Awesome hand tool discovered: Wera "Joker"

[Erik Loza]

So, I replaced our tankless water heater over the weekend. The heat exchanger froze solid and of course, burst, during our recent cold spell. I'm not really a plumber but you can't get one a hold of one for at least a month and showering/doing laundry at the neighbor's place was getting old so I just decided to dive in. It was actually a very straightforward job but in researching it online, ran across a YT channel by this guy who goes by "the Rinnai Guy". Lots of great tips on his channel and he showed this ratcheting crescent wrench I had never seen before, called the Joker. This was interesting to me because Wera is the old standby of hand tools for our European machinery techs. Anyhow, ordered one from Amazon and as the Rinnai Guy said, this thing is awesome! Difficult to describe exactly how a ratcheting mechanism works on an open-ended wrench, but it does. Very ergonomic and saved a ton of time:

https://products.wera.de/en/joker_6004_joker_self-setting_adjustable_spanner_6004_joker_xxl.html

Erik

[Paul F Franklin]

I've seen that but was afraid it was one of those "sorta works" tools. Good to hear of positive personal experience. Put it on my wish list... Thanks!

[Mike Henderson]

I found it on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Self-Adjusting-Open-Ended-Wrench-16-1-1-24-32mm/dp/B085CT3X32/ref=sr_1_1?crid=D9UK4GGNVTWS&dchild=1&keywords=wera+joker+6004+xxl&qid=1614609095&sprefix=wera+joker+6004+xxl%2Caps%2C239&sr=8-1). However, not cheap - $73.

Mike

[Oops, this a larger one - 24 to 32mm. I didn't look at the size when I posted.]

[Dave Seng]

Always good to get a first-hand review of a tool, thanks! Really curious from looking at the photo though - is your water heater installed on the exterior of the house? (it looks like it based on the siding in the background).

[Peter Kelly]

Tankless water heaters mounted outside seems to be pretty common feature of homes in Central to South Texas. Not sure I understand the logic or advantage behind this, you'd think it'd be simpler to just mount it on an interior wall and not have to worry about weatherising the unit or install location.

Likely better pricing than Amazon on adjustable Jokers here: https://chadstoolbox.com/6004-joker-wrenches/
Awesome wrenches, they also make a fixed-size version. https://chadstoolbox.com/joker-ratcheting-wrenches/

[Erik Loza]

Gang, exterior wall mount is "the" method in this area. I have actually never seen one mounted indoors here in Austin. I assume this is due to cost, easier to vent, etc. To be fair, we had ours for 10 years with zero issues and several hard freezes during that time. The unit apparently has an internal heating element that kicks on if the temps drop below freezing but, of course, you need power for that to happen and nobody expected the power to be out for as long as it was. That was the part that so many of didn't expect/plan for. Rinnai actually makes a dual-solenoid kit that drains the heat exchanger if the unit loses power. I'm going to order that later and install it prior to next season.

Getting back to the Joker, yeah, not cheap but as I tell my wife: Just like calories consumed during the holidays don't count, neither does money spent on tools. :D

Erik

[Jim Matthews]

Getting back to the Joker, yeah, not cheap but as I tell my wife: Just like calories consumed during the holidays don't count, neither does money spent on tools. :D

Erik

I think this is why so many "Man Caves" are poorly lit.

"What, this old thing? It's been here forever."

[Jim Koepke]

wesome wrenches, they also make a fixed-size version. https://chadstoolbox.com/joker-ratcheting-wrenches/

The video for this reminds me of why one shouldn't drink a lot while working on a car or other project.


Likely better pricing than Amazon on adjustable Jokers here: https://chadstoolbox.com/6004-joker-wrenches/

The range of the self adjusting wrenches seems rather small:

453384

Give me a six point socket or box wrench any day for the tough ones.

jtk

[Malcolm McLeod]

Tankless water heaters mounted outside seems to be pretty common feature of homes in Central to South Texas. Not sure I understand the logic or advantage behind this, you'd think it'd be simpler to just mount it on an interior wall and not have to worry about weatherising the unit or install location. ....



Neat tool(s), I'm trying to talk myself into a set of Wera ratcheting box-ends but just don't use them enough. The adjustable may make the cut!

^^Every tankless WH I've seen is gas-fired, and builders just slap it on an outside wall - no venting required - done.

This is a different world. It is 900-odd miles from Texline to Brownsville; Texline can see ;) Canada, but Brownsville grows oranges and grapefruit. Freezes are a once in a generation issue in south TX, and generally only last 1-2 hours. I'd hazard a guess that typical heat loss thru a wall would prevent tankless freeze ups even up into the TX Hill Country (center mass of TX). And then we get a generational event. Que sera.

