Gray Tank Handle Extension

rcarlson1957

Got tired of getting down on my knees to reach the gray tank handle when at the dump station. I tried one of those handle extension kits from Amazon. It was just some thin threaded aluminum rod that connects between the handle and the tank valve and it was kind of flimsy. Figured there was a better solution so looked around my garage to see if I had some things from other projects to give me some ideas. Ended up using some aluminum angle and bar, 1/2" conduit, 1/4-20 threaded rod, some 1/4-20 nuts and fender washers and a 1/4-20 threaded coupler. The aluminum angle and bar form a brace and a hole in the bottom allows the conduit to slide back and forth while supporting it. The conduit has the threaded rod inside it and has 2 nuts with a fender washer at each end and are adjusted till the fender washer is tight against the conduit. The handle is threaded onto the rod on one end and the threaded coupler is threaded on the other end and threaded onto the valve control rod. Note: The fender washer on the handle end has to be on the handle side of the brace. The rod and brace are sized so the handle is even with the front bottom of my driver's side storage box and the brace is even with the bottom of my trailer frame so neither can get snagged on something. Now it's easy to reach the gray tank handle by just bending down slightly and it works much smoother since you're pushing/pulling rigid 1/2" conduit vs a thin aluminum rod. 

Sharon_is_SAM

Pretty slick!  

ScottG

I love stuff cobbled from pieces-parts lying around the garage. Nice job!