Broken Shower Head! Plastic still stuck inside the pipe!?
Question:Help! My husband was adjusting our shower head this morning and it broke off in his hand. It was a cheapie pipe and there are still plastic threads stuck inside the pipe in the wall. We tried to pry it out with a wrench and that didn't work. There is nothing hanging over the side for us to grab onto. Any suggestions?
Answers:
I have a tool called an 'easy out'. I think the proper name is pipe , or nipple extractor.
It's made me a lot of money pulling out shower arms that are broke in the wall.
In 31 yrs of plumbing, I had to cut into a wall to get a broke shower arm maybe twice.
If u have something small u can cut with just try to cut a small piece of the plastic enough so u can use a pair of needle nose pliers to just turn it or just jerk it out.
if flat steel (butter knife screwdriver etc) little larger than plastic but not as wide as supply pipe tap into plastic then use adjustable wrench to turn flat steel and back plastic out. assuming it is broke on inside, if you have a small torch you might warn it a little before tapping in blade. Remember to flush pipe out after your done before you put new shower head on by turning on the water it should blow any plastic pieces out. if the plastic is around the pipe you need to cut it or break it off using a chisel and hammer light taps and easy does it.
Well if it's plastic, take a cigarette lighter or small torch and heat it till it's pliable and then go in with some needlenose pliers and wiggle it out. Be careful no to heat it too much, you cont want to melt it. It's really not difficult. Good luck.
you can try one of the tools that takes the pipe out of sprinkler lines when they break off ---if the pipe in the wall is long enough. if the pipe is broke off really short take a hacksaw blade and cut a piece out of the plasitc and take a screw driver and take that piece out 1st then put the screw driver between the pipe and the outlet of the shower and hit it and it should pop out. Put a metal shower arm back in not a plastic one....gd luck
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