No, you don't.
Your air gap is not supposed to leak. Check the hose that leads from the air gap to the garbage disposal for a clog. This should resolve your problem.
Garbage disposal, if one is installed, or a wye branch fitting on the tail piece of sink drain. Dishwasher drain line should have an air break or air gap before the disposal or wye branch fitting.
Yes, the air vent (air gap) is very much required!! It prevents water from traveling from the sink drain pipe or garbage disposal and into the dishwasher.
An air gap is a network security measure consisting of ensuring a secure computer network is isolated from unsecured networks, such as the public Internet or an unsecured local area network.
If the tubing between dish washer and garbage disposal unit is newly installed then someone forgot to remove a plug. If it was working before then the flow from dishwasher to the garbage disposal is too slow resulting in this.
The rubber hose leading from your airgap to your garbage disposal or drain pipe is propably plugged. Remove hose and clean or replace. Also, when you remove the hose leading from the airgap to the garbage disposal, check to ensure that your stopper plug is removed from the garbage disposal. The stopper plug is a metal or rubber plug placed in the garbage disposal for people that don't have a dishwasher. The best way to remove this plug is by taking a screwdriver and placing it on the plug and gently tapping the butt of the screwdriver with a hammer until the plug pops out. Use metal fingers to remove the plug from the upper hopper chamber of the garbage disposal or (if you are daring enough) remove with your hands.
Did you happen to replace the disposal prior to this? A common mistake is forgetting to knock out the plug on the disposal, where the hose attaches, stick a screwdriver inside and beat it with a hammer to knock it out.
auk air gap
Minimum distance of air gap
The resistance of an air gap is effectively infinite until it reaches its arcover threshold voltage; then it drops to near zero as the air in the gap ionizes. It returns to effectively infinite when the current through the gap is insufficient to keep the air ionized.
If you have fuel and air and want it to burn, then you will need a source of fire. By having a positive and ground you will have to have a gap for the electricity to jump. That will create a spark and it will create combustion.
.016 - .021 point gap. .033-.038 spark plug gap. Click the link for all the info you will ever need on the 1957 Chevy.