I’ve been messing with too many well pumps lately and have noticed that I SOMETIMES will have difficulty getting my pipe wrenches to ‘bite’. 18 and 24 inches, one a Ridgid, one not.
Both used before I got them but they don’t look old and beat up.
So, can I look at the teeth to determine if that’s the problem? How sharp should they be? If that is the problem can they be sharpened?
Or, is some pipe just slicker than others? (Much of this is old galvanized.)
Or, am I just not using them correctly? <G> (Should the pipe be all the way back in the jaws, or does it matter?)
Thanks.
Thon
(Things no one ever taught me.)
Replies
You should be approx. 2/3 back in the jaws. If they are slipping they are probably worn out. Jaws are replacable, but expensive. You may be able to sharpen, but that is a really hard metal, don't change the angle of the teeth. I would buy a set of cheap wrenches unless you are going to use them many, many times. Luck.
2/3 - 3/4 of the way bk in..
you can re-jaw the rigid if the jaws are worn out..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
make sure the teeth are clean. They often get mucked up with rust/dirt/paint chips. And if the pipe is old, the surface rust will flake off and act like a bearing, causing the wrench to slip.
Some pipe is particularly resistent to pipe wrenches, like stainless. What I'll sometimes do is put a wrap of emery cloth around the pipe, which helps give the wrench a bit more traction.
Marine Engineer
There's a right and wrong way to grab the piece you are turning with a pipe wrench. If you do it right, the force you apply to the handle to turn the piece will tighten the jaws - do it wrong, it you'll never get a good grip.
Yeah, the main thing is that the sliding arm of the top jaw should not be touching the pipe, but just a hair's breadth away from it when the wrench is being pulled. If that part touches the pipe then it pushes the top jaw away.I would imagine that jaws can be sharpened (at least to a so-so degree) with a Dremel and the right burr. You need a burr that will allow you to reproduce the tooth angle, though, and probably need the Dremel flex shaft attachment to allow you to come in straight on with the burr, vs coming in from the sides.But often it's just paint and carp in the teeth, and a cleaning is all that's needed.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Must be a pretty small school of carp?
It's just that I use the pipe wrench to unscrew their heads.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
To touch or not to touch the pipe with the side of the movable jaw ....
If you're grabbing the pipe far enough from a threaded end, going with the not-touching, two point of contact, approach will allow the jaws to crush the pipe a little, possibly permanently distorting it into an oval. This gets you a real solid grab, and is OK if the job is merely to get rid of a junk piece of old pipe.
Near a threaded end, any distortion is a bad thing. It increases friction on the threads and makes them much harder to turn. Here you want to use the three point of contact, touching the back method. Of course, it's even better to just stay away from the ends if you have enough room to do it that way.
DanH's almost-touching idea is a kind of split the difference thing. Done just right, it can get you a better grab on the pipe without permanent distortion. Personally, I'd need to practice on some scrap pipe, measuring before and after with vernier calipers, to learn exactly how much gap to use.
As to the OP's question, I had a pipe wrench that was slipping. Cleaning the crud out of the teeth with an ice pick helped a lot.
-- J.S.
measuring before and after with vernier calipers
That's not something I imagine most plumbers have in their toolbox.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Yeah, most use micrometers instead.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
most use micrometers instead
for the pipe or the carp?
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
For the pipes. ANYONE knows that you should use a fish scale on the carp.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
see ...
that's why I come here ...
fer the knowledge!
Thanks man ...
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
True, experienced plumbers already know how far they can compress a piece of pipe. I'd have to find out where the elastic limit is by testing and measuring. The calipers would be a learning tool, not an everyday work thing.
-- J.S.