Hello,
I’m a first time homeowner starting to tackle projects around the house. Plumbing scares me a bit. I have a CA Ranch Style house built in 1964. I want to replace the shower head arm, as the existing one is part of the shower head and I want to replace the head.
Problem is, I can’t seem to unscrew the arm, and I’m beginning to think it may be soldered on. Do plumbers do this? Unfortunately the hole is just big enough for the pipe to fit through, so I can’t see if there are threads.
I have shot some WD-40 through there, and I am torquing on the pipe pretty hard with my channel lock pliers, but all I seem to do is mar the chrome pipe.
any suggetstions?
Thanks!
Replies
I very well could be a soldered connection, but usually a chrome pipe is either a decorative sleeve, or a threaded connection. can you open the back side of the wall and see the connection? If you twist hard enough, you run the risk of seriously damaging the pipes, then you'll have all the access you need after you cut a big hole in the wall.
Do you have hard water? Could be corrossion.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Do you know what kind of plumbing you have? If it's galvanized pipe, you're probably dealing with a seriously "frozen" fitting and those can be a real SOB to get apart.
If you have copper piping, you may have a soldered connection. If that's the case, wrenching on it ain't a good thing - and WD-40 doesn't loosen solder - lol.
If you have a tile wall, you can CAREFULLY chip away a little of the tile and the mortar bed so you can see what's back there. If you get a little exuberant with the chipping, oversized escutchion plates are easy to get.
Another possible solution would be to open the wall behind the shower head. One of my bathrooms backs up to a bedroom closet and I would go in thru there before I messed with the expensive tile SWMBO had me install - lol.
If the shower arm is part of the shower head then it has to be a threaded connection. It "should" be threaded into a bronze 90--Sweat coupling to mixing valve x FPT to shower arm, called a drop eared or flanged ell. The fitting should have a flange with 2 holes in it to anchor it to the framing. Depending on the installer it should withstand some pretty good torque to free the fitting. You need to make the call on whether it's worth breaking the plumbing and having to go into the wall for a repair or living with the current shower head when your turning the wrench. Good luck.
Boats is correct that if it's part of the head then it's screwed.
Your biggest problem is where you can grab the arm verses where it actually attaches to the 90.
Shocking the system works pretty well if your carefull. Meaning while you're applying pressure < counterclockwise> with your wrench or channel locks tap on the head of the wrench with a hammer.