Bearhug Tap wrench kit?

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Discuss Bearhug Tap wrench kit? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

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Carl86

I was just wondering peeps if anyone has used or had experience with these type of tools? Are they any good? they saved your life on any occasion you know the im glad I had these with me other wise i'd be there till next week scenario :D

lately i've had to change a fair few basin, bath and kitchen taps over on the site im on, and in certain cases found access difficult and the power required to losen the connect nuts and connections hard using a monument basin wrench with the toby bar especialy in tight spaces with no room for the leverage.

Rothenberger one...

Rothenberger Bearhug Tap Wrench Kit

Scottool one...

Scottool Bk1 Adjustable Bath Basin and Tap Wrench Kit Set

Both more or less the same.
 
The Bearhug Tap Wrench kit works very well (though not in ALL situations -- like most tools) because it can be adjusted to grip back and tailnuts in a positive way. I use it nearly every time I need to swap/fit conventional bath/sink/basin taps -- not monoblocs -- and would not be without the kit.
 
I use a cheapy set of box spanners from silverline and they are brilliant and cost me about a tenner. Fits in small nooks and crannys and the tommy bar is adjustable.
 
Ive got a box spanner for Half Inch and 3/4, and also a set of smaller ones for monocblocks all great bits of kit.

I've got a monument tap wrench to fit basin and bath tap connection nuts but found it hard to use in akward areas as the jaws kept slipping off the nut when holding on to the jaws was not possible and the spring loaded ones are very bulky under certain basins and baths so its always hard to get it to tighten anything up as it simply does not fit.

After what Alanka said I think this is one bit of kit that would help solve some of my issues so i may get it along side that rothenberger olive splitter.
 
monument adjustable wrench a set of box spanner is realy all you need no matter how many wrenches you carry theres always gonna be a tap you wind up cutting out
most taps fitted in the last 15 years come out easy when i were a boy every tap was fixed with putty and plaster mix god some of them took a lot of getting out
to be honest its not getting the taps out thats the problem these days its stopping the taps spinning
 
REDSAW34 said:
£40+ quid seems a lot of money to me for a bent spanner?
Click to expand...
If you surf around you can get Bearhug online for less than this -- £30 typically. This does include a nice box with two Bearhugs, a ratchet driver, and two extension bars.

If you've already got a 3/8" driver, you can buy Bearhugs individually for much less.
 
ah! now i may be interested alanka.
got box's of ex bars and ratchets so just the sockets will be better.
do you know where to get them on there own?.
 
 
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anyone tried the jaw dropper spanner

Jaw Dropper Plumbing Wrench - NoLinkingToThis, Where the Trade Buys
 
danielp said:
anyone tried the jaw dropper spanner

Jaw Dropper Plumbing Wrench - NoLinkingToThis, Where the Trade Buys
Click to expand...


I've got a set of the Jaw Droppers and find them really good. Much, much easier to use than the adjustable type and fit most back nuts and union nuts well.

I can't compare them to the Bear Hugs as I haven't used them but from the pictures on the links it looks like they do the same job

Mark
 
How good / easy is the adjustability of the Bear Hugs?

I had to replace a bath mixer yesterday and struggled with every combination of tap wrench I have - even the Jaw Droppers. Ended up only being able to use my Bahco wide jaw adjustable and that was a real tight squeeze.

Mark
 
REDSAW34 said:
i just dont get it?

jaw dropper is just a crows foot spanner?.
Click to expand...

They do seem to to be the same but the head is certainly a better fit on most backnuts and unions than a crows foot. The head is also much smaller so it fits better up under basins.

Mark
 
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MarkB said:
They do seem to to be the same but the head is certainly a better fit on most backnuts and unions than a crows foot. The head is also much smaller so it fits better up under basins.

Mark
Click to expand...

yeh but wouldnt a £1 bent spanner from the pound shop do the same job?.
why spend £30, i no, tight old git. but convince me its better.:confused:
 
I am designing a very similar product as part of my course at uni , i have created a thread (tap wrenches) in order to gain some feedback about these products and their alternatives. So if anyone has any info or problems with these products , it would be appreciated if you drop me a post

thanks
Matt mannion
 
What i really need is a bloke about 18 inches tall with byceps like popeye, he can then crawl underneath the bath and tighten the nut on the far side. He's gotta be prepared to work for food and live in the back of a transit.

Drop me a post when you've made him.
 
NickH said:
What i really need is a bloke about 18 inches tall with byceps like popeye, he can then crawl underneath the bath and tighten the nut on the far side. He's gotta be prepared to work for food and live in the back of a transit.

Drop me a post when you've made him.
Click to expand...
found one,
 

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If you are removing or installing tap back nuts then you won't beat this. You can leggo of it while you take abite out of your sandwich!, use a cordless to nut spin or a socket wrench for max torque and reach.

www.monument-tools.om/stiffnuts.htm
 
The Monument backnut kit looks interesting, but it misses the point when you want to work on backnuts and tailnuts with the supply pipework connected! Which is where Bearhug and other similar tools come in.

