HBT saved me 50 bucks!

So yesterday I decided that my draft tower was due for some much needed maintenance... In order to do said maintenance I needed to get the shanks off of the tower itself... Which I figured would be easy...

Wrong... After about 30-40 min of screwing around with various wrenches and pliers I consulted the great oracle that is google... Eventually i figured out that there is a special tool for this, a draft tower wrench, BUT in order to get the size i needed (my shanks are 1 1/16), it would end up costing me around 50 bucks with shipping!

As I looked at the piece more and more, I began to think to myself, this really just looks like a normal circle wrench with a hole cut out of it... So, I did what any good homebrewer would do and I consulted HBT, and I found a few threads saying just that...

Anyways, a trip down to Ollies Discount Barn, $7 and 15 min with the dremmel later...



Worked like a charm... Anyways, just another great story about how this board not only is a catalyst for me wasting money, but also helps me save money

I would suspect that a pipe crescent wrench would also do the trick. Although you might need to grind the thickness of the socket (on the wrench) some, since they tend to be thicker.

I do wonder why a standard open end wrench wouldn't do the same thing. No cutting required there. I don't think I'll be using any tower setup in my keezer, so I won't need to make a uni-task tool. Or if I do install towers, I'll make sure to design them around more standard attachment methods.

In terms of brewing and brew-related questions, HBT and Google are great, I agree.

B

Golddiggie said:

I would suspect that a pipe crescent wrench would also do the trick. Although you might need to grind the thickness of the socket (on the wrench) some, since they tend to be thicker.

I do wonder why a standard open end wrench wouldn't do the same thing. No cutting required there. I don't think I'll be using any tower setup in my keezer, so I won't need to make a uni-task tool. Or if I do install towers, I'll make sure to design them around more standard attachment methods.

Click to expand...

They would definably work, but the issue with the tower is getting the tool inside... usually the open ended wrenches are too thick to maneuver in the small space... There isn't anything special about the locknut on the shank, it's just the tubing and the limited space that requires a special tool

HBT may have saved you money this time, but in the long run, it will cost you thousands.


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