There's something about the Internet that causes people to post videos on it that don't accurately reflect reality. Many how-to videos are of course quite useful, but others involve what I call The Magic Crescent Wrench. A few months ago I needed to replace the little threaded-hex vacuum switch on top of the transfer case in my truck. It's a really crowded neighborhood down there, there's only a couple of inches clearance above the thing, and one has to do the job blind. I took a look on YouTube to see if anyone had any tricks to share and ran across a mechanic who basically sat on the ground next to his truck (which was the same kind as mine), picked up a crescent wrench, slid his arm under the rocker panel, gave a couple of swings to the wrench, and pulled out the part. But on the planet where I live, there's so much plumbing and stuff around that little switch that no straight crescent wrench is going to get enough swing to be practical unless it's so short that it's impossible to give it any torque. I ended up having to use a flex-head ratchet and root around in my socket archives to find a socket that was long enough to engage the hex flats but short enough to fit in the little vertical space available. And even then to get the little obscenity removed I had to slip a two-foot piece of pipe over the ratchet handle.
Today I needed to replace a hundred-year-old angle valve on a steam radiator. I've done it many times before. If it's a good day, it works like this: apply ACDelco Rust Penetrant (it's the finest stuff in the world, buy a can if you don't have some already), find the largest pipe wrench you can (at least two feet), and find the largest friend you can (at least six feet) to hold onto it to prevent the pipe nipple from turning. Then take a really massive adjustable wrench, slip the longest cheater pipe you have over the handle, and have at the valve. As happens about a quarter of the time, that didn't do the trick (and the friend had other things to do). So plan B involves carefully using a Dremel with a cutting wheel to slit the threaded part enough so you can split a chunk out of the brass with a chisel (while not damaging the threads on the nipple). If it's a very bad day, you have to split more than one piece off. Eventually I got it done, and just for fun looked up an on-line video. Of course the guy there used The Magic Crescent Wrench, not even bothering to hold the nipple stationary, and the valve spun off like a top.
Mentioned this phenomenon to a buddy. He said that Magic Crescent Wrenches are readily available in the same place as the next-door-neighbor women in those other on-line videos that don't reflect reality either.
Today I needed to replace a hundred-year-old angle valve on a steam radiator. I've done it many times before. If it's a good day, it works like this: apply ACDelco Rust Penetrant (it's the finest stuff in the world, buy a can if you don't have some already), find the largest pipe wrench you can (at least two feet), and find the largest friend you can (at least six feet) to hold onto it to prevent the pipe nipple from turning. Then take a really massive adjustable wrench, slip the longest cheater pipe you have over the handle, and have at the valve. As happens about a quarter of the time, that didn't do the trick (and the friend had other things to do). So plan B involves carefully using a Dremel with a cutting wheel to slit the threaded part enough so you can split a chunk out of the brass with a chisel (while not damaging the threads on the nipple). If it's a very bad day, you have to split more than one piece off. Eventually I got it done, and just for fun looked up an on-line video. Of course the guy there used The Magic Crescent Wrench, not even bothering to hold the nipple stationary, and the valve spun off like a top.
Mentioned this phenomenon to a buddy. He said that Magic Crescent Wrenches are readily available in the same place as the next-door-neighbor women in those other on-line videos that don't reflect reality either.