Hey everyone! First time posting, long time lurking 
. I’ve hit a bit of a snag. I went to adjust one of one return nozzles the other day and the thread which holds the eyelet just crumbled. I removed all the remaining pieces of the thread just to prevent the kids from getting cut on them. My question is:
It seems like I have 1.5” slip in returns, but I can’t for the life of me get them removed. I can feel the drop off inside the pipe after a couple inches so I’m confident they’re slip. I’ve seen the recommendations of using a hacksaw to cut at the 3,6,9, and 12 o’clock positions but before I do that I have a concern. It seems as if there is some sort of plaster/cement on the outside of the return. Does this seem like it’s something for aesthetic reasons or did they “seal” in the slip when it was installed. If I do happen to get it removed, am I going to have to seal it back up. Should I NOT remove it and find something that slips in in order to temporarily repair it? I’ve attached a picture for reference. Thanks!
. I’ve hit a bit of a snag. I went to adjust one of one return nozzles the other day and the thread which holds the eyelet just crumbled. I removed all the remaining pieces of the thread just to prevent the kids from getting cut on them. My question is:It seems like I have 1.5” slip in returns, but I can’t for the life of me get them removed. I can feel the drop off inside the pipe after a couple inches so I’m confident they’re slip. I’ve seen the recommendations of using a hacksaw to cut at the 3,6,9, and 12 o’clock positions but before I do that I have a concern. It seems as if there is some sort of plaster/cement on the outside of the return. Does this seem like it’s something for aesthetic reasons or did they “seal” in the slip when it was installed. If I do happen to get it removed, am I going to have to seal it back up. Should I NOT remove it and find something that slips in in order to temporarily repair it? I’ve attached a picture for reference. Thanks!
