How to remove a shower handle with a stripped hex screw
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2019
- My shower handle hex screw corroded and would not come out... preventing me from removing my broken handle. Here is a video on how to get the job done without breaking other parts of your shower mechanism. Please like this video and share if it was a help.
- Hudba
Thank you so much for your video!!! My Hubby struggled last night and this am.... he finally got the handle off after using the drill after watching your video!! THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for taking the time to do this video. Greatly appreciate it.
Brother Branden Lawrence. Thank you for this video! If you're still watching this after your post from 3 yrs ago, hit me back
Good advice! Same problem, hex screw was stripped. Delta. Tried everything and finally decided to drill after watching this video. Ryobi battery powered drill. black oxide drill bits. hex nut was 3'32. used a 3'32 drill bit. thought I had it but realized I drilled through the hex screw and the tip of the cartridge but the handle wouldn't come off. then tried the next size up bit. same thing. drilled through the screw and the cartridge tip but handle wouldnt come off even though it was definitely loose at this point. Tried next size up drill bit but then I kept breaking them off! broke 3 drill bits. Got mad and just started to pull on the handle back and forth but not too hard to hurt the main plumbing component. After about 5 minutes it finally snapped off. The cartridge tip snapped in half and i could see the damn hex screw still lodged inside. I had already bought a new cartridge so didn't mind breaking it off. Hopefully others will have it slightly easier but shower is now working great!
Yes, drilling it out worked perfectly. Turned off water so we could turn the handle to a comfortable angle for working and could see easily where to drill and what size drill bit to use. Thx for sharing your experience - appreciated.
Great video! I just had this problem today. The guy at the hardware store told me to do this exact method. Just drill out the screw as and replace the handle.
Thank you so much for posting this video! So helpful!
Thank you for this wonderful "how-to" video! I stripped the little hex screw in my faucet handle and your video is exactly what I need right now. Thanks again, and take care.
You're a lifesaver at 3:00 in the morning... lol! Thank you!
Thank you! So true - until I found your video! Very helpful- new fixtures were replaced!
Thank you so much for this video. I have been fighting all weekend.
Another way to remove a stuck setscrew in a Delta bathtub faucet (Monitor 1400) handle is to use a 3/16" left-hand drill bit. Use short bursts with the drill in reverse (the cutting direction for LH drill bits) and the setscrew might loosen. When the drill bit bites into the setscrew head, the torque might be enough to loosen the stuck setscrew. Worked for me and the setscrew was reusable.
1 question... mine is a delta. Did you mean to say 3/16? Which fits in hole. 3/8s seems kind of large.
@@imhigh0013 Typo error that I have since corrected. Yes, it's 3/16". 3/8" would be huge for any faucet handle.
@@imhigh0013did it work for you?
@jpablo700 NOPE!! Drilled it out. And only found a miscolored replacement handle. Now I have a two tone faucet.
My problem is the drill bits are too large (too wide), I can't even get to the screw.
Thank you this worked had to keep in mind be patient keep drilling and be careful next step new knob
Thank you so much🙏🏼🙏🏼 I have this exact fixture and same problem!!
Thanks man! I ran into the same problem and had no idea how to fix it lol
Thank you so much! This helped me out and saved me so much work!
That’s what I would’ve done in any other situation, but for some reason didn’t think of that solution until I watched your video. Thanks to your struggle, I’ll finally get those sink handles off. God bless you sir!
My shower handle Allen screw stripped and I don't know how to get it out. What size drill bit to use?
@@anilphilip546 I would start with a drill bit smaller than the Allen key for the screw. This will give you a great pilot hole for the large drill bit that will be needed to remove the screw head.
@@juarez33emilio turns out my Allen screw wasn't actually stripped czcams.com/video/3NfZXxfNb90/video.html
Thanks so much. I’m in the middle of doing exactly the same thing, to exactly to same valve handle in your video. You confirmed my course of action. This really helps when performing first- time evolutions on plumbing. A drill for very hard steel ( cobalt) works well. Thanks again. I feel much better and maybe not so dumb after all(that may be a stretch!). :)
Hey Kevin, can you tell us what brand handle this is? A few others asked in comments but didn't get a reply. Any details on brand and where to get it would be most appreciated!
@@Titchwell I believe it was Moen but it was a while back when I made this video. (Three houses ago)
IT WORKED! Thank you!
tks for the video
Dude! Brilliant! I once again have hope...
You are a God send 👍
That worked! Thanks!
Thanks, worked for me aswell
That set screw metal is really hard, but I'm making progress!
I'm going to give it a try
Try a 1/8” broken drill bit in reverse whit u drill , works perfectly
Great Idea.
But just 1 Safety problem I see is I was taught in Trade School to never drill in toward any body part, in case the drill slips or hits something hard and slips out of the hole, then drills through your hand.
Yeah it happens, so please be careful and use something else to support the handle besides your hand.
Great observation! I was thinking the same.
That is absolutely correct. Out of instinct I did what you said because I could imagine if a slip would happen. But I did do this and it worked.. just be cautious. Don’t rush. It will loosen.
Thank God I watch this I was about to cut the handle to pieces with a hack saw
I'm Frustrated 😡!!! I can't get that tiny screw out. I don't like to vent, but my fingers hurt doing that Manly Stuff!!!🤣🤣🤣. I just fixed me a glass of wine & chilled out. I'm going to watch your video again & try tomorrow..., Again!!! Thanks for your video.
