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Author Topic: Konker Battery Pliers  (Read 4516 times)

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Offline Plyerman

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Konker Battery Pliers
« on: January 20, 2018, 02:48:22 PM »
There pliers looked kind of unusual, so I couldn't resist getting them. They have a set of special jaws for lifting automotive battery terminals off from the battery post. They also have an open end wrench at the end of each handle, 11/16" and 9/16".

I was not able to locate any info about the Konker company though, other than they "may" have been located in Marion, Ohio.
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Offline Plyerman

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2018, 02:50:09 PM »
Two things about the tool I can't figure out:

1) What are the "hooks" on the ends of the wrenches supposed to be used for?

2) What are the "teeth" on the end of the upper plier jaw supposed to be used for?
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Offline lptools

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2018, 02:50:40 PM »
Hello, Bob. Nice find. That seems to be one of the better designs for function. Regards, Lou
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Offline Yadda

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2018, 03:58:25 PM »
Quote from: Plyerman on January 20, 2018, 02:50:09 PM
Two things about the tool I can't figure out:

1) What are the "hooks" on the ends of the wrenches supposed to be used for?

2) What are the "teeth" on the end of the upper plier jaw supposed to be used for?

Can the pliers be flipped so the handle hooks face inward?  Maybe used to carry batteries?
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Offline Plyerman

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2018, 04:03:02 PM »
Quote from: Yadda on January 20, 2018, 03:58:25 PM
Quote from: Plyerman on January 20, 2018, 02:50:09 PM
Two things about the tool I can't figure out:

1) What are the "hooks" on the ends of the wrenches supposed to be used for?

2) What are the "teeth" on the end of the upper plier jaw supposed to be used for?

Can the pliers be flipped so the handle hooks face inward?  Maybe used to carry batteries?

Nope, there is a raised "stop" that prevents the handles from flipping all the way around. Good idea though.
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Offline Bill Houghton

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2018, 04:08:50 PM »
Do they open wide enough that the hooks could grip the battery posts from the inside?  Keep in mind that (a) the posts used to be the highest thing on a battery, before the maintenance free batteries came along, which required more headroom for the cells, and (b) the posts are closer together on a six-volt battery, and, even on a vintage 12-volt battery, the posts are closer together than you often find on modern batteries.  Cars didn't require quite as much battery back when radios and even heaters were optional!

Just had to replace the battery on one of our cars, and am grateful that they're building handles into modern batteries; I could not, for the life of me, find the battery-carrying strap, and the battery was in a box in the engine compartment, where it would have been a very devil to remove by gripping the sides.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2018, 04:10:54 PM by Bill Houghton »
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Offline Plyerman

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2018, 04:54:07 PM »
Aha, you may be on to something there. They open to just over 12 inches between the "claws." Photo below.

So you would have to leave the terminals attached in order to lift the battery, if I am following you correctly? (Were posts usually located along the centerline on old batteries? If not it doesn't seem like the lift would be balanced.)
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Offline lptools

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #7 on: January 20, 2018, 05:18:50 PM »
Looks dangerous!!! Wouldn't that cause a short, if the pliers are not insulated at the pivot???
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Offline p_toad

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #8 on: January 20, 2018, 05:41:47 PM »
I would say that those "teeth" on the end would be for reaming/cleaning off the inside of the batttery terminal (many still made out of lead and get covered in white lead oxide...scrape it down to bare metal).
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Offline lptools

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2018, 07:09:06 PM »
Hello, Bob. Herbrand made a No. 177 Battery Pliers. They show a link to a Patent #1,678,313. The handles on that tool are used for lifting a battery, and if I have read it correctly, you would be lifting the battery case from the sides, not the terminals. Just my two cents, Lou
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Offline Lewill2

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2018, 07:40:29 AM »
Maybe think wedges, if you use the wrench ends to loosen the battery cable bolt then use the end wedges to pry the cable end up. Either with the points down as a fulcrum point or the points up and the heal as the fulcrum point.
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Offline Plyerman

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2018, 06:54:42 PM »
Lots of good ideas here. Lou I did take a look at 1,678,313 which is close in a lot of ways to the Konker. It does show lifting the battery by the case, but it seems to me that the case would be bolted down at the bottom, and then the battery strapped into it, so it doesn't make sense to me how you could lift the whole case..?   

Unfortunately I don't think we'll know for sure what the intention was without finding the patent.
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Offline Papaw

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2018, 06:57:39 PM »
Quote
...but it seems to me that the case would be bolted down at the bottom

I think the battery being bolted down at the bottom is a fairly modern thing.
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Offline Plyerman

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2018, 07:14:53 PM »
Hmmm. Screenshots of patent 1,678,313 below, showing the handles spread apart and being used to lift the battery. Also the part talking about lifting it by the case. I just assumed the "case" was a separate metal box mounted to the car itself, and that the battery sat inside of it.
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Offline mvwcnews

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Re: Konker Battery Pliers
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2018, 09:44:44 PM »
Ad from 1928 Beckley-Ralston catalog on pg. 11 of the June 2009 MVWC Newsletter : " terminal remover - terminal cleaner - post scraper - battery carrier - hammer - two screw drivers - four wrenches "  Trade name used by MARION MFG. CORP, MARION OH.
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