# Forum Home Renovation Plumbing  How to fit shower tap handle with spring and flange?

## dalemg

The shower tap has come off, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to do replace it. 
The spindle has a plastic chrome flange and spring over it, flush to the wall. The handle fits onto the spindle and spring in some way so that the tap's firm and the spring doesn't push it off. Can anyone explain how to do this? It must be straight forward 'cause I can't find any How To info about it via Google. 
Thanks.

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## Bedford

Welcome to the forum. 
It appears from the pics that you are fitting a new handle? 
The spindle shown has  Dorf type parallel flats on it. 
There is a matching insert (brass) in the first pic that needs to be placed inside the handle to match the spindle. 
You should then be able to feed this over the spindle and spring (pic 2) compressing the spring and aligning the flats of the spindle as you go. 
Once the handle is on enough you should be able to fit the nut and tighten it.

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## plum

By the looks of it, if you have re-tiled, it possible that the length of spindle protruding through the tile is not long enough and your handle may not fit, unless spindle extensions are used.

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## chrisp

As Bedford has said. 
I can add a little trick that I use... Find a flat blade screwdriver that is just small enough to pass through the spindle hole on the handle (i.e. as big as possible, but still goes through the handle).  Thread the handle on to the screwdriver; put the flange on the tap; put the spring on the flange; compress the spring; put the adaptor and washer (if there is one) over the spring; put the end of the screwdriver over the end of the spindle to hold everything in place; slide handle down and engage on the spindle or adaptor; hold handle hard against the spindle; remove screwdriver; affix the handle with the nut; tighten; insert cap; DONE.

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## dalemg

Thanks for the advice everyone. I fitted the tap! My problem was I didn't see I could push out the centre of the tap so I could screw on a nut. 
My next problem is a small plastic flange on the spindle has fallen off, causing the tap handle to tighten too far - flush up against the chrome flange on the shower wall. Instead, the tap handle should tighten no further than the protruding flange and sit a few cm out from the wall. 
I'll see if I can buy a "flange-on-the-spindle" part from Bunnings. If not I'll try glueing the "old" flange onto the spindle. (It'd be easier to fit a new spindle that had the small flange on it, but the spindle is siliconed into the shower wall!)

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