Help - shower head replace

[erick]

Moved into new place - about two years old. Want to replace showerhead. Put big shifter on it last night and..... won't move. No hint of it turning. All that is happening is the pipe is flexing/bending behind the tiles :scared: It is so firm you'd think it was on with loctite! But surely it is just teflon tape?

OK, what do I have to do. What is the trick? I was thinking of differential expansion - have the head full of cold water then pour hot water over the outside of the head? What about trying to get some WD40 into the threads?

SWMBO is losing confidence in my handyman skills!

Many thanks in advance. :)

[AstralTraveller]

Two ideas. First, grip the pipe with multigrips while attacking the nut - that should allow you to apply more force without flexing the pipe. Second, try tightening the nut a bit before trying to undo it. For some reason this often helps.

Failing that, wait till the coast is clear and call a plumber. Pay in cash. :lol:

[erick]

Sadly cannot grip the pipe - it's behind the tiles and the cover plate. Yes, I tried tightening as well - again no movement -just flexing/bending of pipe behind tile. As I have often observed, it's not rigidly mounted - just a couple of nails in the screw holes and bent over I expect. Why don't plumbers rigidly mount the shower pipe with two solid screws in the mounting holes? :rolleyes:

[Amy]

The plumber would probably bust thru those tiles. I used to work for one a few decades ago. Just be forewarned. Good Luck!

[gmbfilter]

Are you sure its not soldered?

If shower fitting Female remove excess material with, hacksaw, file, angle grinder something."""carefully""" ..expose thread on pipe out of wall.

I assume you have something on hand to replace shower head with, so you can turn water back on?

Sometimes hitting tangentially with center punch ( screwdriver) works
Good luck
PS all advice comes with a money back guarantee

[erick]

Definitely looks to be a screw on job.

I'll post a photo tomorrow in case it gives any further ideas.



(BTW, I'm renting the property - so hush! And I cannot go around breaking tiles etc!)

[snowyskiesau]

For DIY stuff, you might find this forum (http://www.renovateforum.com) helpful.
It's my second most visited site :)

[Glenhuon]

Try this. Get 2 hammers, hold one on one side of the nut and hit the opposite flat, do that on all flats. Loosens up the corrossion/calcium in the threads. Old fitters trick. "If it does'nt move, get a bigger hammer" :)

Bill

[Jen]

:doh::doh: CALL A PLUMBER IF HE BREAKS IT, HE FIX IT :thumbsup:
:lol::lol:

[Glenhuon]

Ya mean if he breaks it, you pay for it :lol:

Bill

[ving]

sound similar to what i was going to say...

*2 hammers hit the nut with equal presure on oposite sides. soak on wd40 and then try it...

*hacksaw the end off, soak in wd40 and then try...

*hacksaw the end off, grind down to thread, soak in wd40 and try agin...

*hacksaw end off, hit end with hammer then the 2 hammer trick, soak with wd40 and then try...


above all else,

do not call a plumber! your manhood is at stake here!!!

[Jen]

:bashcomp::bashcomp::bashcomp:
:scared3:

[Ian Robinson]

Give it blast with WD40 and let it soak in overnight that might dissolve the corrosion making it grip.

Failing that , I've had a similar problem several years ago with sink taps in my bathroom , give it a bit of heat from a small portaflame to get everything moving and try to shift it while hot.

If that don't work - you might need to get a friendly plumber in - you definitely don't want to have the pipes or welds or solders to fracture inside the wall - that would be very bad news and an expensive fix.

PS : V.IMPORTANT : before you do anything else - Check with the insurance company and if you haven't got accidential damage cover , add it, then if you bust the pipe or wall "accidentially" you will be covered and get most your costs back for the repairs.
Check with the insurer to see where you stand (anominously).

[skeltz]

get a oxy on it ,then let it cool then ,try undoing it should work same as ian,s idea heat is what you need to loosen it stubborn nuts threads etc
cheers rob

[Sharnbrook]

If you live in a hard water area, and most of Australia seems to be fairly hard water, then calcium build up will undoubtedly be the cause, so try to dissolve the calcium with a mild acid, vinegar would be a good start. Some plasticine moulded around a funnel cut off from the top of a Coke Bottle, milk bottle, or what have you, that is close to the size of the spigot, and filled with vinegar overnight may solve the problem. This may not be practical if the shower head is too close to the wall, so try drilling small holes in the side of the shower head, and introduce some vinegar through the drill holes. If this fails, go to plan B.

Heat from a butane torch may be sufficient to cause the shower head to expand just enough to allow the seal to break, and the head to be unscrewed. Heat needs to be applied to the shower head in large quantities, but quickly, so that the shower head expands, but the pipe under still remains cool, and does not expand. Some judicious application of the Blacksmith Principle (a hammer) may assist in freeing the threads.

Plan C, get an angle grinder, and with a very thin blade, (1.5mm can be purchased), slice through the shower head at right angles to the thread, and then the head should be able to be prised open sufficiently to break the bond, and released. First, cover the tiles with masking tape, or a wet cloth, or you will get burns on the tiles from the angle grinder. Wear a face mask and eye protection, and keep the angle grinder away from running water.

If none of these suggestions works, sell the house, as getting a plumber to fix it will prove more costly.

[Ian Robinson]

You should also check to see if the tiles are still available in the size and colour and pattern you have , otherwise if it is necessary to break some tiles , you'll be looking at a retiling job ( at least the wall the shower is on ).

