One of my mad ideas is that if a low power heater is used (on a seized seat pin, say) then water can be driven out slowly at low temperatures and seized parts might more easily be removed after a few weeks of that kind of treatment.
cheers[/quote] If the bottom bracket is out, then the ideal candidate is a candle
jb wrote:We used a variety of anti seize compounds and plus gas did seem to be the best. Though it was always applied from a tin and not a spray.
Plusgas isn't anti seize compound. It's a penetrating spray used to free off seized components. Anti seize compounds are things like Coppaslip that are applied to components before joining with the aim of stopping them seizing.
Yes, sorry I meant penetrating liquid, it did seem to get further into rusting parts than other makes, it was also a good cutting fluid for stainless steel, though never advertised as such.
I had sone stuff in a squirt tin (like 3 in one oil), my old dad gifted me. He worked on the hydro schemes in the 50/60's where rust was the persistent enemy. His advice was use sparingly and never get it on your hands! I can picture the tin but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. It smelled absolutely foul, and I'm sure were it available today it would be a banned toxic substance. It was dark purple in colour and very light flowing. But it was the only fluid type solution ever got stuck seat posts out. Any ideas? I reckon it was probably from the early sixties, unfortunately lost in a house move a few years ago...
Have always gone to Plus Gas as my weapon of choice. I`m sure that other stuff is equally good - it`s not so easy to make actual comparisons as the conditions of use differ so widely.
From the many hours I`ve spent doing repairs on the bangers that I`ve always driven, I would say that how you use it is at least as important as what you use. Getting it on as soon as possible before you actually need to start work - days even, treating every fixing you may have to move even if it doesn`t "look too bad", cleaning off fixings and getting a bit of heat in the joint prior to treatment all help. Consider cutting or splitting nuts sooner rather than later - it`s easy enough to damage components as well as yourself by wanging on fixings with the biggest tool you can fit in the space available.
If the bottom bracket is out, then the ideal candidate is a candle
Might warm it up a bit, but candles generate a fair amount of water vapour as they burn
This has got me thinking. I have about 2 gallons of ATF in various containers. Left over from 20 years of Land Rover owning. What else could it be good for? Bike maintenance-wise I guess?
mattsccm wrote:This has got me thinking. I have about 2 gallons of ATF in various containers. Left over from 20 years of Land Rover owning. What else could it be good for? Bike maintenance-wise I guess?
Assuming you mean Automatic Transmission Fluid (not Aircraft Turbine Fuel, also known as Jet-A1) then I imagine it could be used in mineral oil brakes, although I've never tried it. It's quite close to Citroen LHM although AFAIK it has more additives. Health warnings apply.
Brucey wrote:maybe; I'm thinking 60 to 100 degrees C though; boilerhouses are not usually that hot...?
cheers
Could be if you put the frame or whatever in contact with hot water pipes coming out of the boiler. I guess another way to do it might be to wrap one of those flexible heating elements around the part.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
A jar of waste oil diluted with a drop of kerosene works well enough if penetrating fluid is going to improve matters (it can make worse by making rust sticky). Cleaning exposed threads and using heat/cold/shock is almost always better if you want results within the time taken to have a cuppa. But yes, acetone+kero+atf is better than any old thinned oil.
mattsccm wrote:This has got me thinking. I have about 2 gallons of ATF in various containers. Left over from 20 years of Land Rover owning. What else could it be good for? Bike maintenance-wise I guess?
ATF has a high detergent value; if you give hub gears, chains, other bearings etc a shot of ATF a few weeks before planned maintenance, and carry on using the bike in the meantime, the parts usually clean up far easier/better subsequently than they would do otherwise. However ATF has nasty additives in it (for you) and also isn't compatible with some rubber types you might find on a bicycle, so it isn't ideal in every respect.
Brucey wrote:maybe; I'm thinking 60 to 100 degrees C though; boilerhouses are not usually that hot...?
cheers
Could be if you put the frame or whatever in contact with hot water pipes coming out of the boiler. I guess another way to do it might be to wrap one of those flexible heating elements around the part.
oddly enough I have bought (for the princely sum of £2) a cheap glue gun which contains within it a small cartridge heater. The plan (such as it is) is to install the heater (via the BB shell) inside the seat pin, and to leave the thing 'cooking' for a few days (or weeks).
Polisman wrote:I had sone stuff in a squirt tin (like 3 in one oil), my old dad gifted me. He worked on the hydro schemes in the 50/60's where rust was the persistent enemy. His advice was use sparingly and never get it on your hands! I can picture the tin but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called. It smelled absolutely foul, and I'm sure were it available today it would be a banned toxic substance. It was dark purple in colour and very light flowing. But it was the only fluid type solution ever got stuck seat posts out. Any ideas? I reckon it was probably from the early sixties, unfortunately lost in a house move a few years ago...
Could be similar to this but this is a spray can. Slaks 4A penetrating and release mineral oil. If you get it on your fingers you can smell it for days. We used this extensively in electricity power stations prior to privatisation when the CEGB were in charge. Excellent at freeing up nuts and bolts corroded by sea water. The recommendation was to spray it on, leave for 5 mins then tighten the nut to break the corrosion before undoing. Seems counter intuitive but it works. This can must be about 40 years old and is still over 1/2 full. I've released a few stuck seatpins with this.
If you Google it it's still available but may not be the same formulation as the older stuff.
Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X2, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840, Giant Bowery, Apollo transition.
