light removal

[rotenka]

Trying to slam my pool and I know there is **** behind my light. However, the previous owner stripped the screw trying to get it out. Short of draining the pool so I can use a drill on the screw anyone got an idea how to get the screw out?

I know there is stuff behind it because I took the vacuum off the hose and used the pressure of the hose to force water behind the light and algae and other **** came out from behind the light.

 

[jblizzle]

Hacksaw to make a slot and then a standard screwdriver?

 

[rotenka]

Thought about that but it is a countersunk screw and there is no way to us a hacksaw without messing up the light cover.

 

[jblizzle]

Bummer. It should never have been tight enough to get stripped in the first place. Can't think of anything right now.

 

[Smykowski]

It's funny, first thought I had was "Dremel a slot, then use a flathead."

The second thought I had was, "You're an idiot. You're about to answer questions on a pool forum."

Then I trolled the interwebs a bit for ideas. Not sure how far underwater it is and how much leverage you can get, but you can maybe try using a punch to give yourself a surface, then either a punch or a screwdriver to get the rotation going a millimeter at a time.

Another idea would be an extractor kit with one of those old school manual drills.

I don't know enough about air tools, but one idea was to use an air driven drill underwater. I'm not sure how much disassembly and drying would be required afterward to keep the tool from being destroyed though.

 

[rotenka]

I like the air drill idea. I have dumped about $50 of bleach in the pool over the last 3 days so a cheap air drill from Northern or Harbor Freight may be the ticket. If it will run under water.

 

[rotenka]

Harbor Freight 3/8" reversible air drill for 17 bucks.

 

[Divin Dave]

if the air drill dont work....
A screwdriver and hammer. Press hard into the screw with the screwdriver and tap it with a hammer and twist all at the same time. The screw is probably brass and its soft. Keep pushing tapping and twisting until the screw is out far enough to grab the head with a pair of pliers.

Another option. YOu might be able to use a small tip phillips screwdriver or a thin sharp punch or a nail and hammer and tap a small hole in the screw. Then use a small easy out and hopefully it will be able to grab. Then a small crescent wrench to turn the easy out.

In any case, it;s just gonna be a pain to get it out, but it can be done.

 

[Smykowski]

If you go this route, see if you can troll a couple of scuba diving forums for tips before you do it, then post back and let us know how it went.

 

[Suprfly]

try one of these. had good luck with them out of water...

http://www.harborfreight.com/impact-screwdriver-set-with-case-37530.html

 

[JamesW]

The risk of using any type of force on the screw is that the screw goes into a fairly weak threaded tab, which would likely break off if any appreciable force were used.

 

[rotenka]

Okay. Well good and bad news. For those of you who wonder if a pneumatic drill will work under water, yes it will work just like out of water. More good news, the light is out and the tab did not break off. Bad news for me, there was not one stitch of algae behind the light. Now I have to figure out what is consuming my chlorine.

Ended up using an easy out tool on the drill and it eventually twisted the head off the screw. Took vice grips to get the leftover out. Even then it was very hard to get out.

Advice. A variable speed drill might have been better. Put the drill in the water and fire it off to see where the air is going to come out. Then when you drill make sure that part of the drill is pointed away from your face.

Question for new screw. One light had a stainless steal screw and one had a brass screw. The stainless screw came out a lot easier. I am replacing both screws should I use stainless or brass?

 

[JamesW]

I would use stainless.

 

[JVTrain]

Put the drill in the water and fire it off to see where the air is going to come out. Then when you drill make sure that part of the drill is pointed away from your face.

Haha. That sounds like something that would happen to me!


Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[zea3]

It is best to use stainless steel screws in the pool for underwater applications. You may have flushed the debris out the other day, so it is still a good thing to get some slam level water back there to kill off any residual algae.