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At some point in the past, I used epoxy plumbing putty to seal a joint going into the faucet on my bathtub. It's now leaking again (seeping out past the putty) and I'd like to get the putty off so that I can effect a better repair.

Any good ideas? I'm thinking I may just have to chisel it off, but I'd like to not damage the faucet in the process.

Aarthi
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Michael Kohne
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4 Answers4

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Epoxy hardens and adheres by undergoing an irreversable chemical reaction. You won't be able to dissolve it off with anything. You will need to cut and grind it off with a dremel tool and/or saw.

EDIT: If you used it on a metal pipe, you may have luck burning it off with a blowtorch.

dbracey
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The epoxy and the metal pipe should expand and contract at different rates, so if you heat it with a torch and then cool it with water a few times you may get it to loosen up.

Steven Potter
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I ended up chiseling the old epoxy off - it was crumblier than I'd have expected, so I suspect I mixed it wrong originally, and it came off pretty well because of that.

Michael Kohne
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Just a guess: acetone (nail polish remover) is effective on most plastics. I'd try that first.

Niall C.
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Bob
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