Faucet Keeps Falling Off. . .

[ItsAGirlThing]

So we rent our house. I've been learning how to do simple home repairs. I actually should go post some of those in the humor section. Hmmm.

My largest recurring problem is the shower faucet. It's pretty simple. There's one knob you pull outward to start the water, push in to stop, and turn either way to change the water temperature. The knob has a metal plate set in its face. Pry the plate off and you find a screw that fits into the setting.

The knob keeps coming off when you pull it, which is a nuisance. Today I thought I should at least go get a longer screw so that I'd have to fix it for my mom/visiting siblings.

So here's my question. [?] I can feel the knob jump a little when I pull it out, and sometimes I can hear it. What's the cause of the sound? Is that the screw moving? I'm assuming the designer didn't make it so that the knob keeps falling off, and I'm looking at the sad remnants of one of my landlord's fix-its. So what's missing so that the knob keeps falling off? Would getting a screw that's slightly in diameter fix it, or would that mean I'd end up damaging the socket?

[LazyPup]

It sounds like you may have one of two common problems. Either someone in the past has put the wrong screw in or the threads in the end of the stem are worn and the screw doesn't fit well.

If the threads in the shaft are stripped out it would require replacing the shaft, but here is a temporary fix that may resolve your problem. First, get a new screw of the correct size, then before you screw it in apply a bit of ladies finger nail polish on the threads of the screw. When the polish dries it will lock the screw in so it will not vibrate loose and will aid is securing it if the threads are bad.

[ItsAGirlThing]

I decided to go with the simplest fix before mucking around with larger screws. Bath & Body Works' color drops (Geranium Cream) line of nail polish was just put to a rather unorthodox use.

If it falls off, I'll let you know. [xx(]