even with the tap open, water will not flow.

However, concerns are justified if the elements are in poor condition and do not retain water. In practice this happens extremely rarely.

Usually the tee is closed when the machine is not in use.When the faucet jams, or the user does not know what position it is in, you can leave everything as is until the situation is resolved. The inlet valve can withstand water pressure perfectly. Some housewives do not touch the tees at all and use the equipment for years, without even understanding in what position the tap is open and when it is not. As a last resort, you can leave the turned off washing machine at home even if the utility company turns off the water.

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