What happened to the good old box spanner??

[Dustydog]

At Lindisfarne the bathroom tap failed. I had a spare , 4 years old with O rings now perished!
Easy job for an old dog. Tap changes need a long box spanner to make life easy. Can be done with a spanner but fiddly. Idiot buys a set of box S from the Berwick threaded place . Great. But these ones have had the holes punched through for the T bar. No way will a long bolt fit inside the box spanner. Another example of don’t reinvent the wheel. Return for refund Monday🤬🤬🤬🤬

 

[Jcloughie]

It got replaced by either one of these:

Or these.

John

 

[Dustydog]

Got one John. That won’t fit in a caravan basin!

 

[Jcloughie]

If I remember correctly, I had a similar problem a long time ago. Turned out it was quite easy to remove the whole basin, change the tap with tails, and replace as a whole.

Would that be a possibility?

John

 

[JTQ]

There is a chance this might "help":
The tap being, I assume, plastic really should not be held too tight by the nut, so if like those of mine it should prove quite easy to undo.

I took a circle of thick ply about the diameter of a cup, but check what room you have. Into that I cut the profile of the correct size of open ended spanner. That held in the fingers has proved suitable for blindly getting up the underside of our basin to undo the nut, and of course redo it up.
As you can access with a box, so pipes not dictating an open ended spanner, a similar disk with the nut shaped fret sawn cut out, might be as suitable in your case.

I tend to leave my pipes on, always concerned with disturbing those awful push on connectors, main pipework to the tails.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Guys
Many thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. All sorted on the day with my mini spanners and twizell arm.
the tails to the taps can only be removed on the bench.
JTQ.
The taps are designed differently these days with a “c” bracket and bolt securing the tap assembly to the counter. Hence you need a long box spanner. All done but with difficulty. Box spanners aren’t what they used to be!!

 

[Hutch]

DustyD, I have the spanners and sockets in my three toolboxes at home, AF, Metric and even some old Witworth and BA , but when you have a problem, your miles away, from the tool box. My small SnapOn, tool box in the car now with only Metric SnapOn stuff may be £2000 worth. Bet the tool I need will be at home.