Stuck Hoses for Dummies

Beware of aluminum hose collars

We'll be honest: some of the questions people ask the internet are, to be kind, rather clueless. But the truth is, you can't blame people for not being able to figure out how to do something for the first time on their own. On the other hand, we are firmly committed to the idea that you can blame people who don't know how to do something but pretend they do. For money. We're talking about people like Joseph McAllister, who had the unmitigated gall to write the Hunker.com post "How to Loosen a Tight Hose on a Spigot."

Here's the quick solution: use a pair of slip-joint pliers. If, however, the hose has been on the fitting for a ve-e-e-e-ery long time and the hose doesn't have brass fittings, you may have a case of galvanic corrosion between the two metals. Either way, however, McAllister's attempt to instruct was lacking.
It's lacking because Joseph attempted to modify instructions for loosening a stuck nut for this question. That's why he had cockamamie steps like,

"Spray the joint with WD-40, trying to aim it up into the threads..." or "Adjust a set of locking pliers to the proper width, clamp them onto the spigot, and try again to loosen the hose."

Those of us who know what we're doing snorted with derision at the notion of spraying "up" into the threads of a hose bib or applying pliers "onto the spigot." In case you don't know, the threads are down from the spigot and you'd apply pliers to the hose collar, not "clamp them onto the spigot."

Mostly, though, McAllister just didn't understand the problem. It could be that the collar is literally frozen in place by ice, it could be common rust from cheap steel, or it could be the aforementioned galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals. In that case, you may not be able to loosen the hose even with pliers. Try these possible solutions:

1. Use heat – more heat than a hair dryer, though. Try a heat gun or even a torch. The principle at work is that the two metals will expand at different rates, breaking the corrosion.
2. Cut the hose collar with a hacksaw or rotary tool (e.g., Dremel®) to loosen its grip. Try not to cut into the spigot threads. It might help to cut in two places.

Let's face it, though: if you're not comfortable with either procedure, call a plumber: it's probably worth the cost.

McAllister's journalism degree, "full ride National Merit Scholarship" or not, apparently didn't include the necessary  information about galvanic corrosion or plumbing to answer this question but he tried anyway; hence his second Dumbass of the Day award (out of three eHow.com posts).

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