mjgoldberg
New Member
I have a bathtub in my house with a very deep surround and the previous owner settled on a tub spout that was too short and allowed water to pond on the surround. I found a beautiful 9 inch solid brass diverter tub spout from Delta that feels like a brick in my hand, and is long enough to solve the problem.
The current tub spout is the slip on style with a set screw onto 1/2 copper. The new spout is 1/2” NPT female threaded, 3/8” inset from the mounting face.
So I need to switch mounting styles. Fortunately I can see inset 1” beneath the hole in the finished tile, the current stub out is soldered to a male threaded adapter, which is threaded into a drop ear elbow.
First question- can I just grab the protruding 1/2 copper tube with a pipe wrench and turn? Is it likely to come out smoothly or am I going to break it?
Second question- once I have the current stub out removed and am down to just the drop ear elbow, is there a secret for getting the right length nipple and ensuring that the connection at both ends is leak-free while also bringing the tub spout flush with the wall and oriented correctly? The elbow face is 1.08” sunk behind the tile wall; the inset in the spout before the threads start is 0.39”. I’m concerned that a 2” nipple will be too short and a 2.5” will be too long. Given the weight of the spout I would like to get it to sit against the wall rather than supported completely by the pipe.
Third question - how do you torque down this connection when the only thing to grab onto is the tub spout? I was thinking maybe a strap wrench.
Thanks for the help with this slightly technical challenge!
The current tub spout is the slip on style with a set screw onto 1/2 copper. The new spout is 1/2” NPT female threaded, 3/8” inset from the mounting face.
So I need to switch mounting styles. Fortunately I can see inset 1” beneath the hole in the finished tile, the current stub out is soldered to a male threaded adapter, which is threaded into a drop ear elbow.
First question- can I just grab the protruding 1/2 copper tube with a pipe wrench and turn? Is it likely to come out smoothly or am I going to break it?
Second question- once I have the current stub out removed and am down to just the drop ear elbow, is there a secret for getting the right length nipple and ensuring that the connection at both ends is leak-free while also bringing the tub spout flush with the wall and oriented correctly? The elbow face is 1.08” sunk behind the tile wall; the inset in the spout before the threads start is 0.39”. I’m concerned that a 2” nipple will be too short and a 2.5” will be too long. Given the weight of the spout I would like to get it to sit against the wall rather than supported completely by the pipe.
Third question - how do you torque down this connection when the only thing to grab onto is the tub spout? I was thinking maybe a strap wrench.
Thanks for the help with this slightly technical challenge!