[afrank21]

I have Grohe shower head and faucets from 1994. The shower set is 25.516. The shower head is dripping and I think the cold water faucet is at fault. The faucets have tricorn handles and I don't know how to remove them. Our plumber said the faucet was frozen and there was a danger of breaking the pipe in the wall (tiled shower). I've tried a shutoff valve but it doesn't help. Does anyone know if the frozen faucet can be loosened without risking the pipe breaking? Or any other ideas?

[Milo Dolezal]

Grohe "tri-corn" handles snap in over a plastic cup. You have to pull on them very hard to get them off. Pull straight out, not under an angle. Use both hands. To reinstall them - just push them back in. You will hear a snap sound when in place.

We install Grohe faucets quite often. Grohe uses brass stems with porcelain disks. I have never seen them "frozen" before. They actually work very easily and due to the way they are built they function quite well.

[afrank21]

Thank you very much for telling me how to remove faucets. I may have been misleading: the faucet itself isn't frozen, it turns just fine. It's "frozen" or stuck where it's connected to the water supply line in the wall.

[Milo Dolezal]

When you say "frozen" you mean there is ice in the pipe ? Back to you...

[afrank21]

No, I'm in California; no ice in pipe. Means it's stuck enough that putting a wrench on it may break the copper water supply pipe in the wall. It may be clogged with loose junk from having the old (galvanized) pipe replaced with copper; I don't know. Do we have to break into the tile wall to get at it?

[Milo Dolezal]

You don't remove Grohe stem with plumber's wrench but with socket wrench. Socket wrench will apply pressure around the axis of the stem. There is no way you will break the pipe inside the wall with socket wrench...