Expert: speedball1 - 6/15/2004

Question





-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi There,

I am having a problem with my shower faucet. My old shower arm came off as I was adjusting my showerhead. I have a new shower arm and installed it. But I am now getting water leaking a little behind the shower faucet on the inside of the wall. I don't think the arm is connected well with the water pipe in the wall. It is hard to get to becuase there is only a small hole where the water pipe is. When screwing the arm onto the pipe it will only turn about once making a full circle if even that then the arm will not screw in any farther. But I don't think the old one did either. I tried a little teflon paste on the arm but I think most of it came off as I was trying to screw the arm in. Could you recommend what I can do to fix this? Thank you!
Answer -
Good morning Maria,  What has happened here is that the old shower arm broke off leaving some of the old threads inside the drop eared ell that it screws into.  This is why it only screws in for one turn and leaks. You will have to remove the new shower arm and with a small sharp chisel and a hammer peel out the old threads.  You will most likely nick the female threads in the drop eared ell prying the old threads up but once started they will peel right out. Once you remove the old threads wrap teflon tape around the shower arm threads to seal any nicks that you may have caused.  Hope this helps and thank you for rating my reply.   Tom


Hi There,

I tried what you suggested and while doing this, I looked a little closer into the copper pipe that is in the wall, that the shower arm screws into. It is smooth inside except for about 1 1/2 rows, where the threaded part screws in. The shower arm will still only turn about a half a turn. But it looks like that is what it is made to do. It feels like it screws in sturdy but I can see a little water dripping at the bottom where the shower arm screws in. Then when you get a hold of the shower arm it comes off very easy. But I don't think the shower arm is fitting right into the pipe. Could there have been another part connecting these two that fell off when the shower arm broke? Maybe I am missing a piece becuase I don't see how the arm with all of those threads will fit well into the smooth pipe, like I described. It is a small hole around this pipe so I can't see if anything fell off and is laying there. The old shower arm had alot of dried paste or something like it, around the shower arm where it screwed in. Maybe whoever installed it, used that more than screwing it in, to keep it stable. I don't know. I am just telling you everything I can to give you as much info as possible. Thank you so much for your help! :)

Answer
You still have a piece of threaded pipe that has broke off and is still inside.  They do make a tool especially for this.  Go to a plumbing supply house and ask for a 1/2" Easy-Out.  This fits inside the smooth part of the pipe and you can remove it with a wrench.  good luck,  Tom