Square shower head fitting

[Brad Borch]

So I'm rehabbing a place and it's got an old Symmons Temptrol valve, and this square shower head fitting. How do I remove this?

 

[Brad Borch]

Yep, I just wasn't using enough elbow grease, didn't want to strip or bust any old copper buried behind perfectly good tile.

But now I've got a copper stub with a male fitting sticking out of the wall. What do I do for the shower head? Does anybody make a suitable replacement?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Brad Borch]

I suppose I could cut the pipe as close to the tile as I can get, and use a sharkbite to whatever the pipe size is female adapter? Like this:

 

[Reach4]

I suppose I could cut the pipe as close to the tile as I can get, and use a sharkbite to whatever the pipe size is female adapter?

That is not the job for a Sharkbite. Sharkbites don't have rotary strength.

Better than that, you could thread a brass coupler onto the copper. Put on a big escutcheon to cover the coupler, and thread a regular 1/2 NPT shower arm onto the coupler. I don't know where to find that big escucheon, but the hole is usually 1/2 inch iron pipe size I think.

There may be a better choice, but that is the one that comes to mind right now.

What is on the other side of the wall?

 

[Brad Borch]

Yep, I realized that after I posted. What kind of coupler would work? Can I just force a brass fitting onto the copper pipe? Or is there a fitting meant for that? I could use a 1/2" compression fitting to 1/2" female. And Speakman makes a shower arm with an oversized "sure grip flange." There's sheetrock on the other side of the wall, so I can open it up if I have to, but obviously I'd rather not have more sheetrock to patch.

 

[Reach4]

But now I've got a copper stub with a male fitting sticking out of the wall.

I was picturing you having a 1/2 inch MNPT thread on the end.

What kind of coupler would work?

I was thinking you would be screwing a regular brass threaded coupler onto that.

Is there access to the other side of the wall? It is not a certainty that the copper you are looking at does not have a MNPT thread on the other end. It is probably soldered, but if you can look, look.

 

[Brad Borch]

I'll try and add a pic of it. The hole is big enough that I can see what's there; there's an elbow inside the wall, and a stub of 1/2" copper that sticks out of the wall about 4", with the 1/2" MNPT adapter sweated onto the end (exactly like the stub for the tub faucet). I think if I can get an oversize flange, and enlarge the hole a bit with a dremel tool, I can carefully cut it flush with the wall, and get a compression fitting on and it, and hopefully it won't stick out too far to be covered by the flange.

Looks just like this:

 

[Reach4]

That is a tub spout, not a showerhead. Plus it sticks out a lot longer than I thought you were describing. If you are showing that to illustrate the MNPT adapter on the copper pipe, that is what I had pictured.

 

[Brad Borch]

I know that's a tub spout, I just put it up as an example. The shower has exactly the same thing (but of course a few feet higher ;-).