Broken return eyeball fitting

[sacredcow]

Hi, all... I have one broken return that I would like to fix but am not quite sure how to go about it, or if I should just call in an expert. I don't have a picture of mine at the moment, but it looks like this. If I unscrew one of the remaining intact returns, the male thread remains attached to the plumbing on the wall. On the broken one, there are no threads left; If I slide a finger inside of the return, I can feel where the fitting ends, but there really isn't much of anything to grab on to for an attempt to work it out (assuming it's pressed in and not glued and we all know about assumptions). I considered the idea of using a fine hacksaw blade to try to cut through some of the remaining fitting to see if it could be worked out, but causing further problems isn't on my agenda. Any thoughts of this are appreciated. And I can get a picture of the actual fitting later, if necessary.

 

[Richard320]

Hmmm. heating a screwdriver and melting some grooves is out.

Using one of the good ones as a size guide, can you find a wood chisel the right width to push in and grip, then you unscrew it with a crescent wrench on the chisel blade? The sides are sharp.

 

[jtpipkin]

the piece connected to the wall (insert) is broken or the piece that screws ON TO the piece in the wall is broken? I have the same fittings, but luckily the slip in portions were still threaded and usable. I hesitate to try and take them out because there appears to be no good way to do so. I've thought about the hacksaw idea but hesitate for fear that it will do more damage than good. But if the slip itself is broken, you may have to. Here's another idea I've been contemplating (or something similar) - RIDGID 31405 Model 342 Internal Wrench, 4-1/2-inch Internal Pipe Wrench - Pipe Wrenches - Amazon.com

 

[sacredcow]

the piece connected to the wall (insert) is broken or the piece that screws ON TO the piece in the wall is broken? I have the same fittings, but luckily the slip in portions were still threaded and usable. I hesitate to try and take them out because there appears to be no good way to do so. I've thought about the hacksaw idea but hesitate for fear that it will do more damage than good. But if the slip itself is broken, you may have to. Here's another idea I've been contemplating (or something similar) - RIDGID 31405 Model 342 Internal Wrench, 4-1/2-inch Internal Pipe Wrench - Pipe Wrenches - Amazon.com

The piece connected to the wall is broken. The piece that screws on to the piece in the wall is long gone- it was like this when I bought the house a year ago. On edit, for clarity, the piece that slips in to the tube on the wall is broken completely flush to the plaster. There was one little nib left and I ended up pulling that off when I scratched myself on it; And, for the record, that little bit of pulling didn't budge the rest of the fitting.

Re: your link- Interesting tool, and I was wondering if there was some kind of extractor such as this. But if it was glued in, then obviously it won't work.

I'd even be happy with a retrofit- just something that's not an obviously broken fitting! It makes my OCD unhappy!

 

[sacredcow]

Hmmm. heating a screwdriver and melting some grooves is out.

Using one of the good ones as a size guide, can you find a wood chisel the right width to push in and grip, then you unscrew it with a crescent wrench on the chisel blade? The sides are sharp.

That's something I could try, and really wouldn't cost too much. And if it doesn't budge, then I'd pretty much have to assume it's glued or otherwise fused to the tubing and a dead issue until I decide to resurface.

 

[jtpipkin]

if it's that far gone, it would be worth risking the hacksaw I guess... here's another method I've thought of, just can't figure out how to execute. If you could insert some sort of contraption into the pipe which, once made it past the slip in, would grab it as it was pulled out and then used some sort of slide hammer to gently tap it from the inside back out, it may slowly starting working it's way out. I had the same, and still do, issue about whether or not they may be glued in. The general consensus was no, but you really never know... again, total speculation by a fellow OCD TFPer