asked May 11 '11 at 13:42. james reed james reed. If the nut is bonded to the bolt, you will need more serious techniques. It's not the trap it is the plastic nut used to hold the faucet in place. 1 1. The wheels of cars, trucks, and other vehicles will be affixed to the axle with between four and eight lug nuts, used to center the wheel and secure it onto the vehicle. Re: Removing old plastic nuts; Author: Scott D. Plumber (VA) Oh, OOPS, then the basin wrench is the way to go for sure. If the bolt or nut is located in a tight space, try to remove as many obstacles (brackets, panels, etc.) Some types of cheap soft plastic nuts can cut very quickly compared to other harder nut materials such as bone or Tusq. A nyloc nut, also referred to as a nylon-insert lock nut, polymer-insert lock nut, or elastic stop nut, is a kind of locknut with a nylon collar that increases friction on the screw thread. as you can to ensure your socket and wrench/breaker bar has enough room to seat and turn properly on the fastener’s head. After spraying a healthy dose of penetrant on the fused parts, give them several hours—or even overnight—to sit while the penetrating oil seeps in. Heat will also melt the plastic off to where you can peel it off with pliers, but again, don’t heat the ceramic, don’t drip molten plastic, and don’t let the pliers slip and hit ceramic. Have a fire extinguisher or bucket of water on hand and wear heat-resistant gloves and eye protection. WARNING: Do not use a common screw driver, as this will crack the edge of your cap. – Doresoom Aug 15 '14 at 2:15. Generally, if the screw is of a lesser quality, or the shank is longer than average, the screw head (whether Phillips or slotted) can sheer off, giving the screwdriver nothing to grip the screw. If you are replacing the faucet, just break it off, even from the top. Metal seat bolts: The drill option. Source(s): Once removed a plastic wing nut from a rusted thread with a torch. The design engineers who specify the tension on a bolt allow for a break-in period, during which bolt tightness relaxes to a certain degree. Grip the shower head or the connecting nut, depending on the design of your shower head. Unscrew the bolt with a pliers or a screwdriver while you hold the nut underneath with the pliers. Plastic electrical boxes have their pluses and minuses. I have seen nuts made out of brass, steel, ebony, and petrified wood. A tire shop had rotated my tires and installed them back on my SUV with an impact wrench. Jarring the nut can break its bond to the bolt. 0 1. Then try to loosen it using a correctly sized wrench. Don't use a larger flame than necessary and keep the torch upright. I'll try it when I get a chance to work on it again. When faced with a rusty bolt or nut or other parts that seem corroded together, the secret is time. Excessive top material can feel uncomfortable especially around the edges. This relaxation is caused by micro-embedding of the bolt head and/or nut into the joint surface, and can occur with both soft materials, such as composites, as well as hard, polished metals. The sink is tough enough to hold up, the faucet components are often chromed plastic, which distort when you use a basin wrench anyhow. I have done this before and always seem to have a problem. I've even seen a saddle made out of aluminum. The head swiveled 180 degrees in either direction to set it up for loosening or tightening nuts. Force the handles of the wrenches together until the shackle breaks in two. There’s no part to replace (usually), no nut to tighten, just something… misshapen or cracked. For our purposes, we will consider three nut materials: plastic, fossilized ivory, and bone. Though screws are strong and once installed into the material seldom slip or break unless rusted with age, the heads can break during installation. Moving the nut in any direction is progress. Plastic . Since it is made of a non-conductive material, switches and outlets cannot short out if they touch the side of the box. Tap with a hammer. Turn counterclockwise to unscrew and remove the old shower head. 3. Well, today’s toilet supply lines usually have a cheap plastic nut on them. I’ve never used an OMT, but advise caution on any impact lest you break the ceramic. No amount of vibration will break this kind of connection: Since this one is sure to stir things up when you mention it the guys at the office, I‘ve provided my sources below. Sometimes this impact should be enough to break the frozen nut from the corroded threads. Personal care products. Repairing plastic items can be confounding for someone who’s never done it before. As pressure gets put on the nut sides to tighten it, that will break away from the security cone nut. (Take care not to bend or move the shower pipe.) To make sure you hit the nut itself and not the surrounding threads, place a center punch on the nut and strike the punch with a hammer. If it doesn't, repeat the process to see if that helps. Push the handles together toward your midline as hard as you can. https://todayshomeowner.com/video/how-to-loosen-a-stuck-nut-or-bolt Make sure that the surrounding area is free of any valuable items as the action to strike the motion against the plumbing nut. To correctly answer: “How to remove or take off plastic hubcaps & center caps”, we must break this question into three equally important parts. Sign in. Broken nut; Poor-sounding plastic nut; String slots too low; What you need. Heat it for 30 seconds or so and it should free up easily. You may need to give the packing nut a quarter turn to create a waterproof seal again. That requires some serious luthier chops as well as specialist tools. Sometimes, you need a hammer to break the nut. How do you think about the answers? Tony. plumbing faucet. Milk (including soy and nut milk) cartons. Cheap guitars are a wonderful thing. Tighten the nut. The tool has a long shaft and a small, spring-loaded, claw head that tightens onto the nut as you turn the shaft. There'll be only one way to remove this nut. If yours is a metal fixture, heat