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My shower as displayed below needs a wide mouth wrench (at least a 40mm) and the jaw of my adjustable wrench can open up to 30mm. I have a number of other simple tools. I do not want to buy another wrench only for this shower and it's not easy for me to find a tools shop here. Is it possible to detach the current shower in any other way?

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Update: thanks for all answers. I came up with opening it with a pair of slip-joint pliers.

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    I'd be tempted to make a 300mm wide by 300mm deep slot in a 25mm thick piece of hardwood, and use that as a wrench. Pine likely won't stand up to the torque, but oak, elm, or hickory can take quite a beating.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 17:15

4 Answers 4

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If you have a thin leather belt of sufficient width to engage well the fitting, consider to wrap it around the fitting as snugly as possible. Leave sufficient material at each end of the wrap to secure the ends against each other.

One way of looking at it is the leather will form the shape of the letter P. The vertical bar of the letter P is where to attach your existing wrench. Place the moveable jaw of the wrench in the portion that will contact the fitting when moving the wrench. As you begin to apply torque to the wrench, this jaw will compress the leather against the fitting as well as providing better leverage for releasing the fitting.

Obviously, you will want to tighten the jaws as firmly as possible on the leather strap ends. As you begin to apply force to the wrench, you may be able to further tighten the moveable jaw even a small amount, but that may also require three hands.

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Wrap a length of twine around the head multiple times. Tie a loop in the end and insert a bar or stick, and use that to lever the loop.

If the twine slips, wrap it tighter or try dampening it slightly.

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(1) With your hands hold two small pieces of wood onto the wrenching facets and twist.

(2) Use slip joint pliers (or channel locks) on the wrenching facets which are covered by a washrag to prevent scratching.

(3) Buy a larger adjustable wrench, you will need it eventually.

(4) Buy a strap wrench

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    +1 The rubber coated strap wrench is the way to go here because it will not mess up the pretty chrome fitting.
    – Michael Karas ♦
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 12:39
  • You won't regret owning a pair of channel lock/ slip joint pliers.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 14:36
  • @AloysiusDefenestrate a pair of them?
    – Real Dreams
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 17:54
  • @PHPst see dictionary.com/browse/plier
    – Jim Stewart
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 17:58
  • @PHPst -- just one. (It's colloquial here in N. America to refer to one unit of pliers as 'a pair of pliers'. Possibly because they have 2 joined pieces.)
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Jul 30, 2017 at 20:56
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I know you said you did not want to buy another tool but you could probably get that apart with sliding jaw type pliers. This also happens to be a very versatile and useful tool. See the link enter link description here

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  • The question clearly states that the author has that type of wrench already.
    – isherwood
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 13:59
  • @isherwood no it doesn't. He has an adjustable wrench.
    – mreff555
    Commented Jul 29, 2017 at 18:42
  • You're first suggesting an adjustable (the common name for a Crescent), and then you suggest a slip-lock plier (also known as a Channellock), which violates the OP's desire to not rely on a purchase. This answer isn't helpful.
    – isherwood
    Commented Jul 30, 2017 at 2:41
  • What isherwood is trying to say is you inadvertently referred to a sliding-jaw (Channel-lock) pliers as a "crescent wrench". A crescent is (in generic mode) an adjustable wrench as OP has added to his question. It is also a manufacturer, so it's possible to get sliding-jaw pliers in Crescent brand.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Jul 30, 2017 at 18:11
  • Corrected for clarity.
    – mreff555
    Commented Aug 4, 2017 at 22:21

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