Repairing a broken tub faucet

December 29, 2020 9:28 AM

Internal piece of the tub faucet broke, a round white sleeve part. How do I remove this so I can replace the faucet? From some quick research this seems like a part that's been screwed onto the stub, that comes as part of the whole faucet assembly, though it's on extremely tight and I'll need to find a good wrench to see if I can unscrew it -- but I wanted to check that was the correct approach before attempting to remove it.
posted by curious nu to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Best answer: The white thing looks like plastic. If you've tried to unscrew it and it won't come, you could try to cut it off with a box cutter or cutting pliers.

The faucet nipple (the metal threaded thing) is very rusty and the threads should be cleaned off with steel wool or emery paper, and then teflon plumber's tape should be used around the threads when screwing the new faucet on to help stop leaks.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:40 AM on December 29, 2020

I'm not familiar with this exact assembly, but that has to be screwed on. It can't have been put on all that tight since doing so would've cracked the plastic. The stub appears to be iron rather than brass or copper, so rust might be creating extra resistance. You could try using a screwdriver and hammer to rotate it (counterclockwise) by tapping on the flat cross pieces. Otherwise, a small pipe wrench would be ideal.
posted by jon1270 at 9:40 AM on December 29, 2020

Best answer: Box cutter for the plastic, and a wire brush would tackle this end of the pipe nipple. Do your best not to rotate the metal pipe nipple when you are cutting off the plastic and cleaning the threads, because the last thing you want is a drip or a leak at the inside-the-wall connection. It's an innocent mistake that can cause a lot of problems.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 10:59 AM on December 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

Have you tried googling for YouTube videos about this? I did a search for "replacing plastic part of tub faucet" and got some videos. i can't tell what really applies to your situation or not, but refining your search might lead you to gold.
posted by hippybear at 7:44 PM on December 29, 2020

Response by poster: Box cutters and a pair of pliers got it off. There's an extra grey plastic threaded spacer of some kind that's been screwed onto the stub, and had been covered in either (very degraded) plumber's tape or (more likely based on appearance) some kind of adhesive -- thus being completely unable to unscrew it.
posted by curious nu at 4:26 PM on January 1, 2021

Is the plastic glued to plastic? or is it glued to metal? If it's not plastic/plastic you might be able to get something you can use to make the adhesive release.
posted by hippybear at 5:27 AM on January 2, 2021