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I've had the same old sprayer attachment to my kitchen sink for a long time and last week I finally decided to get rid of it. The current sink hose (with sprayer detached) is shown here:

sink with no sprayer

And if you look closely, the hose from the faucet actually has a rubber tube inside it that is the water source:

enter image description here

I went to Home Depot with the older sprayer in hand and found another sprayer of the same size that seems like it should fit. This is the new sprayer head.

To attach the sprayer head, I bought some teflon tape and wrapped it around the threads on the new sprayer head and then simply screwed the sprayer head onto the existing hose. I hand-tightened it since the instructions said not to use a wrench. With everything connected, it seems like it should be fine:

enter image description here

But when I turn on the faucet, I get water leaking out from somewhere in the vicinity of the bottom of the sprayer head. My understanding was that this should be dead simple. The old sprayer head didn't leak and I don't understand why a new one of the same size would leak. Am I missing a washer or something? Does the hose possibly need to be replaced? It's difficult to tell whether or not the leak is from the coupling between the sprayer & end of the hose or whether the hose endpoint itself is leaking.

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I've been known to follow hand tightening instructions in spirit but ignore them in practice. After getting it fairly tight by hand, I give it another quarter turn or so with a wrench. Use your best judgment, the goal is to get it water tight and secure without breaking the fragile parts.

Disclaimer: I've also been known to go toilet shopping after realizing my best judgment was a bit too aggressive. :)

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  • Thanks for the tip. I think the coupling was already damaged before I even applied some best judgment ;-)
    – Brent Writes Code
    Aug 8, 2011 at 3:34
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So it seems like the coupling on the hose I had was loose and was letting water dribble out. Replacing the hose seems to have done the trick though it's possible a new rubber washer in the original coupling could've solved the problem too.

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I had the same problem - leaking in exactly the same place. It was only a slow drip, but enough to keep under the sink wet.

I Tried different sized washers...

It turned out to be a hairline crack running along/around the (ABS plastic) thread of the pull out handle - so it was almost impossible to see!

However, when I gently put some sideways pressure across the connection, more water started coming out. The water just come out of one side. So I marked the spot, took the pull out head off and examined that spot closely and found the problem!

So in my case it was not the hose or the washer but the pull out handle itself. I am just searching google now, to see if you can buy a universal replacement handle made of brass or something stronger than plastic. Our kitchen get well worked!

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