Hoping someone here might have a bright idea... We've recently moved into a flat and the popup bath waste needs replacing. There's a hole on the underside of the overflow handle, but the screw inside there is completely rusted and feels like it's stripped (suggesting someone has previously tried and failed to remove it). I have tried the rubber band trick but can't get enough purchase on the screw. I can't figure out any other way of removing the thing... Any ideas / tips?
We're trying to replace but seems impossible in current situ. Picture from underneath attached - hard to see but best we can manage!
Just about impossible to get that screw out,can't you get to it from other side of bath,has to be a locking ring combined with overflow that can be removed.
We do have access from the other side but, similar to the picture you've posted, there's no access to the bolt etc. It's essentially a sealed unit on the back. I suspect we have to remove screw H to be able to remove handle I to be able to unscrew the front.
If you get some grips on M & strap wrench on front cover, might be able to loosen screw with some force applied to M. If good access might be able to cut through M if it's soft metal with junior hacksaw.
It is all one piece and would not come out from outside side of bath. Really needs the handle removed. The screw shouldn’t be rusted. It should be normally made of brass. You might have to consider cutting one side out. A cordless angle grinder would easily cut the overflow handle, but a delicate job not touching bath surface.
I feared that might be the case. The best I'd come up with was hacksaw between I and K, though that would be a tough job.
Plenty of cardbord tape around the bath were outlet & in bottom of bath should protect it enough from chips & scratches
Can't make out from your pic ,is the grub screw head slotted ,cross head ,or hexagonal for an Allen key ?
On most of these that I have fitted ,the grub screw sinks below the surface of the threaded hole in which it sits.
Fully protect the baths surfaces ,force the chrome handle until the hole is at the top ,and drill out the grub screw ,drill held at a slight angle so the chuck is away from the bath.
It would be worth getting a reverse helix drill bit to do the drilling. Your drill would be ran in reverse direction ,so the bit cuts anti clockwise ,that may well cause the grub screw to unscrew when the bit starts to bite. 3 mm diameter drill bit max. Also known as left handed drill bits ,and reverse spiral.
So, update after a weekend of hard work- the reverse drill bits were of no use, they just weren't able to grip (...yes it was definitely in reverse!). I ended up going through a few drill bits in trying to drill out the screw to no avail. What worked in the end was drilling at 90° to the screw, through the side of the handle. Thanks for all your help.
Pardon me if I'm wrong! Better you call some best plumbing service provider to fix this issue. I'm saying this because, if you are about to try things upon suggestions, if it got set then its totally fine, but sometimes it might drag some another issue which on serious scenes will let you in trouble costing expensively!