When I rebuilt my bathroom and installed a big fibreglass bath-shower enclosure - Marbletrend - through the outside wall - too big to get up the hall in through the doors - I rescued the old walls with the old tiles still glued on , and later , got them off and cleaned them up to recycle (took a few days over a long weekend with a hammer and an fishing knife blade modified for the job (ground to form a very flexi - thin chisle - pryoffer - wanted to avoid breaking tiles getting them off (bending them would do that) , and another fishing knife to scrape the glue off (a harder job than I expected) , came up a treat and saved myself a fair bit of doe (antique textured tiles I had were impossible to replace) and I still had one full intact wall with tiles on. They are back on the walls and look great.

I have done all my own wall and floor tiling and plumbing over the last 25 years , done a better better job than than the pros (I had a builder mate who checked out my work when I finished my renovations in 1996 and offered me job).

[erick]

Are you guys sure there isn't a solution that doesn't involve partial or total destruction? :D I want it disconnected without damaging anything. All I want to do is insert a two way valve and put a flexible hose and shower head on as well as the existing showerhead. Yes I didn't say that earlier, but I didn't want to complicate the story.

(And when I finish renting and move on, to reverse the process! So I need the existing showerhead without a scratch on it.)

It cannot be corroded on - this property doesn't even show on Google Earth - it is about two years old - max.

Here's what it looks like - quite standard.

[skeltz]

Are you sure the pipe is twisting? get a spanner on there and just unscrew it, it should come it just needs a bit of grunt don,t be shy.
I do maintenance at a good size hotel motel and sometimes you think its bloody tight but with grunt they will come undone...just do it!!

[capella]

From the photo it looks like there may be a locking screw holding the nut.

Steve.

[Amy]

Awww the universal problem.....manhood versus money. ahahahahaha~

The do it yourself sites are usually quite handy....I've used a few myself.

[Lee]

I agree! Get a longer spanner!

[Ian Robinson]

It's a rented house - you definitely don't want to get too agressive with it then , this includes heating it - if you bugger up the seals or the nice (probably fake?) chrome finish , or break or crack a tile , or bust a pipe , you've blown your bond and the landlord will be pissed.

I'd put up with the existing shower head if original wont EASILY come off.

[erick]

That's my current thinking. I'm already using a few layers of cloth between the big shifter and the nut to avoid damage. I'll check out a few things this weekend - may try the WD40 and differential heating, but boiling water is the best I can do.

I was expecting and easy job and it should have been if it had only teflon tape on it and enough of it! :mad2:

Thanks everyone. I'll know where to go if I have a demolition job coming up! :D

[Ian Robinson]

I'd be willing to bet that landlord has taken the teflon tape off and applied Loctite to the threads to seal it and make sure the shower head stays put. Or ordered the plumber to solder it on for keeps.

If so - the only way you'll get it off will be "dramatic".

[GTB_an_Owl]

get the landlord to replace it ?

geoff

[TrevorW]

Forget what I said previously just do it !!! no don't you'll regret it (trust me I've been there)

:thumbsup:

[alex79]

a mighty heave should get it off as you cannot bend the pipe behind the tiles as the shower head should be the top of that pipe.

if concernedrun hot water ( as hot as it gets) thro the head turn it off nad make the nut move a lil
then cold tio cool copper then undo it

its properly the pumpers tape was used and abused when they put the head on as for it bending i cannot see how it could be bending, moving around yes but not bending a photo will help tho

Alex

[Ian Robinson]

If I were the landlord , and it was brand new (less than 2 years old) and working properly , I would refuse to replace it.

[snowyskiesau]

You could try telling the landlord you want to install a water efficient shower head. If they're paying for water then it's an advantage to them.

[Not sure if tenants pay water bills these days. I rent and I don't pay for water]

[erick]

Lucky man! In our lease, landlord pays water service costs, I pay water usage costs. He's already made a point of telling us that though it looks like an old-fashioned drench showerhead, it has a "constrictor" in it to give lower water usage. So I cannot use that argument.

Leave it all with me. If I can budge it with some simple tricks I will. But no mighty heaves or huge spanners - the mixer pipe will bend and probably crack behind the tiles. I have every sense that there is one crappy nail through one of the mounting holes half-banged in and bent over!

Aside: I miss being in my own home where I could bang holes in walls, hooks in walls without a worry in the world! And ensure out-of-sight jobs were done properly. But such is life at the moment.

[snowyskiesau]

I moved in to the place I'm currently renting about 19 years ago and back then, the 'user pays' system was not that common so no charge for water.
While I rent here in Sydney, I have a rental property in rural NSW for which the tenant also does not pay for water. Seemed the fair thing to do.

As a tenant, I do all the maintenance for the landlord *
As a landlord though, I don't want my tenant to do this - bit of a double standard I know:whistle:

* Except electrical or plumbing 'cos the landlord is a plumber and his son is an electrican:)

[erick]

I've given up - end of story. Let it soak with some WD40 outside and inside. Hit the outside with boiling water. Still won't budge - just bends the mixer pipe behind the tiles. No new flexible hose shower head for us.

But yesterday I went back to my old place (kids living there) and easily pulled the head off the shower unit there to do effectively the same job - no problem and it had been in place for about 9 years! But I know the mixer head is well mounted to the battens and nothing but teflon tape was used - I was owner-building and was a pain of an inspector of the tradies' work! :D