Need help fixing my font

[bobban]

I have a problem with one of my font taps being loose. My font has 3 taps and it is the middle one.

I need to somehow tighten the nut inside the font but don't know what I can do to tighten it. I bought a Krome font spanner from CraftBrewer which is also where I got the Krome font from originally but the C spanner on it seems pretty much useless for this task. It does fit the hex nuts inside the font but with both the 3 hex nuts being so close and the small diameter of the font I cannot even turn the nut for one of the higher taps one sixth of a rotation. The tap that needs tightening is the middle one and this is actually lower than the left and right taps so the nut for this is deeper in the font and obscured by the nuts for the other taps making it practically impossible for me at the moment.

I think if I got out my angle grinder and started trimming down the font spanner drastically but this seems a little extreme. Does anyone know a better way to handle this?

I attached some pics of my font and the spanner.

 

[pk.sax]

Angle grinder with flap disc. Think I needed to widen mine about 1.3 mm.

Works great now.

 

[CrookedFingers]

Hey bobbin,
Looks to me that you may have to undo the top 2, tighten the lower nut then put the other 2 back on.
You might get away with just undoing one of the upper ones.

Good luck !!

CF

 

[bobban]

Angle grinder with flap disc. Think I needed to widen mine about 1.3 mm.

Works great now.

Not sure what you are widening? The C spanner fits the nuts but is very snug. Do you mean you are widening the mouth of the C spanner so it is not so snug?

Hey bobbin,
Looks to me that you may have to undo the top 2, tighten the lower nut then put the other 2 back on.
You might get away with just undoing one of the upper ones.

Good luck !!

CF

The problem is that I cannot even undo a single one of the top nuts. One of the photos show the spanner on the nut but I cannot even turn it enough to get a grip on just the next side of the hex nut. The handle of the spanner hits the inside of the font and the spanner end is so chunky it is hitting the other nut.

 

[pk.sax]

Well, mine was undersize so I had to widen the mouth.

It's not that hard by the way, use the spanner more like a socket to he the first turn and go from there. I set up my three tap recently too.

 

[TidalPete]

As mentioned, you will have to take out the top two shanks to get at the bottom one.

A good idea is to buy a cheap appropriate-sized ring spanner (1-1/16" AF I think it is?) & grind a groove through the centre big enough to allow the spanner to slip over the beer line barb behind each shank nut for easy tightening\dismantling.

 

[bobban]

Thanks guys, good tips I will give this a go. :icon_cheers:

 

[bobban]

Well it was a successful operation. Had to pretty much mutilate that Krome C spanner to make it work (picture attached). I overdid trimming down one of the arms and in the final stages of tightening the rear tap nuts up with the thought in mind of never having to do this again I pushed too far and it started to bend.

I did have to loosen off both top taps to battle with the bottom one. Actually trimming the handle was more important because the diameter of that font makes getting one sixth of a turn on the bottom tap hex nut a ridiculously hard challenge even with the spanner modifications (I should have taken off another third of what is still there but just got by). Widening the mouth of the spanner just a touch was definitly a good call by practicalfool because it is way too snug as is and some wiggle made just possible.

A farily unpleasant task in general but nice to have the wobbly tap fixed up.

 

[pk.sax]

Hey mate, mine is 77mm outer dia with a 1mm thick wall, don't think I went through that much grief! Care to measure yours up?

 

[bobban]

Hey mate, mine is 77mm outer dia with a 1mm thick wall, don't think I went through that much grief! Care to measure yours up?

Yep, it's the same. Is your triple or double?

 

[pk.sax]

Triple

 

[pk.sax]

Comparing it, your top two tap holes are way too close. Mine seem to be at a 90 degree angle between the hole axes.

 

[bobban]

Comparing it, your top two tap holes are way too close. Mine seem to be at a 90 degree angle between the hole axes.

Yes, you got it! There is definitly a significant difference there. Glad I am not going mad. :unsure:

With the C spanner as it came to me I could not even turn a top tap nut one sixth before hitting the other tap.

 

[TidalPete]

Finally got around to modifying that old ring spanner.
Got all three nuts much tighter.

 

[dicko]

Finally got around to modifying that old ring spanner.
Got all three nuts much tighter.

Ring spanners are better for the job as they offer you the opportunity to turn the nut 1/12 ( one twelfth ) of a turn at one time.

An old fitter now signing off

 

[klangers]

Just reviving an old thread - I'm in the process of building my own keezer/bar (pics when complete or I'll lose motivation!). The font will look sort of like this, but with 8 taps:



I need to attach shanks to a length (say 1m) of 80mm stainless tube. The problem is, getting a spanner into the inner most shanks (there are 8 evenly spread over the 1m) is nearly impossible. Also, there will be all the beer lines to contend with when tightening (unless I attach the beer lines after, but that creates another problem).

I can get the nuts onto the shank easily enough by prodding with a stick, but cannot tighten.

I foolishly bought shanks with an barb welded on, so a 27mm socket is out of the question.

I had two ideas:

• Buy or make a special spanner with a very long handle
• Abduct a person with long, thin arms and small hands
• Buy 8 additional shank nuts and tighten from the outside

Does anyone know what the thread dimensions are of the shanks, and/or where to get shank nuts by themselves? Any other ideas?

 

[MastersBrewery]

When I worked in pubs and clubs years ago I never really took much notice. Wish I had, I too like the goal post type fonts. From the point of veiw of designing the whole thing from scratch a captured nut (like what is used to attach the tap to the shank) would be the easiest solution.

 

[fraser_john]

Just reviving an old thread - I'm in the process of building my own keezer/bar (pics when complete or I'll lose motivation!). The font will look sort of like this, but with 8 taps:



I need to attach shanks to a length (say 1m) of 80mm stainless tube. The problem is, getting a spanner into the inner most shanks (there are 8 evenly spread over the 1m) is nearly impossible. Also, there will be all the beer lines to contend with when tightening (unless I attach the beer lines after, but that creates another problem).

I can get the nuts onto the shank easily enough by prodding with a stick, but cannot tighten.

I foolishly bought shanks with an barb welded on, so a 27mm socket is out of the question.

I had two ideas:

• Buy or make a special spanner with a very long handle
• Abduct a person with long, thin arms and small hands
• Buy 8 additional shank nuts and tighten from the outside

Does anyone know what the thread dimensions are of the shanks, and/or where to get shank nuts by themselves? Any other ideas?

Similar problem with our portable bar, one suggestion was to buy a 27mm spanner and cut a notch in it and then cut off the round bit and weld it to a long steel bar , pass the notch over the barb and tighten by turning the tap.

Not ideal!

 

[klangers]

Thanks guys.

I think I'll drop into the stainless suppliers near work and see if they can help with getting a second nut for each shank. Downside: the little shiny collars won't fit so it won't look quite as neat (there will be a second nut instead). Upside: I can actually attach and tighten the shanks without removing the beer line or turning the tap.

I'll post some pics later.

 

[hotmelt]

Would something like this fit inside?