How to remove handle

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Samson

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How do I remove a shower handle that has no screw holes around it and when I look inside it doesn’t appear to be a screw there either. It appears to flat. I can’t tell what brand this is. I just bought the house and each bath fixture is a mismatch so I am trying to replace it and the handle is my only issue. Thanks for any help.
 

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Thanks Havasu. I’ll ha e to go pick some up tomorrow and give it a try. I honestly didn’t think that was a head there. It looked like a flat pieces of metal. Wasn’t sure if someone had broke the head off or was just something else. I did stick both a Phillips and a flat head in there and tried to get some sort of grab but nothing. It felt smooth and flat surfaces. If the head has been broken off though I wonder if there is a screw extractor for something that small.
 
Soak with CLR, then spray liberally with PB blaster or similar penetrating oil, not wd40, and if stuck, they have screw extractors that will fit, and available at big box stores.
 
It may be the type of handle assy that you put hands on the handle housing and it unscrews from fine threads on the big shank body.
 
There are some handles that just push on (with heavy force) onto a plastic adaptor which clips onto the grooves of the valve stem.

So they come off by yanking off, wiggling while pulling, or by prying with a non scratch lever like a thin piece of hard wood, screwdriver wrapped in duct tape, etc.

Maybe you have that type, just a possibility.
 
It would not have a protection cap on the end that pops off if it just pulls out, I wouldn't think. Here is one on my shower handles with a similar set up, after popping the end cap.20200627_172246.jpg
 
After looking closer at the picture of the inside of the hollow area of the handle, it does look like a Phillips screw head is barely visible in there.
So either the screw head is buried in mineral deposits and needs CLR or vinegar to expose it, or it has corroded away to almost flat.
All as Havasu suggested.
 
Roll up a piece of paper towel so that it will barely fit into that opening.
Then soak it in CLR or vinegar, and stuff it back in there.
Leave it there for at least 12 hours, and see if the screw head is cleaned out.
 
Thanks for all of your advices and suggestions. I really do appreciate it. I used CLR as suggested and got rid of most of the corrosion to find it was completely flat with no screw head. Tried a screw extractor but could not keep it centered on the screw.
 

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put some penetrating oil on that screw for a full day, then get the extractor that drills a small indentation into the screw head, then use the reversing extractor on a power drill and back out that sucker.
 

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