Spanner Wrench for Whirlpool or Kenmore Washer Tub Nut

You may need to remove the tub from your Whirlpool or Sears Kenmore washing machine for some repairs.  You will need a special spanner wrench. They can be ordered for about $14 US plus shipping.  I needed one immediately and decided to make my own. The photo shows the tub nut on the drive block.  Both are shown removed from our direct drive washing machine.  The nut is inside the tub and under the agitator.  Space is limited by the sides of the tub to about ten inches between the nut and the side of the tub.  The nut is also a few inches below the top of the tub.  It is difficult to access with anything but a spanner wrench designed for the job.   

Step 1: Materials

The key part in my spanner wrench will be a scrap piece of steel pipe nearly the same diameter as the tub nut.  A couple of inches in length is sufficient.  My scrap piece was about eight inches long and I chose to leave it uncut in case I want to use it for something else in the future.  

Comments

[NaturalCrafter]

I liked this project very much. I learned a lot from it even if I never make this wrench, I know more about repairing a washer. Though there are people I know who would love to make one of these through barter.

[Phil B]

Thank you for looking and for commenting. Barter can be very helpful. This wrench can be used for many similar applications, too. Just choose the pipe to fit the nut you need to remove. I have used this same approach to solve a problem on an automobile I once owned.

[rimar2000]

Good as always, Phil!

I liked the end paragraph of step 1: you and me are twin souls! (for some things).

[Phil B]

Thank you, Osvaldo. In part I feel badly about publishing something that requires welding when many do not have the money to get a welder. I did not have one until recent years. I wish somehow I had gathered the money and gotten one years earlier, but the money was never available. There are so many impossible things that become possible with a welder.

[rimar2000]

No need to worry about those things that require money. Very recently (two years) I was able to buy my first zero miles car. When I fill the tank, I told the boy "this is my recent first 0 Km". As is normal here waiting weeks and even months to receive a buyed new car, he asked me how much it had taken mine. I said "64 years". At first he didn't understand the irony.

[Phil B]

Good joke, Osvaldo. Thank you.

[pfred2]

As I've progressed fabricating I've come to view welding a lot differently anymore. More as a glue than a legitimate fastening technique really. Some projects, some small parts I weld. Mostly I machine and use fasteners now.

I'm totally with you Phil on not publishing projects of limited scope, either in their materials, utility, or methods. I've had requests to write up some of my hair brained stuff and I won't because I think it is just too odd to duplicate.

Even I wouldn't do a lot of it again! Now if you wanted to eliminate welding from your project you could have simply drilled holes through the pipe and passed a bar through as a handle. Though I guess drilling through rounds isn't easy for everyone to accomplish. Center punch, mount pipe in vise attached to press, spotting the hole doesn't hurt either. Or just used the pipe with a pipe wrench. That is universally doable. Have to tension the wrench if you want to hammer it though. Been there, done that!

Maybe you don't know about staining and scribing metal for layout Phil? Staining is usually done with an ink. Dykem Blue is the most popular brand. But any permanent magic marker appears to work. Personally I usually use Marks A Lot. Not that I don't have a bottle of real marking ink too, just well it can be a pain to use.

If you want to see about tapes and pipe check out CURV-O-MARK WRAP-A-ROUND which is an interesting aside about pipes and a tape like device. I think you may enjoy it. It is really esoteric stuff though.

[steliart]

Very Nice Istructable Phil

[Phil B]

Thank you, Stelios. In forums on appliance repair I found a number of posts by people wanting information on how to remove this nut. Someone usually directed them to a page where they could order the factory spanner wrench. It is so much handier if you can make your own.

[steliart]

Some times is not the matter of the cost but the fact that you need it that moment or ASAP, so as you said is handier to DIY.

[pfred2]

Or you could always pay the money get the tool and it is still goofed up. Here is my experience with a genuine Miller part that I returned and got another one only to find it had the exact same problem. Now it is a 3 hour round trip the the supply house do I go back and get another?

[Phil B]

I feel sorry for those who cannot or will not do DIY, and also very thankful I am not one of them.

[pfred2]

While you're feeling sorry for folks feel sorry for me when I've no alternative :) hehe J/K!

[masterochicken]

Well there's your problem! You see, you have a miller, but you should have a Lincoln. Hahaha. Just kidding. I personally have no loyalty to either, but I like giving people a hard time.

[pfred2]

Something I've always wanted to do was to make a custom spanner wrench. I always just end up knocking the nuts off with a hammer and a chisel though and move on. Nice to see someone took the trouble.

[Phil B]

Thanks. I happened to have a piece of pipe the right diameter already. Years ago I needed to work on the front struts on the car I had at the time. There was a similar nut that had to be held while a nut on a shaft inside the larger diameter nut was tightened, but without allowing the larger nut to turn. I measured and bought a pipe nipple the diameter I needed and made a spanner wrench similar to this one. It worked well. There was no welding on that one. I did not have a welder at the time. But, I used a pipe wrench. It worked out well. I never had to use that wrench again, but it got the job done.