I thought today would be a good day to replace the sprayer and hose attachment on my kitchen sink, so I bought the kit and a basin wrench, which the directions said I would need.
I read the instructions, and even watched a video on YouTube to see how a basin wrench works, but I will be damned if I can get it to loosen the nut holding the nipple on the sprayer hose that is under the sink. I have the jaws positioned correctly, but it won’t grip the nut tight enough to loosen it; it breaks traction every time, grinding off just a little more of the corners of the nut each time. Of course, the area under my kitchen sink is exceedingly cramped, and getting a conventional adjustable wrench on the nut is impossible also.
So is a basin wrench just a prank plumbers play (like a left-handed pipe stretcher) on those of us who dare to attempt to perform minor plumbing repairs? Or is there a plumbing god that must be supplicated for a basin wrench to actually works as it is described?
I’ve been a plumber since 1979 and whenever I change out a faucet, the basin wrench is the only way to go. Maybe the spring in yours is too weak or the part you’re trying to undo is rusted in place.
I have never used one. Looking at them, that is exactly what I would expect to happen when you try to use one on an old, corroded nut. If plumbers manage to make one work, likely it is a higher quality one they bought at a plumbing supply house, not Lowes.
When I start such a project, my wife is usually careful to remove her self and in the past, the kids from the house. Vile language, penetrating oil, Vice-Grips, Channellocks, hammer and chisel, hacksaw, torch, etc., and eventually it yields.
As the directions said and you are finding out, it is a needed tool for this work. Yours is not working. Either the tool is bad or your nut is very shallow and worn. You might be able to increase the grip by skillfully inserting some sandpaper to help. You could form the sandpaper in a column like a toilet paper insert and place it over the nut. Or you could bend the sandpaper so it is rough on both sides and put that inside the tool. Looks like you will have to improvise.
If you had long nosed vise grips that opened far enough, that might get the nut moving. Even if you can only grab it and not turn it, perhaps you could rotate the fitting above the sink and nudge it started. Try different things and you will succeed.
I currently have this problem and I’ve been putting it off. In my case, the nut is very shallow and has been fused to the pipe at what I suspect is the atomic level.
Using a wrench is a good idea but the nut is an odd size. Calipers say 1-1/16" IIRC. I did finally break down and get a couple of 1" + sized wrenches though. I’ve needed them for other jobs in the past and I don’t like using vise grips on nuts if I can avoid it. Plus in this situation, it would have been extremely awkward anyway.
I had a similar problem when I decided to replace the faucet on our kitchen sink a few years back.
I ended up completely removing the sink from the countertop, taking it outside, and cutting the faucet nut apart with a Dremel Tool. Not even vice-grips would get that thing off, the nut was fused in place permanently.
I came close to doing this replacing my mother’s. I tried heating it, greasing it with penetrating oil, basin wrench, vice grips, putting a pipe on the basin wrench for leverage and it would not budge. I’d have dremeled it if I could have fit it under the sink but ended up using a small hacksaw and cut it off piece by piece. THAT was a chore and not the wrench’s fault.
Well I’ll be damned, there’s a tool for that! I’ve up a couple of sinks and hardware in our old house and those nuts were a real bitch. I wish I had known there was a tool. I’m going to Lowes this weekend.
Have you considered using a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel? Cut a slot in the nut and pry it off with a screwdriver. This assumes you don’t intend to re-use the old piece of plumbing you’re taking off. Also assuming you’ve got enough space to use it. WEAR EYE PROTECTION!
Several months ago I was trying to take apart the down tube and trap under our bathroom sink. One of the metal compression nuts just wouldn’t budge with a pipe wrench. I went out and bought a Dremel and cut-off wheel specifically for this job. The nut nearly fell apart by itself once I cut a slot in it. Afterwards I’ve found lots of other uses for this. I should have bought one years ago. :smack:
