I have a plastic "retainer sleeve" that threaded into my shower faucet handle a bit off and is now stuck. Any advice on getting this piece off?
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With or without destroying the plastic? – UnhandledExcepSean Sep 7 '18 at 19:49
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Either way will work for me! – user90863 Sep 7 '18 at 19:51
Your shower faucet handle appears to be made of metal. Heat the metal by soaking it in hot water for a while. Then try unscrewing the sleeve. The heated metal should expand making the threads looser.
Be careful to avoid buring yourself with hot metal.
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1You can also stick some ice cubes inside the plastic to shrink the plastic a little. When the plastic is good and cold, put the whole thing in hot water to expand the metal, or use a heat gun or hair dryer on a low setting on the metal. – fixer1234 Sep 8 '18 at 21:00
I've had luck in the past using a flat head screw driver or an awl to remove stuck pieces of threaded plastic. It will damage if not ruin the plastic piece, but if you drive the point in a bit and then angle the piece, you can slowly cause it to unscrew enough to get a pair of vise grips to finish it.
answered Sep 7 '18 at 19:55
