Help: Sterling Valentine truss rod wheel stuck, won't move in any direction

Just by chance I discovered that the truss rod wheel on my 4 month old Valentine Sterling is stuck and won’t move in any direction, even if I use the appropriate “allen wrench” or rod that came with it. I wonder if this is normal on new guitars with truss rod wheels. I have just changed strings once and it was from an Ernie Ball 010-46 set to…yes…the very same. No change in gauge or tension.

After a while I found it to be a tad too straight and started to buzz ever so little, and made an attempt, but it didn’t move any direction and the rod used for it started to bend ever so slightly.

Any hints, tricks or tips?

I’ve seen the other topics around here, of this, and it’s mostly happening on old – out of warranty – instruments, Sterlings and EBMM the like.