Tool for stubborn tap head gear?

[Dannypipe]

Can't edit last post, but forgot to mention it's only £6 a can. Worth keeping on board anyway.

 

[TBServices]

I've done years of reactive maintenance and i've never had a tap head I couldn't remove.
A ring spanner on the head gear, an adjustable on the tap spout and squeeze them together. Sometimes you have to mount the sink to get some purchase which always raises eyebrows lol.

I use this technique, well kind of. Put spanner on the tap cartridge, and use my big grips to squeeze the spanner and tap body together. Just make sure you have summat on the spout to stop it getting scratched!


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[kay-jay]

jc i have some spanners just for removing tap valves, save you buying ring spanners if you dont have em already. im in bolton too you can borrow em if you like.

 

[Jamilner7]

New taps am afraid

 

[Guest123]

Wrap the tap spouts in soft tissue and a cloth and tape them up fully to protect the tap. Slide a 600mm pole, e.g steel pipe or small section of scaffold tube over the spout and you've now got extra leverage. Spray the tap heads with good old WD40 and let it sink in for about 5 mins. Hold the steel tube over the taps as a lever, and loosen off the tap head with 12" stillsons with another section of pipe/scaffold over the handle. Two people are sometimes better at this.
It may sound daft, but try to tighten the tap head once first before slackening it off. If you tighten anything even a bolt or screw first it slackens off much easier.

The other way is to remove the taps and put them in a vice, if all else fails.

 

[WaterTight]

It may sound daft, but try to tighten the tap head once first before slackening it off. If you tighten anything even a bolt or screw first it slackens off much easier.

Any idea why?

 

[Guest123]

Any idea why?

It's because tightening, puts an extra notch from a screw in wood, an extra turn on the thread of a bolt etc that when you turn it back to it's original place, it then becomes slack as it's not tight anymore.

Hard to explain, but I hope you get the idea!

 

[JCplumb]

jc i have some spanners just for removing tap valves, save you buying ring spanners if you dont have em already. im in bolton too you can borrow em if you like.

Thanks for the offer but I'm only going to sort the tap next time I'm there, I get a fair bit of repeat business from this customer and the dripping tap is really just a niggle for him rather than a job that would require its own visit (and charge).

 

[lbp plg & htg]

East tap splitter - only used it twice but excellent buy and well worth saving the knuckles i bought previously!

 

[JCplumb]

It does look a handy bit of kit, just can't justify the £35 pricetag for something I'd hardly ever use..
Yes I'm a tight wad

 

[Rayleigh]

Hi I am having trouble with a stubborn tap head as well...I was using an adjustable wench on the tap head but its always slipping off. And my tap is a kitchen tap with a moveable sprout in between the hot and cold taps, so I don't have anything to to use for leverage.

I was thinking, Would a Ring Wench be more secure when turning the hexagonal bolt? How would I go about finding the right size of the ring wrench??

Help pleasee!
Ray

 

[secret squirrel]

Hi I am having trouble with a stubborn tap head as well...I was using an adjustable wench on the tap head but its always slipping off. And my tap is a kitchen tap with a moveable sprout in between the hot and cold taps, so I don't have anything to to use for leverage.

I was thinking, Would a Ring Wench be more secure when turning the hexagonal bolt? How would I go about finding the right size of the ring wrench??

Help pleasee!
Ray

I use mole grips, never failed me.

 

[Guest123]

Spray a lot of WD 40 on it first, leave it for ten mins. Try to tighten it first, then slacken it off. Watch, anything with teeth on it will chew up the brass! My 12" Bahco never slips and using the method I've described always gets results.
You can also get someone to hold the tap to stop it turning and slip a steel pole/scaffold tube over your adjustable and get maximum leverage.

 

[Mickyplumb]

I do a lot of local authority maintenance and we're always coming across this problem. I use one of the nerrad plier wrenches similar to the knipex one. They never ever slip and won't round off the flats

 

[dave1]

Plenty of leverage and a decent adjustable spanner or grips, leverage is the key.