5 hours ago5 hr This is basic stuff I'm failing at. I'm attempting to change a washer in a dripping tap, and failing at the first fence. I can't get the screw out. It is a cross shape ( a plus) and it won't budge with a standard screwdriver.Does it need a plus shaped screwdriver head? I don't have such a thing.I've wd40'd it but that isn't guaranteed because the tap is a horizontal thing so it runs out.I'm nervous about simply increasing force as it may be made of Chinesium (credit to the the originator of the term), and if i wreck the head, then I'll be totally...stuck, and mocked.I may have induced a tiny movement because the lever slackened a tad, and a drip started behind it, presumably from the hot tap which I haven't turned off beneath.
4 hours ago4 hr 26 minutes ago, saveasteading said:I can't get the screw out. It is a cross shape ( a plus) and it won't budge with a standard screwdriver.Does it need a plus shaped screwdriver head? I don't have such a thing.You will always get better purchase on a screw if you use the right matching driver (type and size). There are two types of cross head Philips and Pozi. Use the wrong one and you get much less grip.Pozi is Fig 3.Go out and by a set with a decent handle and you'll be much better placed to deal with future issues. Get a set that includes Torx and other types too as Torx is increasingly common. Traditional straight head screws are really not used much any more.Whether getting the right driver solves your problem I don't know but it would be the first step.
4 hours ago4 hr Those little tap head screws are nearly always Phillips or Pozidriv and a standard flat screwdriver will just chew the head out. Get a proper matching driver and press hard down into the screw while you turn it. That downward pressure matters more than anything else. And make sure the water is isolated before you go any further, since it sounds like the tap is already moving.
3 hours ago3 hr Author It doesn't look like a philips or posi, (seems square cut) but it's v difficult to see. I'll ask a young pair of eyes to look.If it is posi then great, I've got a set of unused heads.So far I was just investigating which tap was dripping, and will turn both off at the flexi before the proper go.
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