How not to tighten a toilet seat

[Noyade]

Arthritis and trauma have played havoc over the years with my finger strength such that the nuts (plastic) locking the toilet seat in place are proving difficult lately, as I regularly take the seat off to clean.

So I decided yesterday to make a tube spanner to tighten them.

Simple build.

Nut fitted. There is a bolted handle on the other end to provide the torque.

Worked wonderfully.

So I tightened.

And tightened.

And tightened.

And 'bang'  - I shattered the plastic bolt head.

Thought I had to go to Bunnings or a Plumbing warehouse this morning.

But amazingly, I remembered purchasing plastic bolts on clearance at Bunnings a couple of years ago.

I never had a plan for them till now. Perfect fit, with a stronger head.

Happy days!

Live and learn. 😁

(PS - do Bunnings sell a universal toilet seat nut/bolt combination?)

[JacobZ]

Hi @Noyade,

Your ingenuity in creating improvised tools to address interesting issues is always wonderful to see. Ironically, this one seems to have worked too well.

There are these Kinetic PVC Toilet Seat Nut And Bolt sets that will work with a variety of toilets, but I can't say I'm aware of a universal set as toilets can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Let me know what you think and thank you for sharing.

Jacob