Aqualisa O-ring trouble

[tabbypurr]

he rear o-ring out. Showerdoc is hopelessly optimistic when he says use a c rochet hook. Maybe the design changed a bit later, there's no way to get an ything behind it. The only option I can see is to skewer it, but my skeweri ng items all failed to get far into the rubbed, it's stiff stuff.

can dig into the rubber to some extent, but that's it. The most it achieve s is to move the ring round & round and maybe chip off a miniscule bit. I'v e seen rubber go hard but never seen anything this bad. It's like rock.

onc sulphuric, but I don't. If I could work out how to plug a large hole in the rear I'd drill one and get much better access, but again I've got no r eal solution. :/

Oh I made it sharp as a barb, and applied as much force as tools & allen ke y could take. It digs in but is not chopping it up. It just ain't 'apnin. N ew shower will get fitted. I don't like defeat, would rather keep things go ing a century, but this one just is not happening and it needs sorting with out delay. Sadly a minor thumbs down for Aqualisa, it only lasted 35 years.

If I had all the time in the world I'd attack it with conc acids, drill som e small holes for better access, maybe attack it with red hot wire etc, and refit it once done. But I don't.

Thank you to everyone. Sadly not everything is practical to fix.

NT

[newshound]

I have a "craft knife" set which includes points, and narrow pointy blades. Usually destructive of course, but works both on rubber and PTFE seals.

[tabbypurr]

so have I. It's useless because a) access to the rock-rubber with a straight pointy object is approx zero. b) all I've ever managed to achieve by skewering the once accessible edge o f the hard rubber with such things is to chip off the tiniest fragment. c) more or less no rubber now remains accessible due to this

I took it off the wall to see whether getting in through any of the ports c ould improve access. Not enough to do anything else was the answer to that.

I could drill a 1/2 - 3/4" hole in the back right by the rubber ring, but c an't see how to reseal the plastic moulding against DHW. I don't have tap & die that large.

If I were excessively persistent I might get it all out in a month. But the force required is so great that I'm sure the surrounding plastic would be far too knackered to ever seal again.

I've wondered whether the cartridge could be put in then it sealed in place with silicone applied through a hole made in the rear, bypassing the o-rin g issue entirely. I've checked the part to seal to doesn't move at any time . It probably could, but resealing the housing remains a problem.

If I had endless time I'd probably get there somehow eventually. Maybe a pl ate mounted on the rear sealed to the shower housing with silicone... I jus t don't have endless time. I don't want to admit defeat and spend money, bu t I'm fairly defeated really.

NT

[Rob Morley]

My cheap-on-eBay hooked dental probes seem remarkably sharp and rigid, although they may turn out to be brittle. ITYF descalers are the ones with square or chisel forms on the business end, rather than pointed bits.

[tabbypurr]

a sharpened corkscrew was just about strong enough to attack the petrified rubber. A dental pick entirely hopeless. I can't imagine any dental tool having anything like the strength required.

NT