How can I remove the black fixing nut below my kitchen mixer?

[bensow]

I'm looking to replace my existing kitchen mixer tap. I was pretty confident as the current mixer has a black screw on fixing but which I understand can be installed without tools. However I've spent the last 2 hours trying to unscrew this nut and cannot get it to budge. I've started drilling it out too since I'm planning to discard this mixer but to no avail. I suspect the metal threads have corroded over the years which is why it's so difficult to unscrew. Do you have any tips on how I can remove this fixture?

  

 

[EricL]

Hello @bensow 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us and thanks for sharing your question about your kitchen tap.

I suggest having a look at using the IRWIN 280mm Basin Wrench to turn the black nut open. Otherwise, your only other choice is to uninstall the sink so that you can get proper access to the tapware.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[bensow]

Thanks for the quick response Eric. As I was planning to dispose of the existing mixer anyways I decided to try a more destructive method. I ended up drilling a hole on the side of the black fixing nut (it was plastic), and used a screwdriver as leverage to exert more torsion on the nut. That gave it the push it needed to loosen from the thread and I was able to unscrew it with my hand.

While not necessarily recommended, I thought I'd detail my approach to this problem. 

[JacobZ]

Hi @bensow,

Things often become easier to deal with once you've decided that being destructive is an option. I try to avoid jumping to being destructive, but sometimes it's your only option.

I'm glad to hear you managed to get the nut off.

Thanks for the update. 

Jacob

[bensow]

Yes I gave it everything I could think of before deciding to go destructive. Things I tried:

- Attempting to untwist it multiple times from different postures/directions

- Resting between attempts

- Twisting it tighter before untwisting

- Using a wrench to twist the nut

After all that I feared that I may have damaged the flexible hoses and ultimately decided to be destructive to install the new mixer than to risk keeping the old one with the damaged flexible hoses.