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I have been confounded by the new BTO yard tap. When I bought our new front-load washing machine, the first thing the sales person asked was what kind of tap we have. Well, it looked like this:
So it is a special looking tap which is used in most new flats nowadays. Apparently they tried to charge me $20 for an adapter because it is somehow not compatible. I immediately held off the adapter as 1. I was pretty sure the hardware shop had cheaper adapters, and 2. I wanted to add a dishwasher in the yard as well so the adapter might not work as I need some kind of diverter as well.
So firstly we had the tap issue which doesn’t fit our washing machine’s hose, and we also now have a dishwasher which needs an outlet as well! Logically, we need to split the tap into two. So we found two pieces of hardware that does this. All for under $10.
It took a long time to actually find the right part, and not all the hardware shop people know what we are looking for but we used our brains and came up with this solution: The adapter (it says for HDB WM Tap) and the another thingy is called a 19mm diverter. It made a lot of sense for our hose type but I was wondering how on earth do you get it on the tap???
It turned out we can unscrew the tip of the yard tap, and screw in the adapter and finally screw on the diverter. All the photos are below!
Finally, I have a working washing machine AND a functioning dishwasher! Even if you don’t have a dishwasher, you can also simply add an additional hose for filling up mop pails and washing the yard so I think the diverter was a good investment. Cool!
Hi, firstly thank you for sharing. I have a few questions if you don’t mind answering.
1. Did you remove the timble that force the water to run slow?
2. And after fixing the 2way adapter on your tap, how was the water flow, is it in full blast or slow?
I understand that the HDB tap is water efficiency type and it is not good for Washing Machine, coz will use more electricity due to the slow water flow. Some WM brand will indicate error (water supply issue) as well. Thank you in advance.
Hi, yes I removed the thimble. I have no problems with water pressure at my unit and also with my washing machine but bear in mind that each flat is different.
Hi, May i know where did you get the adaptor? I have been searching high and low for the damn adaptor and not all hardware stores carries it.. (they kept on showing me the standard connector).
Hi, I got it from Hardware City. I also had to hunt it down as well 🙂 perhaps showing them the picture helps.
Ah cool. They have it online too.. and sell it as a set. Thanks man!
https://www.hardwarecity.com.sg/prod/New-HDB-BTO-Washing-Machine-2-Way-Valve-Fine-Thread-to-3-4in
Hi I am interested in trying to change this too. However after buying all the items, I realised that the tap “head/tip” is super hard to unscrew. Looks like it is stuck/ too slippery to open. Was yours easy to do so?
Cheers!
Yes it was hard. We wrapped rubber band and use our fingers. You can try with pliers as well.
no wonder. Thought perhaps ours was rusted in or something. Don’t mind us asking, clockwise or anticlockwise? Cause ours doesn’t budge either side. Thanks once again
anti-clockwise.
Hi just wanted to thank you for the very practical and wonderful blogpost which helped me with my washer! Appreciate it!
I am glad this has been helpful! That’s my main motivation to blog.
Hey thanx for the post Under! Awesome job sharing ur experience! I figure I should also contribute to sharing wat I discovered while trying to unscrew the extremely hard to unscrew tap. We tried rubberband and pillers and only managed to defaced the original tap, then i looked under.
Actually u just need a 8mm allen key and poke it in from under the tap and turn anti-clockwise. Now go forth and unscrew those bto service yard taps!
Thanks for sharing! That’s a great tip!
Hi, I’m also considering this dishwasher and this placement location… may I know your feedback on it?
Hi Daphne, I love it! It is great for small families and even for medium size gatherings and can fit quite a lot of dishes. It also cleans well. Perhaps the only downside is bowls take up a lot of space and I couldn’t get more inside. I got this size because the full size version definitely can’t go on top of the washing machine. It will be too heavy and too hard to load the dishes.
Hi, can I ask if there have been any problems with your dishwasher? I thought of stacking the dishwasher on top of the washing machine too, but I was afraid that the washing machine’s vibrations would damage the dishwasher.
So far it has been 3 years and it is still working fine, but this isn’t a full-size dishwasher.
Does the 8mm Allen key work?
I am trying to do it now and doesn’t seem to work for me. Hmm
I’m not sure. I just used fingers and cloth for grip to twist it out.
Can I know how did you handle the drainage pipe for both washing machine and dishwasher? Is there a splitter of some sort that you use as well?
Both my pipes are very small and can go directly into the pipe provided by HDB. I just wrap the top with gauze to prevent mosquitoes but not too worried about that because we wash clothes and use the dishwasher often.
8mm Allen key works, but mine is turning in the Clockwise direction to twist open. (Do note that different housing units might have different directions when turning)
Thanks for sharing this….may i know what is the dimension of the adapter at both end?
Understand one end is at 20mm, but not sure what the end that connected to HDB tap.
Appreciate if you could kindly help to check… 🤞
Hi for the diverter what can I use to connect to the 2 ends anyone can share a link where to buy the connectors for the 2 outlet of the diverter