I took a few photos during my last build. During this build I prepped 5 tanks, so I learned a bit about setting up a rig to help make value removal easier. Without the rig, I actually damaged the handle on the tank, because I put too much pressure on the wrench to attempt the removal. Here's a photo of a damaged tank, the arrow shows the warped area of the handle. I was able to remove the valve on this tank, once I experimented with, and created the rig. Remember to only attempt this with a new, never been filled tank.
What I engineered was a rig, using my Black and Decker portable workbench. I also used a tie-down strap with a tightening ratchet to hold the tank body in place. Final, I used a 12 inch adjustable wrench and a 1.25 inch diameter by 3 foot pipe extension for leverage on the wrench. This made the process a piece of cake. Note that I used a steel crow bar, secured in the workbench, to keep the tank from rotating.
I used the same rig to remove the metal bracket on the bottom of the tank. This part of the tank becomes the playing area.
Here's a view of the tools needed to remove the tank valve:
I used the same rig to remove the metal bracket on the bottom of the tank. This part of the tank becomes the playing area.
Here's a view of the tools needed to remove the tank valve:
5 comments:
I applause you and Dennis effort to make the Hank Drum available for the rest of the world. Great thanks! I´ve sign up for The Hank Drum Collective. Hopefully I have something to contribute with later on. Best regards from Sweden!
/Forsyte
I love that I found this page. I, too, was having the same difficulty: I had deformed the handle, the top part of the tank, in the exact same way.
I solved it out of frustration & luck, by grabbing a sledge hammer & whacking the valve, which loosened it up enough to start turning!
A small improvement could be to add a scale to the templates.
I just made one from the plans Dennis provides and he was right about starting high on the notes so you can lower them easily. Most all my notes were very flat and it was a pain to sharpen them, some by a whole note or two. Also, the valve gave me such a fit that I just cut it out along with the weld that held the threads.
I believe you are probably having such problems because they use some kind of (lock tight)temperature releasable thread locking fluid ! If you open the valve and then heat it with a torch to about 300 degrees the compound will then release , don't allow to cool much as it may re lock. Also watch out for the expansion of the hottest part the valve versus the tank larger cooler body . I would be tempted if having problems to have a wet cloth to wrap the valve only to cool it quickly to shrink a little bit while the wrench is giving it some pressure , all of a sudden it should release.
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