Circlip pliers ...

[Arfa Daily]

Colleague asked me today what the right sort of circlip pliers for
removing the type of clip that needs expanding, but has just a pair of
sort of 'opposite-facing "C"s' on the ends of the arms, rather than the
more usual holes in the arms. He needs to remove a number of them that
are securing fan blades onto a small motor shaft. The clip fits in a
groove in the motor shaft. He has tried expanding pin-nosed circlip
pliers that are the right size for the job, but because the pins are not
locating in holes, they just keep slipping out. I'm sure that I've seen
them with a small groove in the outer faces of the pins, but I can't for
the life of me find any that look like that now. About the only other
thing that I could suggest to him was that he take a pair of 'tradional'
pin-tip ones, and Dremel a slot in each pin with a diamond cutting wheel
like I keep in mine most of the time for jobs like this.

Anyone know if there is a specific tool readily available for this type
of clip or if the clip or tool has a unique name rather than it just
being a variant of an 'external circlip' ?

Arfa

[Ken Layton]

Here's what I use:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-combination-snap-ring-pliers-0.438-2in/p-00949272000P?plpSellerId=Sears&prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6

Sears has several more styles of snap ring pliers:

http://www.sears.com/search=snap%20ring%20pliers

Some are for both internal and external style snap rings while others are for internal only or external only.

[Robert Roland]

On Fri, 21 Jul 2017 15:21:22 +0100, Arfa Daily
<arfa....@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>removing the type of clip that needs expanding, but has just a pair of
>sort of 'opposite-facing "C"s' on the ends of the arms,

I have been searching for that a wile as well. It seems they are
called flat nose snap ring pliers or flat nose retaining ring pliers.
I have not found any cheap ones, though.

>About the only other
>thing that I could suggest to him was that he take a pair of 'tradional'
>pin-tip ones, and Dremel a slot in each pin with a diamond cutting wheel
>like I keep in mine most of the time for jobs like this.

That's what I did. I used an angle grinder to remove some material
from the inside of the jaws, so that they close a little tighter. On
the outside, I simply used a bench grinder. I have left the surface
plain flat for now. I have used it only once, but it worked fine.
--
RoRo

[Arfa Daily]

Have you actually used yours on the type of clip that I was trying to
describe - i.e. without actual holes in the arms ? My colleague was
trying to use some that look pretty similar to those that you linked to,
but they just slipped, even though they were an appropriate size

Arfa

[N_Cook]

Usually the C ends are quite close together. I just grab a range of
jewellers flat blade screwdrivers and find one that inserts at an angle
and when twisted , opens out the arms, the circlip laying nicely on the
blade..

[Arfa Daily]

Ah ha. Nice idea, Nigel. Long time no speak. trust you are well ?

Arfa

[John Robertson]

In a pinch you could take a pair of needle nosed pliers and use those to
expand the ends enough to slip off. You can sacrifice the pliers to this
specific job if you grind the ends and cut a notch in them to fit the
thickness of the circlip. I use tools similar to these Clarke tools in
our shop:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/circlip-pliers/

Just spotted the following page which has a lot of info on various circlips!

https://www.wonkeedonkeetools.co.uk/circlip-pliers/what-is-a-circlip/



John :-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd.
MOVED to #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
(604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <HpCdnZQ1WtKA-u7E...@giganews.com>,
sp...@flippers.com says...

>
>>
> >> Sears has several more styles of snap ring pliers:
> >>
> >> http://www.sears.com/search=snap%20ring%20pliers
>

> > Have you actually used yours on the type of clip that I was trying to
> > describe - i.e. without actual holes in the arms ? My colleague was
> > trying to use some that look pretty similar to those that you linked to,
> > but they just slipped, even though they were an appropriate size
> >
>

Instead of Circlip try looking at the e-ring tools. Maybe that is what
you are really trying to remove.

They look similar and seem to do about the same function, but there are
no holes near the ends.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/e-clip-tool

[Arfa Daily]

On 22/07/2017 15:54, John Robertson wrote:
> On 2017/07/21 10:49 AM, Arfa Daily wrote:
>> On 21/07/2017 15:55, Ken Layton wrote:
>>> Here's what I use:
>>>
>>> http://www.sears.com/craftsman-combination-snap-ring-pliers-0.438-2in/p-00949272000P?plpSellerId=Sears&prdNo=6&blockNo=6&blockType=G6
>>>
>>>
>>> Sears has several more styles of snap ring pliers:
>>>
>>> http://www.sears.com/search=snap%20ring%20pliers
>>>
>>> Some are for both internal and external style snap rings while others
>>> are for internal only or external only.
>>>
>>
>> Have you actually used yours on the type of clip that I was trying to
>> describe - i.e. without actual holes in the arms ? My colleague was
>> trying to use some that look pretty similar to those that you linked
>> to, but they just slipped, even though they were an appropriate size
>>
>> Arfa
>
> In a pinch you could take a pair of needle nosed pliers and use those to
> expand the ends enough to slip off. You can sacrifice the pliers to this
> specific job if you grind the ends and cut a notch in them to fit the
> thickness of the circlip. I use tools similar to these Clarke tools in
> our shop:
>
> https://www.machinemart.co.uk/c/circlip-pliers/
>
> Just spotted the following page which has a lot of info on various
> circlips!
>
> https://www.wonkeedonkeetools.co.uk/circlip-pliers/what-is-a-circlip/
>
>
>
> John :-#)#
>

Interesting. The design in question is the one they call grip rings,and
is the fourth picture up from the bottom. They say that these do not
normally fit in a groove, but the ones on my colleague's fan motors do.
I spoke to him again today. He has actually ordered a bunch of new clips
of the right size, so is now not too bothered about the originals
breaking or flying, but has ordered some new pliers that he thinks will
do them anyway. Just in case anyone thinks that pulling a small fan
apart is not worth the aggro, it turns out that these are fans used on
the bed of a printing machine, and are carefully speed controlled by
external circuitry driven from a tacho generator in the fan. The purpose
is apparently to 'float' the paper as it passes through the machine.
They are a custom designed fan from one of the major fan manufacturers,
and are over £100 each. There are four to a unit, and many units per
machine. So far, all of the ones that he has pulled apart and repaired
have had bad joints on the Hall IC in the tacho generator, and have
worked perfectly after resoldering, cleaning out, and reassembling. The
fans have high quality roller bearings, none of which have shown any
signs of wear so far.

Arfa

[Arfa Daily]

No. Definitely not E-rings. These are a type of 'conventional' circlip,
but with a slot in each arm to locate the removal tool pins, rather than
holes. Thanks for your input anyway. As ever, all comments / suggestions
appreciated.

Arfa

[N_Cook]

Exactly those "grip rings" for jewellers screwdrivers.
Find one that just fails to seat in the gap and twist, so it sits neatly
between the small Cs, and lift off/replace with ring still on the blade.
May need a bit of shim, to lever over the point of a C.
To avoid flying rings, a piece of cotton tied to one of the Cs and
anchored somewhere at the other end