Anyone know where I could buy a 2" AF spanner, preferably a combination type. It's for undoing central heating pump unions
2" AF spanner
Oct 09, 2004
19 Replies
That's a big spanner.
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:-)
You could try an 18" adjustable.
Or you could get something like this
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open it up with a grinder.
Best I can find, I'm afraid.
================= Have a look at:
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or specifically (watch for wrap):
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you're desperate to use an open ended spanner it would be much cheaper to buy a large adjustable or a pair of 'Stilsons'.
Have a look at:
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Cic.
Normally one would use a pair of "water pump pliers" like:
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davy wrote in news:Xns957DC2C622CDAalanhotmailcom@
62.253.162.201:
I used 18" Stillsons
Got anything like a chain wrench?
mike
He didn't ask for waterpump pliers, he asked for a 2" AF spanner.
In message , Rob Morley writes
Did you not notice the suggestion above the link ?
Yes I noticed it - I also wondered why it was made in reply to my post rather than the OP's.
So why did you ask the question ?
What question do you think I asked?
In article , davy writes
I had the same problem earlier this year. After seeing the price of them online, I tried to hire one, which got me some funny looks.
In the end I used a pair of Stilsons.
Doesn't a combination type have a ring at one end? What would you use that for where pipes are involved?
You'd need to try a tool supplier that deals with trucks etc. But expect it to cost, due to the size and small demand. And a nut on a central heating pump can't be tight enough to need that sort of spanner. Unless it's corroded in place, and then undoing won't help as there will be no thread left. You just cut those off.
In message , Rob Morley writes
It's how it panned out in my newsreader hmmm...
Do you have a choice of how it threads, or does it just do it?
I do use waterpump pliers, but the problem with them is that they do not spread the load on the union nut very well and often the nut feels tighter than it is because you are squeezing the nut onto the threads
Stillsons of that size I sometimes use but they are fairly clumsy - ok for system boilers, fairly hopless on most combis.
The ring would have a segment cut from it to allow it to fit onto the pipe, and then slipped onto the union nut. This would be the most effective tool at loosening stiff unions as it will distribute the load effectively
offy dear, I think I'll have to make something up
'tis, innit?
Out with the welder and angle iron :-)
Cutting a 1 and 1/8" segment out of an expensive ring spanner seems rather extreme. You could easily make up a simple open ended spanner from a piece of 1/4" plate (possibly 3/8"). Get an offcut about 3" wide from a local engineering shop, mark out a 2" wide mouth and drill out around the marking with progressively larger drills and finish off with a large flat file and a round file. Cut the handle part to a suitable size with an angle grinder. This won't produce a top quality spanner but it will do this job because (as another poster pointed out) CH pump nuts are not really very tight unless they're badly corroded. And it won't cost you £85-00p!
Cic.
Hi,
Try using a bigger size and shim it with a few strips of metal.
cheers, Pete.
I'd normally use a Mole wrench or a big monkey wrench for that job because I happen to have them. If you don't want to pay a lot for an open-ender go along to an autojumble where you'll probably find several traders selling old tools. It's surprising what you can pick up.
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