Repair a Tub Filler Diverter With Stripped Threads

by jasonruhl in Workshop > Repair

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Repair a Tub Filler Diverter With Stripped Threads

photo-2015-10-24, 11:52 PM.jpg
One of the washrooms in my house has a tub / shower with an old tub filler spout that was tiled into the wall.

Over time, the plunger that operates the diverter got stripped threads: it could no longer screw into the mechanism itself and we were not able to use the shower.

I tried gluing it with epoxy but this didn't work.

Using this method we were able to repair it.

Measure

photo-2015-10-24, 11:28 PM.jpg
photo-2015-10-24, 11:28 PM.jpg
photo-2015-10-24, 11:28 PM.jpg
My idea was to replace the threaded section of the diverter with a new section of threaded rod.
The original threads were brass, I'm using stainless steel.
I measured the existing length of the plunger and tried a variety of threaded rods that I had, in order to get the correct size.

Cut Off Damaged Threads

photo-2015-10-24, 11:31 PM.jpg
photo-2015-10-24, 11:31 PM.jpg
I cut the short section of damaged threads off the end of the plunger with a hacksaw.

Drill a Hole in the End of the Plunger

I drilled a hole to the size recommended for the correct size tap I was going to use in the next step.

I used a small nail set to punch a divot into the end of the plunger so the drill bit would centre itself

Tap New Threads

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photo-2015-10-24, 11:36 PM.jpg
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I tapped new threads into the newly drilled hole. The first time I did not drill the hole deep enough and the tap hit the bottom of the hole and destroyed the new threads, so I redrilled the hole much deeper and retapped.

I then screwed the section of threaded rod in as far as it would go, and marked it to cut off based on the lengths measured from the first step.

Glue in Threaded Rod

photo-2015-10-24, 11:48 PM.jpg
photo-2015-10-24, 11:49 PM.jpg
I used epoxy to glue the section of threaded rod into the plunger.

I waited for that to dry and then screwed it into the tub filler body.