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Does anyone know where I can buy sockets (as in socket set) to fit SQUARE male drain plugs of various sizes ? I've got a set that fits female drain plugs (square and hexangular) but cant find others. Using a normal multipoint socket is never satisfactory, they cant grip the flats only the four corners and because a male drain plug is generally slightly tapered they round out the corners and jump when used on a tight plug.
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Will a 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 socket extension fit the hole?
If not, I'm stumped. What's it on?
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I've got a special 'spanner' with four different size sockets on the end - its fits most square male drain plugs. Can't remember where it can from - I think my father got it when he was running the garage. I would image a good tool factor could help.
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www.lasertools.co.uk
or more specifically
www.lasertools.co.uk/pages/trade/virtualshop/laser...p
And then click on \"Servicing\" then \"Drain Plug\"
(thank heaven for an edit button. 5th attempt at the url.)
(make that the 6th attempt)
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www.lasertools.co.uk/pages/trade/virtualshop/laser...p And then click on \"Servicing\" then \"Drain Plug\"
Wrong sex?? Claude wants one to fit a male.
A useful site.
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Wrong sex?? Claude wants one to fit a male.
*That* must be where the New Haynes manual comes in handy.
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If it's male, would a spanner suffice?
What about a gatorgrip socket?
I have also noticed drain cocks and some threaded end caps in heating systems have squares,
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Not boasting but I have a large King Dick adjustable suitable for this job....
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Ok, enough of the double entendre's. Please remember this is Technical Matters. Discussion is next door.
DD. BR Moderator.
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Sounds like you need to look in a plumber's toolkit.
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Britool and others no BiSquare i.e. eight sides and they tap on very nicely Regards Peter
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I use an old 10" adjustable with broad jaws. If a square top taper drain plug ever needs anything more than this it is way too tight.
M.M
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Just a tip for when you do get the plug out: spend a few minutes truing it up, filing the flats square again. I've always used an ordinary spanner, but it is worth filing the plug so that the spanner (or the next size down) is a perfect fit.
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Thanks for all the advice. I already have a purpose made drain plug wrench and also a set of drain plug keys and even a plumbers set of square and hex keys. But those all work with FEMALE drain plugs (in other words having a recess). What I cant find (and they are not featured on the Laser Tool site) is a socket which will fit onto square MALE drain plugs (in other words with a square stub sticking out). Sometimes there are hard to reach plugs which either cannot be accessed by a spanner or wrench or only with considrable difficulty, perhaps by removing something else. For example the engine drain block on a Rangerover or transfer filler plug on my Jeep. A socket used with an extension bar and ratchet would make short work of some jobs. If I cant find a purpose made socket I'll have to take a large nut, file out the centre to make a square shaped hole and then use it with a conventional multi-point socket. But I'm hopeful some knowledgeable person will be able to save me the trouble.
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Another quick google found this:-
www.matcotools.net/catalogue/products.asp?category...4
Scroll down the page until you find the section on '1/2" Drive Square Male Drive Sockets', or alternately press Ctrl+F and enter the above in the find box.
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Ahh...I see your point. If it happened to be a 10mm square Snap-On do one for a 3/8th drive.
buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_det.asp?P65=&tool=hand...g
Their online ordering is easy.
M.M
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Appeciate the suggestions. Unfortunately those 'square male drive sockets' fit into FEMALE drain plugs so I'm no further forward. Strange isnt it, you wouldnt have thought it was a particularly hard thing to find.
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Thanks M.M, thats exactly the sort of socket I'm referring to. Now I just need to check what size my various drain plugs are on different vehicles and check whether Snap-on do any other sizes of socket. Certainly one of hardest to reach plugs (Rangerover engine block coolant drain plug) is 3/8th of an inch which is 9.5mm so thats one job solved.
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Claude, did you see Sooty Tailpipe's earlier suggestion of trying a gator socket. It's one of those devices with retractable pins that mould itself around any shaped nut it's put on.
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I've never come across one of those so his post hadnt really registered. Thanks for the reminder.
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Thanks for that, very interesting. I presume there must be a limit on the torque you can apply before the pins start twisting out of shape. In my search through the Snap-on website I came across a socket (and also a set of 5 sockets) designed to do a similar job . These are impact sockets but instead of the internal flutes of the socket being parallel (as they in every normal socket) these are twisted so that the harder you turn the socket the tighter it grips the nut. Its designed for damaged or mishapen nuts and one other advantage is that its a loose fit when you put it on so it doesnt need hammering on to the nut. And of course there is no internal moveable part to get twisted out of shape when you really heave on it. I would guess that the Gator socket is kinder to a square male drain plug so long as its not too tight. Conversley the Snap-on socket (part PMP410A) will probably get any stuck drain plug undone but might chew the corners as it does it. But I think I might get one for the tool box for those odd nuts where you cant get the splitter in poistion or the angle-grinder!
buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_det.asp?P65=&tool=all&...g
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I've used a Gator very successfully on some really stubborn manifold nuts that were rusted solid and totally corroded out of shape. I'd regard it as a last ditch expedient though, not something to use regularly in place of the proper tool on a clean nut.
If you can't find a proper square tool for this job, I'd get it out by any means - big wrench, stillson, etc, and then either file it true again or get a new one.
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After all that, the drain plugs on one vehicle turned out to be nine sixteenths (14.3mm) and also slightly tapered which meant that the solution of using a half inch drive socket (turned back to front) couldnt be used. So I spent 15 minutes filing a square tapered hole in a hex nut which now fits snugly on to the drain plug and onto to which I can put a normal socket and use extension bars and a ratchet etc. Easy solution which I should have done at the outset. But I'll still buy a Gator socket.
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