Replacing a stubborn shower head

[hoonsuk]

Hi all,

I moved into an older apartment and I'm trying to replace my shower head with a hand-held one. The problem is that the shower head is basically just a round ball which snaps into a ball-and-socket joint. I need to unscrew the "ball" so that I can screw on my replacement shower head, but it seems to have been glued in place. I considered replacing the whole pipe leading into the wall, but that's been glued as well.

Is there something I can use to dissolve the glue and remove the "ball" shower head? I've used Goof Off, but it's not strong enough. Any tips on how I can get the "ball" shower head unscrewed?

Thanks,

Hoonsuk

[JoeSpareBedroom]

See what Eric said. And, sometimes if you're lucky and the stars are lined up just right, you can avoid scarring the pipe by wrapping it with a damp cloth and then grabbing it with the wrench. I use a piece of pond liner (thick rubber) for this, but you're not likely to go looking for a pond supply store. Got anything similar, like rubber mats that people sometimes put in the bottom of the kitchen sink to grow mold as a hobby, or an old rubber bath mat you can cut a piece from?

[hoonsuk]

Thanks for the great tips. Looks like I have to go buy another plumber's wrench from Home Depot. :-)

Hoonsuk

[Eric in North TX]

[mm]

Or rubber strap wrenches. Cheap and sold a few places.

BTW, I doubt anything is glued on. It's screwed on.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

He may be seeing cruddy residue of teflon tape combined with soap, minerals and who knows what else.

[Jim Yanik]

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in news:hh9si.13252$ [e-mail]:

try an scrap of bicycle inner tube,or a rubber jar opener(round rubber disc,textured)

On my shower,I had to replace the elbow pipe that comes out of the wall;the ball was an integral part of that pipe. they do that so you can't swap shower heads.

(the "glue" may only be liquid pipe compound.)

[spam disintegrator]

agree with earlier post suggestions of either strap wrench or old bicycle inner tube. I replaced the tubes in my wife's bike a while back, and kept the old ones around for just such uses.

[Katherine Maldonado]

replying to hoonsuk, Katherine Maldonado wrote: I have the same problem. How did you fix it?

[Tekkie®]

Katherine Maldonado posted for all of us...

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