How to replace shower screen rollers

What you need

• Phillips screwdriver and 2.5 and 3 mm Allen keys
• Small spanner or pliers for the nut on the back
• Callipers or a millimetre ruler
• Old toothbrush and a sponge
• Thick towel for the tray
• A second person
• Complete set of rollers of the same type and diameter (10 to 25 euros at Leroy Merlin, Bricodepot, a hardware shop or the GME, Kassandra, Doccia or Roca website)
• Replacement nylon washers if the originals are broken
• Cleaning vinegar or limescale remover (Viakal)
• Silicone spray (WD-40 Specialist Silicone)

Step by step

1. 1

   Take one wheel off and identify it

   With the door closed and held, unscrew one bottom roller (they are the easiest to reach). Measure the wheel diameter, the thickness and, if it is a twin, the centre distance. Note how it fixes to the glass and whether it is hinged or sprung. Take photos.

2. 2

   Buy the complete set

   Take the wheel to the shop or look up the replacement by reference on the manufacturer's website. Buy all the rollers for the door (4 per door), top and bottom, and nylon washers if you need them. Compare new with old before leaving.

3. 3

   Take the door down

   Put the towel on the tray. With the other person holding the door, release the bottom rollers (tab, button or pressing the spring) to get them out of the guide. Lift the door a couple of centimetres so the top wheels come out of the rail, tilt it into the shower and rest it on the floor on the towel.

4. 4

   Clean the guides

   With the door out, soak the top rail and the bottom guide with vinegar, wait 10 minutes, brush and rinse. Dry well. This is the best moment to do it thoroughly.

5. 5

   Remove the old rollers

   Photograph each roller in place. Loosen the screw while holding the nut or the bracket behind, and remove the wheel, the washers and the screw. Clean the hole in the glass with the sponge and check that the edge is not chipped.

6. 6

   Fit the new rollers

   Place each new roller in the same hole and the same position as the old one, with a nylon washer on each side of the glass. Tighten by hand and a little more with the screwdriver, just enough so it does not wobble. Top ones with the eccentric in the middle position; bottom ones folded or with the spring free.

7. 7

   Hang the door and adjust

   Between two of you, seat the top wheels in the rail, lower the door and click the bottom rollers into the guide. Adjust the top eccentrics until the door is parallel to the fixed profile and closes against the seal. Lubricate the rails with silicone spray and slide the door ten times.

How to tell the rollers need replacing

There are four signs. The first is noise: a metallic grinding or a gravel sound when you move the door, which comes from rusted balls inside the bearing. The second, the door moves in jumps even though the guide is clear of limescale. The third, the door drops on its own or jumps off the rail at the slightest knock, because the wheels are flattened and no longer fill the profile. The fourth is visual: you look at the wheels with a torch from inside the shower and see cracked nylon, a wheel that does not turn or rust stains.

Before buying anything, clean the guides with vinegar and lubricate with silicone spray. If the door slides again, the problem was limescale and not the wheels; we explain it in how to fix a sliding shower screen. If it is the same after cleaning, it is the rollers.

Types of shower screen rollers and how to measure them

There is no universal roller: every manufacturer uses its own size and fixing system. That is why the first step is to take a wheel off and measure it. The details you need are the wheel diameter (usually 19, 23 or 25 mm; 16 and 27 exist), the thickness, the type (single wheel, twin in tandem, sprung, or hinged with a tab to release the door), the fixing (bolt through the glass with a nut, screw threaded into the bracket, or clip) and, on twins, the centre distance.

There is another distinction: the top rollers carry the weight and usually have an eccentric adjuster; the bottom ones only guide and are usually hinged or sprung so the door can be taken out. Always replace the complete set for the door (4 rollers on one door, 8 on two) even if only one is broken: the others have the same wear, and mixing new and old wheels throws the door out of square.

The best-selling brands in Valencia and Alicante are GME, Kassandra, Doccia, Roca, Duscholux and the screens from Leroy Merlin and Bricodepot. If your screen is under 10 years old, look for the replacement on the manufacturer's website using the reference on the sticker on the profile. If you do not know the brand, take the wheel to a ferretería (hardware shop) with a shower screen section or to Leroy Merlin, where there are compatible sets by size, or order them online after measuring with callipers.

Common mistakes when replacing the rollers

The most expensive mistake is tightening the roller screw against the toughened glass as if it were wood. Toughened glass shatters under point pressure. Always with the plastic or nylon washers on each side of the glass, hand tight and just enough so it does not wobble. If the old washer is broken, buy new washers; never fit metal against glass.

The second is buying from a photo without measuring. Two wheels that look identical with a 2 mm difference make the door rub on the top profile or hang loose. Callipers or ruler, and compare new with old before fitting. The third is taking the door out alone: it weighs 10 to 15 kg, it is slippery and the edge chips the enamel on the tray. Two people and a towel.

And the fourth, fitting new rollers without cleaning the guide. New wheels on a crust of limescale wear out within months. Vinegar, brush, rinse and silicone spray before hanging the door.

• Photograph each roller in place before unscrewing it: top and bottom ones are not interchangeable.
• Keep the old screws: sometimes the new ones come with a different thread and the old ones fit.
• If the hole in the glass is chipped, do not fit anything: the glass can break. Call us.

When to call a professional

Call us if you cannot identify the roller model and do not want to spend a week trying replacements, if the door is 8 mm glass or more than 1 metre wide and too heavy, if the hole in the glass is chipped, if the rollers are on a plate screwed to the frame of an old screen, or if, when you take the door out, you see the wall profiles are loose.

Our shower screen service replaces the set of rollers for 45 to 80 euros, rollers included on standard models; we carry 19, 23 and 25 mm sets in the van and, if your screen needs a specific replacement, we order it and come back without charging a second visit. It includes cleaning the guides, adjusting the door and checking the seals. We arrive in 20 to 45 minutes in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm and in 30 to 60 in Dénia, Jávea, Calpe and Altea. Fixed price by WhatsApp with a photo of one roller and of the whole screen, 6 months written guarantee and an invoice with IVA (VAT). Full rates in how much it costs to install or repair a shower screen.

Limescale and salt air: which rollers last longest on the coast

Cheap rollers have carbon steel balls inside a nylon wheel. With the damp of the shower and the salty air of Torrevieja, Benidorm, Santa Pola or Dénia, they rust in two or three years and start to grind. If you can choose, buy rollers with stainless steel bearings or solid nylon wheels with no balls: they cost 5 euros more per set and last twice as long.

The rest is maintenance: dry the bottom guide after the shower, vinegar in the rails once a month and silicone spray every three or four months. If the whole screen is white with limescale, the method is in how to clean a shower screen and remove limescale without scratching the glass. And if, while changing the rollers, you see the closing seals are hard or yellow, do them at the same time: how to replace shower screen seals.