Were you able to finally get it out?
If you turn the water off you can turn the thing around so you can drill down instead of from the bottom side up
A smaller drill bit will make it easier bc with that big drill bit you were actually drilling into the handle and not just the set screw.
This is what I’m attempting!
Left hand drill bits work best with these situations.
Dang, I'm facing this same problem & I'm wondering, if it takes about 30 minutes or so to drill, can you change the handle to the clear plastic round knob? I need to adjust the temp in the cartridge so the water temp can be hotter in my shower! Everywhere else throughout my home, the water is almost too hot except in the master shower!
It seems like the round knob can easily be screwed off to adjust temp if I ever need to again Branden Lawrence. What do you think?
My shower handle Allen screw stripped and I don't know how to get it out. I tried using a torx bit after watching a youtube video but it made the problem worse. What size drill bit to use?
I tried fixing my leak yesterday, and yes it feels like it's striped. Quick question what size drill bit would you recommend
Getting ready to do it now!
I want to do this because I need to replace the cartridge, there for i don’t care if I damage the cartridge when drilling.
I tried to break off the handle like the other video showed but it won’t break off and my screw is still stripped.
Ima drill it out
Good video BUT, if you don't hit that screw just right, most likely you'll screw up the thread where the hex screw goes into. Not a big deal as the new faucet handle should have a new screw and mounting plate. I just changed out the cartridge when I did min (about $35 from Lowes). Moen has replacement handles for about $25 dollars (this one looks exactly the same as mine, so think this one in video is a Moen unit. What a pain in the rear ;-)
Yeah, I wasn’t trying to salvage the handle. The end of the handle that screws in to it corroded and so it was done for. Thus the reason for changing it out in the first place.
@@brandenlawrence yes I think some people who are noviceslike myself may not realize is your drilling into the mount that should come with your new handle. Mine was so messed up I actually had to get a Dremel tool and basically cut the hole handle in half. The screw actually fell in and was keeping it from coming apart it was crazy. It was like going to war LOL. By the way I wore gloves there metal shavings all over in the peace got hot as heck. Fun way to spend a Saturday 😄
Cartridges are free for life for most major faucet brands dude. Good video though!
I have the same exact fixture and the same problem. Could you post a link as to where you bought the replacement handle? thanks!
Sorry, just saw this. I got the replacement handle at Lowe’s. Granted, that was 2 years ago.
The valve
So, the actual handle impedes the drill. I noticed that it appears you sawed the handle. Is this necessary?
So, I didn’t saw the handle. My particular handle had an end that screws off and on. But as far as the handle impeding the drill. I suppose you could saw it off. Before going that route, you might want to look into getting a longer drill bit if you can find one that is long enough or get a drill bit extension.
Very Good!... 48
I think the next step for me is to get a band saw and cut the whole damn thing off and put a new one in, with the new cartridge.
Shut water off , use hacksaw, replace cartridge!
Facing the same problem. The hex screw is a bad drsign. Cannot believe why the industry has been doing that way.
To help make plumbers rich, why else...
Hold phone horizontally when shooting video.
Pascal Junger well, then all the people watching the video on their phones would be writing me telling me to turn the phone vertically😂
What kind of bit did you use? I just broke a brand new Ryobi POS bit....
You didn’t show drilling part of stripped hex screw. After drilling some part of screw be still in.
My guess is that you didn’t drill in far enough or that you didn’t have a big enough drill bit. Your drill bit needs to be the same size as the hex screw or maybe even a little bit bigger.
@@brandenlawrence bit needs to be A LOT BIGGER than the set screw so you can effectively demolish the handle and set screw combination
If you have a moen unit if you call them they will send you a new one free
Nice video but what are you talking about, my new cartidge cost about $23 and a knock off one I saw on Amazon was like $15 not $70!!
and Delta supplies replacement parts for free
Approx how long did this take? I feel like I've been at this for a long time and I'm not getting any give
It took a while to drill through the metal screw. Take a break and go back at it. Make sure your drill bit is made for drilling through metal. A wood bit would not work well or at all.
@@brandenlawrence "A while" like 10 min? Or "a while" meaning an hour?
@@brittanyannbradley1099 I did the exactly the same thing and it took me ~30 min. Caveat is you will need cobalt drill bits, which is very strong material and can cut metal relatively easily. With ordinary metal drill bits, I would imagine it will take hours of drilling.
kind of a useless video. the handle is already off when the video starts. In fact, it can take a couple hours to drill through the handle's set screw. These things are harder than hades. I used a combination of black oxide and titanium bits. I had a 1/8th in set screw and started with a 1/8th " drill bit. I ended up drilling in stages with successively larger bits. I completely opened up the hole in the handle until finally I could drill through the stem and remove the handle. Took a lot of time and effort. In all of the youtube videos, the handle is already removed... the miracle (getting the handle off) has already occurred. don't fall for that, plan on using quite a few bits for a long time to get the handle off.
I like the idea of a dremel and probably should have started with that.
Also, it helps to have a shop vac handy to clean up the metal shavings at the end.
You should link the products you use to your video. Get commission on products shown.
I spend one day to search this video. This needs to be taken down. The guy is literally asking to drill through a half inch hardened screw straight. There are lot of videos which tells you how to successfully take out the the strippen alen screw. Hell, anyway i ruined my shower head as I started drilling and it did not go straight. I just hope i have not damaged the valve tree .
You do it your way. I’ll do it mine👍🏻