New installed shower head hose maybe leaking?

I purchased a NIAGARA conservation 1.5gpm showerhead handheld with the hopes of saving money on my water bill but don’t feel confident in this “leak” here. I applied a little of plumbers tape on the threads and hand tightened it in addition with pliers but it leaks a considerable amount each time I shut off the water. It only leaks water when I turn off the water so maybe this is normal? Plz help.... (I did notice when I shut off the water & pick up the shower head handheld and face it down towards the shower floor it doesn’t leak....)


The original washer inside it is small and I’m not sure if adding a bigger washer will stop this... any thoughts? Or buy a new hose?

It is supposed to leak when it shuts off.
So the water in the hose can drain out.

Otherwise, in certain conditions, that stale water can get sucked back into your plumbing pipes, and could contaminate your water supply.

It might even leak a little there while showering, as long as the amount is tiny forget about it.
The back flow preventer is usually cheaply made, no big deal.

PS the pressure on most new hand showers is piss poor, or soon will be.
Government is forcing very low flow restrictions.
For a good cause, but often the shower heads get slower and weaker pretty soon after install.
Little bits of minerals and rust cause a clog.

If pressure is too weak, you can usually find a tight spot somewhere at the area you have pointed out, or near the other end of the hose.
It can be anywhere along the way after the shower arm.

You can usually spot and remove a plastic disc or doodad that has a ridiculously small opening in it, then the pressure will be improved.
Save whatever you take out, in case it causes a leak and needs to go back in.

Jeff Handy said:

It is supposed to leak when it shuts off.
So the water in the hose can drain out.

Otherwise, in certain conditions, that stale water can get sucked back into your plumbing pipes, and could contaminate your water supply.

It might even leak a little there while showering, as long as the amount is tiny forget about it.
The back flow preventer is usually cheaply made, no big deal.

Click to expand...

Based on the location of that leak, wouldn't the hose stay full of water?

Water above that point, from the shower head and in the shower arm, could dribble out of that fitting if there is a vacuum breaker type of insert before the hose starts.

There is also some pressure that builds up in the hose which would push out some water, until it fully relaxes.

Also, many vacuum breakers do leak water when they are not getting strong pressure.
You will often notice this if your outdoor sillcock has one on it, the vacuum breaker might piss water if you only have the faucet partially opened.

Yes, the hose would stay full of water, unless it was left hanging down.

Yes I knew the answer. Just curious as to what you'd reply since you had said , "It is supposed to leak when it shuts off. So the water in the hose can drain out."
I couldn't see how the water in the hose would drain out without intentionally hanging the hose to drain it or raising the hose.
Just curiosity.

My next line, which is shown, starts with “Otherwise, in certain conditions, that stale water can get sucked back into your plumbing pipes”.

As you know, that leaky device is designed to prevent that situation, if say a shower hose was submerged in a bathtub full of water and then negative pressure in the pipes allowed dirty water to be sucked back up through it.

For a change, I was being slightly less long-winded in my explanation of why it intentionally leaks there.

I am a professional handyman, but not a pro plumber.
If you read my whole profile, I say that I always defer to the pros on here, and in real life.

I also don’t support any drama, and I am only a newbie here, still getting my feet wet, pardon the plumbing pun there.

Hope there is no friction starting up, pbly not but if so that was never my intention on this post or any other.

No problem here. I am not a professional plumber but I am very curious about how things work and why. I try not to question many of the plumbers for various reasons, one reason being, they don't always know the answer. I don't want to offend.
Just seemed very unusual to me that a leak in that location was an intentional design.

In fact, I'm tempted to contact the manufacturer and ask them about it.

I thank you for that link, however, it seems to be dealing primarily with backflow prevention. I am quite familiar with that since much of my work before retiring was heavily involved with backflow prevention. Having worked for an environmental consulting engineering firm dealing with waste water treatment, water treatment facilities, chemical treatments, etc, etc.

I was primarily curious about that intentional leak. Hopefully I didn't skip over any part that may have addressed it.

@corbino said it only leaks briefly, once the shower valve is closed.

The fitting is designed to only be water tight when under full house water pressure, as when in use during a shower.

He said it does not leak at that fitting if he has the hose hanging down, that is because the water is getting out through the hanging shower head.
In this case, the fitting is sucking in some air instead.

Anyway, nice to meet you and I look forward to more chat exchanges in future.

Yes I can see how that can be made to function that way. Did you happen to see a small hole somewhere in the fitting for that to drain? The picture and arrow makes it look like it was at the joint of the flex hose, which would not make sense to me.
Or did you happen to see something written up on it?
I can almost make some logic for the fact that it only functions to drain the hose when the hose is lowered, as that is the critical time when it may end up being subject to submergence and potential to back siphon. When of course, that's the primary reason for backflow prevention on any hose, carrying potable water, since it's subject to being submerged.

My previous home had two modern hand showers, which behaved just like this member has described.
The fitting looks solid and watertight, but has enough gap built in to allow air and/or water to go in or out, when not under full water pressure.

If you call a vendor for tech support on this, they will possibly be unclear on the concept and will likely be focusing on the leak aspect.
But good luck, hopefully you will get some good info to share with the forum.

I am jumping off this thread, don’t like splitting hairs, you seem to be looking to trip me up personally.

Hopefully that is not the case, but time will tell.

No offense, but no tolerance for drama

just something to add/or confuse we have hundreds of hand helds at work usually the vaccum breaker is threaded onto a brass nipple right at the shower wall the ones we have look like a (block/square)90 facing down then the vaccum breaker connects to that we have symmons shower valves not sure how to print a pic of it

Sorry Jeff Handy. Didn't see it as splitting hairs but rather digging further into the details.
Keep up the good work.