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Our washing machine developed a massive leak that caused a flood. We flipped the machine, and traced it back to two holes in a black rubber hose that appears to be attached to the output of the pump. How do I remove the clip that's securing the hose though?

My initial thought was to squeeze it, since it appears that a lip on the front is what's securing it. It doesn't squeeze though, and trying to squeeze it would reduce the diameter, and that doesn't seem possible since it's securing a hard plastic tube which likely won't compress.

I'm wondering if you need to snap the lip off and put a new clip on, then bend the lip down into place?

The clip:

enter image description here

Carcigenicate
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3 Answers3

22

The existing clip has been crimped on with a crimping tool from the factory. To remove the clamp grip the end of the strap just below the notches and lift it up and back. The notches should bend up as you lift. If they don't pry them up with a slotted screwdriver.

replace with a common hose clamp of nominal size.

ojait
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13

They're called ear clamps, they start out life looking like this:

enter image description here

To attach them, the band with the holes is hooked up as tightly as ossible so those "fingers" poke through the holes, and then a tool like this:

enter image description here

Is used to squeeze the lump in the clip and reduce the circumference, squeezing the clip together. It ends up looking more like the sketched black outline:

enter image description here

At a push they can be re-used: bend the small "fingers" straight (on your lip it looks like you'll only need to do the longest one; the others don't hook over the band) by pushing a small flat bladed screwdriver in (red arrow actions) and levering upwards, then separate the clip by pushing the screwdriver in between the bands (blue arrow actions) and lever upwards again. Use pliers to pull the clip band up off the fingers:

enter image description here

Once you've got it off you'll need to use pliers to carefully bend the lump back to close to what it looked like as new (so the clip circumference is bigger), but it'll make your life easier to leave the fingers straight.

For refitting, fit the clip, then bend the fingers down, then use nail-puller style pliers (pictured above) to squash the lump again, reducing the circumference

You can really only do this a limited number of times as the clip will be weakened every time it is bent, but for this application (low pressure water hose) reusing it a couple of times will be possible

Andy Mason
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Caius Jard
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6

We managed to contact a family friend. They told us that these aren't reusable and have to be broken to be removed.

We snapped the lip off with pliers to remove it and it came right off.

Carcigenicate
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