In article ,
jon wrote:
On Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:42:10 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I've fitted one of those brass thread filling valves to my cistern.
Don't get on with plastic when the pipes are copper.

Tightening up the tap fitting is presenting a problem. There is very
little brass thread projecting from the cistern - although it does have
flats on it. Which measure at 18mm. So needs a very slim spanner to go
between the tap fitting nut and the one holding the valve into the
cistern. Needs to be less than 4mm thick.

You can buy slim spanners at a price. But this doesn't need to be as
strong as you'd need for a nut that size on a car, etc. One of the old
pressed steel bike types would probably be strong enough.

The new cistern is a very expensive Ideal Standard one. It's a high
level type with a chain for the flush. The lever simply didn't have
enough range to operate the syphon. Pull the wire link on the syphon
by hand and it worked just fine. Went as far as phoning their help
line. No help there - other than take pics and send to them.

After a deal of head scratching - the lever looked very well made and
polished chrome - it turned out it had been fitted to the bracket the
wrong way round. Pressed out the roll pin pivot and re-assembled and
it now works.

Some bicycle spanners are very thin and are usually stamped out, so
quite cheap.

That was my first thought, so looked at Halfords. Cheap, they are not.
Their pressed combination spanner - the sort that came with the bikes when
I was a lad - costs as much as a pukka drop forged open ender - but
doesn't have 18mm anyway. I suppose I could have bought one and ground it
out to 18mm.

Some more searching on Ebay found what I need is a cone spanner. And they
do come in 18mm, so one ordered up. Odd that Screwfix don't sell one.
Wonder what proper plumbers use?

--
*It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats*

Dave Plowman London SW
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