[Jim Becker]

Seems like a space age pipe wrench...interesting1

[Steve Demuth]

Gang, exterior wall mount is "the" method in this area. I have actually never seen one mounted indoors here in Austin. I assume this is due to cost, easier to vent, etc. To be fair, we had ours for 10 years with zero issues and several hard freezes during that time. The unit apparently has an internal heating element that kicks on if the temps drop below freezing but, of course, you need power for that to happen and nobody expected the power to be out for as long as it was. That was the part that so many of didn't expect/plan for. Rinnai actually makes a dual-solenoid kit that drains the heat exchanger if the unit loses power. I'm going to order that later and install it prior to next season.

Getting back to the Joker, yeah, not cheap but as I tell my wife: Just like calories consumed during the holidays don't count, neither does money spent on tools. :D

Erik

I wouldn't bet a lot of money on an autodraining kit like that. In my experience, tankless heat exchangers drain unreliably because they have relatively small passages that are prone to retaining enough water to be problematic. When I winterize our guest house (which we only operate when temperatures are above 0oF :) ), I don't *just* drain them, I also fill them with a PPG based antifreeze. I do this to the entire plumbing system, because just draining fixtures and valves is also insufficient. It's really easy for a shower flow valve or any valve that isn't specifically designed for frost proofing to retain enough water in narrow passages to be junked by freezing temperatures. If I couldn't do that, I'd definitely want to use plentiful positive air pressure on the system to make sure I got enough water out.

[Erik Loza]

Steve, that is good to know. Thanks for the feedback. "I don't know what I don't know". Do you have any thoughts on this?:

https://www.rinnai.us/hugo-x-1-battery-backup-system

I was also recommended by the Rinnai Guy. IN the future, I can just manually drain the tank if I suspect a bad weather event but the scenario I am trying to avoid is if are out of town for Christmas or something like that. When nobody is around to take preventative action.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Erilk, I don't have battery backup on our two tankless units, but would absolutely consider it if we didn't have a whole house generator. I do have surge protectors on them, however...I had one fried from a spike about a year and a half agot. The cost to replace the circuitry was 75% of a new unit. I bought the new unit.

[Tom M King]

I'm sure it's just me, but I'll only use a Flare Nut Wrench (Line Wrench) on line nuts. Back in the days of plumbing with compression sleeves, and soft brass line nuts, I never had any trouble with them. On the last tractor repair, I ended up replacing every hydraulic hard line because the last person that worked on them distorted every nut with a regular wrench.

[Rod Sheridan]

I learned something, water heaters outside, I've never seen that where I live.............Thanks Erik..................Regards, Rod.

[Steve Demuth]

I like the UPS idea. Means you've got hot water when the power goes out, regardless of whether you have a freeze problem. It's also easily tested. A lot of backup systems in consumer installations fail when called on because they don't get tested regularly. A UPS is easily tested once every 6 months or so to prove you've got protection.

[Jim Becker]

I learned something, water heaters outside, I've never seen that where I live.............Thanks Erik..................Regards, Rod.
In the south/warmer areas, it's not uncommon for tankless water heaters to be installed outside because it completely eliminates the venting challenge that can come with many homes. Most manufacturers carry models that are designed for this purpose. Clearly, the unusual weather in Texas thwarted things for folks like Erik because the outdoor units are not designed for use in areas where freezing temperatures occur. That backup battery is an interesting thing to help with occasional odd situations, however!

[Erik Loza]

Gang, I think that UPS is the ticket. He describes it here:


https://youtu.be/o_Il0nIJ7L0

Erik

[Alex Zeller]

Wouldn't the lines freeze even if the tank had a battery to keep it from freezing? Totally different world down there. Around here very few people don't have a way to keep their house warm in case the power is out for an extended time. I can remember the run on portable generators when we had an ice storm in the late 90s that took out power for much of New England. I assume that they couldn't be bought down there which is why so many were using power even though they knew the price was through the roof.

[Erik Loza]

Alex: Yes, they might freeze but we have all PEX and I've never had one burst (even in this last cold spell). The water heater is the #1 worry.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

Also, there's no tank here...it's the coils in the unit that would be "more likely" to survive if the unit can be kept active. Of course, having active water flow that is high enough to kick on the heating would help with that, too, so some water waste might occur, but that's less expensive than a $1000 water heater. :)

[Bill Dufour]

That tool reminds me of an angle pipe wrench for getting into tight spaces.
Bill D