I have a 4 way plumbing key to turn water on or off. Recently, I had an electric faucet that wouldn’t turn off, and tried to turn the water off under the sink. One of the drivers worked, but I couldn’t turn it on account of the pipe was too close.
If the arms of that 4 way key were a couple inches longer, it would have worked fine, but I couldn’t turn more than a quarter turn…
Does anybody make or sell 4 way keys that are 4 or 5 inches long on each arm?
I’m sure I didn’t describe this very well. Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand. I’m not sure I understand, and I’m the one who wrote it…
Thanks in advance,
vic
Maybe, but I doubt it because I think the main objective of that key is keeping it compact…to keep on key chain belt. If it was that much bigger it would lose its purpose. But I know what your saying…it would be nice if there was one like that
There is a huge complex that we do once a year that has these long T handled wrenchs that are used to turn off/on the outside spigots. They almost resemble a T Allen wrench but the end is the same a a box end 4 way found at ACE hardware. I would check with a local plumbing contractor supply store. Its probably a specialty item.
Imagine a square, inside a circle. That is what these valves looks like…
This tool will work, if it fits over the square and still fits inside the outside pipe.
I thank everybody who has participated in this thread, and apologize for falling asleep.
Now it’s “Off to work I go on Graveyard shift…”
I’ll check with Ace Hardware tomorrow.
vic
Yes, we are thoroughly modern up here, Larry!
Drives you nuts trying to clean.
You have it perfectly dry, pull your hand away from the sink and “Down goes Frazier (water)!!”
And it gets annoying, also, when you put some cleaner in a toilet and want it to sit there for a few minutes to loosen the hardwater buildup and the toilet automatically flushes it away.
I just came from Kennewick Industrial. They are the top dog for plumbing in my locale.
All they carry is the 4 way like the one I had in my hand. They said if I want a specific key, they would need the brand name, then they could order it for me.
They also told me it is called a hydrant key. I looked that up in Google, and they are all over the place…
I’m still going to try Ace this afternoon on my way to my Friday Swingshift.
I wonder though, if it shouldn’t be part of code, that valves should not be placed so close to the other plumbing. There are other sinks where the valves are farther away, and you can use the 4 way with no problem. I am having a problem uploading pictures in here.
Good for You vic. I once needed a solid brass J bend drain pipe for a bathroom renovation. I showed the parts counter guy at a plumbers supply and he said “I havent seen one of these in 10 years”. He whips out this book that is as thick as two phonebooks. 1 minute later he says " here they are, how many do you want?" They can get just about anything.
This is just a 1/4" socket extension connected to the hydrant key!
It works great, and I didn’t need to weld anything.
The best part is that I didn’t ruin a socket set making it!
Nobody seemed to have one in stock, not even Granger, so I did some experimenting. I think Jay mentioned using the extension and this is just the ticket!
Thanks to all of you, the case of the missing on/off switch is hereby officially closed.
vic
p.s.- There is hope, as I was able to upload this picture…
I just noticed that my “How a hurricane is born” avatar and the makeshift cross.
What subtle genius! Hehe, I wish i were that clever. It’s just coincidence, Larry.
