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Hi to all,
I am not able to unscrew the rest of the parts to get to replace the washer for my shower tap for the fear of breaking the pipe. I tried using a mallet and tapping on the handle of the tap spanner but it wouldn't budge. Thanks in advance for your suggestions and advice.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @EdmundChow. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about removing a copper fitting.
I'd suggest spraying some WD40 around the outside of that fitting and trying to get it around where the threads start. You'll be spraying it around where you can see the red section. Hopefully, some might penetrate into the threads. Wait a few hours and try again. Repeat this process for the rest of the day.
If this doesn't help, you'll be left with using force to undo the fitting. There is a chance that you could damage the pipe in this process, which wouldn't be great, given it's a brick wall. Alternatively, if you are concerned, I'd recommend you enlist the service of a qualified plumber.
Please let me know if you have questions.
Mitchell
Hi @JDE,
You could quite well be correct there, but given @EdmundChow would have likely pulled the valve out if it were accessible, I presume something else is going on here. If you take a look at the extended spindle shaft and then the wall fitting again you'll likely note that both the spindle and the wall fitting have been extended, probably with a Kinetic 15mm Wall Tap Spindle Extender. You can see the red fibre washer where the two threaded sections are joined together. There's a good chance that the valve is captured behind the threaded extender as per my above post.
Mitchell
That's great to hear @EdmundChow. Let us know if things change, and please feel free to reach out anytime you need assistance with a project around the home and garden; we're here to help.
Mitchell
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Thiw. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks jumping into the discussion.
Hopefully, @EdmundChow can follow up if they did end up changing the washer. Do you have the same situation where the washer is captured behind a screwed-in extender? You might like to post some images so our helpful members have a better idea of what you're working with. Let me know if you need a hand uploading pictures.
Mitchell
Hi @MitchellMc
My pictures aren't the best but yes its the same situation and i have no way of changing my washer.
Just to confirm, @Thiw, the washer valve is locked in place, and you can't pull it out of the hole as it is larger than it?
If the washer is locked in position and can't be removed, you'll need to unscrew the extender, which prevents its removal. Unfortunately, your fitting has been grouted into place with cement filler, and this would need to be chiselled out to gain access to the external nut.
Sometimes washers can be a bit fiddly to remove, so grab yourself a set of needle-nosed pliers and try to wiggle it out. You might find that the washer only comes out at a very specific angle, and by using your fingers to remove it, you might not be able to angle it correctly. Give it a really good go at trying to wriggle it out with pliers before attempting to remove the copper fitting.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