it with a propane torch, but shield anything flammable within 12 inches of the flame with heat-resistant fabric. Probably not until next week. The nylon collar insert is placed at the end of the nut, with an inner diameter (ID) slightly smaller than the major diameter of the screw. Examine the lug nuts. You will need to remove about 1 1/4 inches of the coating on each tube end so you will be able to slide on the flare nut far enough to allow the pipe flare tool to grip the pipe. 2. I have a leaky exterior faucet where the plastic packing nut has broken and the threaded end is still inside the faucet. You can sign in to vote the answer. The heat will make the fixture or nut expand which may break it loose. Drill a 1/16-in. Because they are plastic, there is no need to attach a ground wire to it. If those actions fail, however, it may be time to break out the propane torch and use some heat. Ours was so old the top bolt where you should be able to just use a screw driver stripped out the second I touched it and the bottom plastic nut just shredded apart like you said. Easily hammer around the nut, describing a circle around the top of the nut. At the bottom end of the shaft is a sliding T-bar that provides leverage for turning the shaft. 1 “Pop-on” With clips Using a wide tipped removal tool, gently pry up at the solid areas of your wheel cover, in between the openings. 7,982 12 12 gold badges 43 43 silver badges 63 63 bronze badges. – TDHofstetter Aug 14 '14 at 20:40. share | improve this question | follow | edited Jan 12 '12 at 20:06. I am trying to replace the valves inside the toilet tank. This is just asking for trouble, because there’s no way to tighten a cheap plastic nut sufficiently without stressing it to the point where cracks or breaks become inevitable. With some diagonal wire cutters you could nibble away at the plastic. Use the Right Tools. The plastic at the cut line will "heal" itself, flowing into the scratches made by the saw and finishing up with a high-gloss surface if done well. 1. This time I cannot remove the two plastic nuts under the tank, holding the metal intake tube to the tank and the valve. Plastic can be easier to work with than you might imagine. There’s nothing to repair but the material itself. If your hubcaps screw on using plastic lugs, you'll need to remove these with a lug wrench (and avoid excessive force when reinstalling them to avoid breakage). To remove a really stuck bolt, ... Now heat the bolt and nut. If you’re not careful, you can wind up scratching or gouging the neck finish. Metal cans are often lined with plastic. If the bolts or nuts are plastic, they can’t corrode and will come off easily. Now this is almost the same thing as a tri-groove nut but doesn't have the tri-grooves in it to be able to remove this nut down the road. But these materials are, for the most part, the exceptions to the rule. Excellent description. Just drill a hole in the middle and screw in the easy out and then unscrew. Step 2: Use Adjustable Pliers or Wrench. The impact wrench torqued on the lug nuts overly tight. Throw it away. After 2 or 3 more hammering circles the top of the coconut will pop off and you can open it (picture 3) A threaded plumbing fixture such as a shower head, faucet or aerator can become stuck due to mineral deposits that accumulate over time. If you need more leverage, hold the shower pipe with your other hand as you turn. desravines. When it does finally give way, it will break right down the middle. When lives are on the line you may want to employ a ‘positive locking device’ such as a castle nut or a slotted nut. How can I remove the broken packing nut from the faucet? Jeff Widmer. Of course I have to consider the possibility the impact tool will wring off small fasteners. Dick . hole into bolt. Waxed cardboard contains approximately 20% plastic and 80% paper. How to Break Loose a Stuck Plumbing Fixture. There is no need for hammering strong. I'll let you know how I make out. There is nothing there to damage other than the nut. I ended up doing this after messing with the basin wrench for 30 mins. It may take quite a bit of muscular effort to actually snap the shackle, so be patient and don’t give up. After a few circles of hammering the coconut will begin to crack open just under the circular line you have hammered (picture 2). Simply pry open the cover behind the seat to expose the bolt’s head. So, I had my girlfriend holding the bolt on top with a set of pliers while I held on with all my might to the bottom plastic nut with a bigger set of pliers. If, you failed all these attempts you have to cut off the faucet with hacksaw ridge or reciprocating saw. Put the flame directly over the stuck part, or the part you can get to safely. They make and item called an easy out the works with metal screws and should also work with plastic. When an impact tool is available, I use it on fasteners which seem to be too tight and too small for a wrench to remove without wringing off. Some may also contain microbeads. The stock RX-7 brake lines have a protective black plastic coating that will have to be removed before the flare nut will slip over the line. Apply heat. 1. Whether you can’t fix the problem on your own or if you’d feel more comfortable calling in the professionals to give you a hand, our team of professionals at bluefrog Plumbing + Drain are ready to help you any day of the year, any time of the day. Craft knife with fresh blade; Mallet; Small block of wood; Abrasive paper; Masking tape; We should first point out that we’re not discussing how to cut, carve and slot a nut from a bone blank. 1 decade ago. Out it comes! The slight deformation of the nut will often break loose the threads and help the penetrant creep into the contact area. In addition to coming in plastic bottles and tubes, many shampoos, gels, creams, moisturizers, and make up contain synthetic polymers (read: plastic). Then use your wrenches to try and loosen the parts. Pros use flame polishing regularly. 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