Possible to Bodge?

Alex H · 9 Jan 2019

Moved to a new build house about 15 months ago. kitted it out with lamps, towels rails etc and some not very cheap toilet roll holders from one of the big sheds.

Now the problem has appeared and I can't see any way to fix it. Your help is appreciated.

The bar that holds the roll has a square end to fit in a square hole in the mounting plate.

It's held in place with a screw.

The mounting plate is then screwed to another plate on the wall.

Over time the bar has dropped so it's no longer horizontal.

This is due to the square end, not being square (for whatever reason) as in the picture - and the screw can't hold it no matter how much I try and tighten it.

I have 4 of these and I'd rather not replace them.

I don't think filing the square down further will work, as it will shorten the bar, making the gap between bar and wall smaller.

Any ideas?

Fergal · 9 Jan 2019

Do you know anybody that can TIG weld? You could weld the roll holder bar to its bracket, dispensing with the screw, or use the welder to build up the metal so it's square again.

AES · 9 Jan 2019

IMO, though a weld would be ideal in many respects, I can see a POSSIBLE problem where heat would discolour what ever chrome-like finish is visible to users. NOT what we need!

A POSSIBLE alternative would be a good 2 part epoxy (Araldite is my own preferred brand, but the "24 hour" type, NOT the 5 minute - but there are other good ones such as JB Weld). I can't quite work out from your description and the picture (sorry, my bad), but if this piece must be removable afterwards (e.g. to change toilet rolls) then it should be possible to file the square back to size so the screw will engage again. If I've got it wrong and the piece is "only" to hold the item square on the wall, then the piece needs only to be fixed permanently, so away you go, just glue it up!

As always with any glue, but especially with epoxy on metal, ABSOLUTE cleanliness is a must. Thorough cleaning is essential, and what ever "process" you choose for that, DO end up with a piece of clean tissue (toilet roll??

) soaked in clean acetone or clean cellulose paint thinners. Both are degreasers of course, and even a trace of grease is death to an epoxy/metal joint. (In my experience almost every time I've seen people complaining about epoxy joints failing on metal it can be traced to lack of 100% cleanliness in the prep - usually greasy finger marks).

HTH

Alex H · 9 Jan 2019

I did think welding was out of the question because of heat, but did not know about metal 'glues'.

The piece in the picture is an 'L' shape with the square part at the short arm of the 'L'

The square fits into a round plate and held with a screw, the plate is then attached to a bracket secured to the wall.

The roll fits on the long part of the 'L' - no disassembly required.

Fergal · 9 Jan 2019

You might get away with TIG welding it if the chrome part is wrapped in a damp cloth and you join it using a few quick tack welds letting it cool completely between welds. The heat from TIG welding is very localised if you apply it in short, sharp bursts.

Lons · 9 Jan 2019

If that came from B&Poo then pound to a penny it's similar to one of mine. I fixed that by filling around the square with JB weld, That was a year or so ago and hasn't moved yet although to be fair it's in a bog that doesn't get much use. The only downsides are you have to be carefull not to get adhesive on the face as it's a bugger to get off later.

I also have a robe hook with similar arrangement and that's loose just haven't got around to fixing it yet as it still retains a towel or robe unlike the bog roll which kept sliding off.