For example I have been called out three times in the last two weeks to sort out basin taps and kitchen taps that are leaking from beneath the basin/sink. Usually it proves to be the joint between the tap tail and the supply pipe. This is often caused by a loose backnut allowing the tap to rotate slightly in use and gradually work the joint loose and damage the fibre washer.

Remaking the joint by replacing the fibre washer and gunking it up cures the problem. But to do this involves removing the tap without having to remove or cut the supply pipework - which in turn involves removing both back and tail nuts with, for example, a Bearhug wrench.

I don't think that tube spanners and the above Monument tool can help you with this.
 
Tap Backnuts can be tricky to take off especially as Stevetheplumber says when the've been glued on 30 years or more ago. In these situations there is really only one alternative to sawing the old brass tap out and that is one of those new tubular spanner things from monument tools. I think they call it s stiffy nut spanner or something. You can see a demo of it here YouTube - STIFFNUTS_REMOVAL_LIVE.wmv. It is also brilliant for installing new taps.
 
yer that tool tbh honest is use less in that vid i dont think i have ever seen a space big enough for it let alone a drill aswell !
 
Life is also too short to spend hours removing stuck on taps, I agree the vid looks as though you need loads of space, but it is only the size of a box spanner, the length is totally upto you. Don't knock it until you've tried it, I have and it does the job well.

"What does it do better than a box spanner", - its Stronger, has 7 different size sockets to suit all those cheap chinese imports, can be driven by a cordless or a ratchet and you can let go of it and it tays in place for when those arms are beginning to ache and you don't then have to realign the tool. Becasue it uses a thread sleeve to raise the socket it will clean the tap tail thread if it has been damaged or clogged up. It will do taps up tighter than most other tools meaning that the tap will not come loose again causing you a second visit later to retighten.
 
well i think you will be spending longer cutting and removing the pipe to get that thing in than you would with any tap spanner!
 
danielhelp, please do not slate something irrationally until you have tried it, you really should not make comments like these on something you have not tried.
I used to say I did not like banana cake, then to my suprise one day I tried it and guess what it was fantastic. Go suck eggs.
 
the product its self is probably a good tool BUT like i said there is a 1 in million chance that you can get that under a bath and how can cutting the pipes out of the way be quicker than a normal tap spanner or the jaw dropper ?? stop eating your cake and read what i said ?
 
JJayMan said:
Life is also too short to spend hours removing stuck on taps, I agree the vid looks as though you need loads of space, but it is only the size of a box spanner, the length is totally upto you. Don't knock it until you've tried it, I have and it does the job well.

"What does it do better than a box spanner", - its Stronger, has 7 different size sockets to suit all those cheap chinese imports, can be driven by a cordless or a ratchet and you can let go of it and it tays in place for when those arms are beginning to ache and you don't then have to realign the tool. Becasue it uses a thread sleeve to raise the socket it will clean the tap tail thread if it has been damaged or clogged up. It will do taps up tighter than most other tools meaning that the tap will not come loose again causing you a second visit later to retighten.
Click to expand...
ive managed 35 years with a monument basin spanner and a box spanner only ocassionally having to cut them out
i can tighten any back nut to its full torque using them in fact a bigger problem is not overtightening to the point where the weak feeble excusses for back nuts we get now split
you can go on and on filling the van with gadgets till you need pickfords to deliver your tools
 
Listen Danielp, I have never mentioned cutting out pipes in any of this thread, get your facts straight. Lets face it if I was going to cut a pipe, tap or sink off the wall why would I bother to undo stiff nuts.
All I have ever said is that the tool is great for all the reasons I have posted previosuly, I almost wish I had never bothered mentioning it because all I have had is criticism in you replies that are not fact but purely unfactual.

If I had an axe to grind I would have pointed out all the short comings of the bear hug tool you love so much, but I have not done so because I do not own one, therefore I am not qulified to say that it is useless.

Let call it quits, stop bitching, agree to differ and say you don't think you'd like a stiffnuts wrench or to use one, I do have one, I like it a lot and leave it at that.
 
I have the bearhug wrenches and they are very good, somethimes they suffered from certain basin designs where they couldn't fit on and turn so I carefuly ground them down (not the jaws themselves) a bit and now they fit better in difficult basins.

Fantastic tool, no plumber should be without these.

Also I would'nt be without my wide jaw stubby adjustable spanner for basins aswell.
 
That's just what I've done on my 1/2" Bearhug wrench, to fit particularly tight basins!

Great minds.....!
 
Posting on a very old post, bit if anyone is still reading and willing to give advice the please give me your opinion on (Neilson basin wrench, 11" & 16" adjustables) any advice would be appreciated.
 
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