faucetrepairsink
The aerator on my bathroom faucet gets dirty, so I've been cleaning it out now and again by rubbing a paper towel around the bottom. I think I did this with too much force, because the plastic interior snapped right off.
Apparently you can unscrew an aerator and replace it, but this is my landlord's sink, so I just want to be sure what part to unscrew. I've attached images of the sink and the piece of the aerator that snapped off. Any ideas?
As Steven says, hit it with some penetrating oil first (WD-40 should work for this). Give it some gentle whacks against a piece of scrap wood in all directions to help break any bonds. Then clamp on to the bottom square part and try to torque the nut on top with a socket. If you still can't get it, you may find it easier to replace the entire thing.
The next step secret to getting more of this faucet apart are the two slots cut across the cupped part. See the arrows in the following picture.
It looks to me as that the cupped part is threaded down inside the larger diameter part that sticks up from the hole in the sink. There is probably a special tool used to engage these slots to thread the part out. It may be possible to lay a piece of metal bar stock across these slots as a tool. If you do that make sure that it has nice square corners.
Best Answer
Yes, you can unscrew and replace that aerator. Lucky for you, it appears to be a very common size and should be available at any hardware or plumbing shop (bring it with you).
The part you unscrew is the aerator body itself, the chrome part. Sometimes they are stubborn; you may have to get at it with pliers. I have even had to use destructive removal force on them on more than one occasion.