| Unlike some here, I love WD-40, but I think something like Liquid | Wrench would work better to unstick stuck screws. Maybe it's thinner?
In this case it's also hard to get it in there. The screw head points down when the water is off. I'd have to turn off the water just to leave the screw in a horizontal position. There's no way to leave it so that the liquid can soak in.
Capillary action. It will soak in.
replying to Micky, Russell K Acton wrote: I tried Liquid Wrench and I have used a soldering iron to heat it up but nothing happens. The set screw is still stuck.
Unless you were born with a horseshoe up your butt you will never get that broken tap out unless you know someone with an EDM machine. Kenny Rodgers got it right when He said "U got to know when to Hold 'em, Know when to Fold'em. Odds are you will destroy the unit anyway so dissconnect it from the supply lines and trash it.
May as well just disconnect the water supply and replace the whole assembly
Your theory will get you lots of heartache Taps are made of carbonized heat-treated steel and are much harder (Rockwell 60). Unless your a professional machinist you probably have only Rockwell 40
Didn't Kenny Rodgers also say something about idiots who respond to 5 year threads as if they happened yesterday?
Reading the "full context" is a trip down memory lane. I miss Bob Haller. Anyone know what happened to him?
Use a 3/8" left-hand drill bit. The drill bit is long enough to clear the handle and has a small enough OD that it won't damage the threads in the setscrew hole. With the drill set to reverse (the cutting direction for LH drill bits), use short bursts, slow speed and check regularly to see if the setscrew has come loose. Be careful not to drill through the brass cartridge stem. Worked for me and the setscrew and handle were reusable.
Are you sure of that size? Seems much too large going from memory.
ROFL. That one be one hell of a set screw size for a faucet handle.
Ah, sorry, I meant 3/16". The borehole for the setscrew is actually about 7/32". The older setscrews have a 1/8" Allen head but the idea is not to drill through the setscrew, thereby turning it into metal filings, but to get it to loosen with the LH drill bit rotating counter-clockwise. I was able to reuse both the setscrew and the handle.
CORRECTION: Use a 3/16" LH drill bit, not 3/8".
CORRECTION: Use a 3/16" LH drill bit, not 3/8".
Sorry, yes, that would be a mammoth setscrew. I meant 3/16".
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