Stubborn tub spout.. help!

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Ndl927

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Hey, all.

I'm trying to replace a tub spout (no set screw), but the old spout just won't come off. I've replaced one before and all it took was a wrench and some muscle to get it to twist off.. this one is giving me such a hard time.

I've lubed it up with Liquid Wrench and let it sit, tried different wrenches and leverage, and still nothing. I'm worried about damaging the pipes, since when I apply "heavy" pressure, the shower knobs move and I can hear creaking in the wall.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance =)
 
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CountryBumkin

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I'm not a plumber so I haven't done this myself - but if you're sure this is threaded on, you might be able to cut the end of the spout off with a "sawsall" or "hacksaw", so you can expose the threaded end and get some heat and penetrating oil on the threads. Or if the replacement spout is a "set screw" installation, maybe you can cut the threaded end off completely just leaving enough pipe sticking out to mount the new faucet.

Nice YouTube video showing the different mounting types (I assume you have the top style in the video)
 
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FullySprinklered

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Did you break it yet?

If not you might try blasting it with heat. Thing that bothers me about the spout in the picture is that it's likely a short iron pipe nipple sticking out of the wall. Whereas you would expect the threaded connection to be close to the end on most screw-on spouts, yours may be back near the pull-up diverter. I've seen one, and not lately.

Apply heat to that area repeatedly and put a moderate amount of force with a wrench between heatings. Somewhere in this procedure try turning it tighter to break it loose. If it moves, you got it. Then unscrew it.

If the nipple breaks off you may have to go into the wall. The job gets big at this point.
 

Dj2

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Cut off the spout in half, so you can see the iron/brass/copper nipple.
Then use two plumber wrenches - one to hold the nipple and a 24" wrench to twist the spout out. a 24" plumber's wrench has some torque.
 
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Hey, wait a minute.

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