Liquid Wrench - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

02-24-2005, 06:32 AM

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 23:34:27 -0500, Sheldon Brown
<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:

> Andy Ksjls wrote:
>>
>>>I got a stuck seat post in a seat tube. Someone suggested Liquid
>>>Wrench. I found it was just some lubricant. Will the more readily
>>>available WD-40 do the job?
>>
>Jobst Brandt replied:
>>
>> That probably won't help either because, although you didn't say so, I
>> suspect you have a steel frame and an aluminum seat post. When these
>> two corrode together aluminum expands enough to stretch the seat post.
>> Yours may not yet be at that point but it probably cannot be removed
>> non-destructively.
>
>Maybe so, maybe no. See: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
>> The way frame builders remove these is to saw them off, bore them out
>> to a thin shell and grind away a slot in one side to collapse the
>> aluminum remains to remove them. Oil bases lubricants will not help.
>> An acid solvent might work its way in there but I doubt it.
>
>Ammonia is good for this...I believe it's a base, not an acid.
>
>Sheldon "Unnnggggggggh!" Brown
>+-------------------------------------------------------------+
>| If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough! |
>| --BOB Simon |
>+-------------------------------------------------------------+
> Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
> Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
> Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
>[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I'm not sure that is is really the place for a Dr. King quote. Very
funny though.

02-24-2005, 07:39 AM

LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m wrote:
> Sheldon Brown wrote:
>
>>> An acid solvent might work its way in there but I doubt it.
>>
>>
>> Ammonia is good for this...I believe it's a base, not an acid.
>
>
> Aqueous ammonia is indeed alkaline [a base], and it is corrosive to
> aluminum; but a less toxic corrosive is vinegar [dilute acetic acid].

The base also dissolves the aluminum oxide, aka the corrosion that froze
the seatpost in the frame.

Pat

02-24-2005, 07:39 AM

LioNiNoiL_a t_Y a h 0 0_d 0 t_c 0 m wrote:
> Sheldon Brown wrote:
>
>>> An acid solvent might work its way in there but I doubt it.
>>
>>
>> Ammonia is good for this...I believe it's a base, not an acid.
>
>
> Aqueous ammonia is indeed alkaline [a base], and it is corrosive to
> aluminum; but a less toxic corrosive is vinegar [dilute acetic acid].

The base also dissolves the aluminum oxide, aka the corrosion that froze
the seatpost in the frame.

Pat

02-24-2005, 08:20 AM

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:34:19 +0800, Oscar <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
may have said:

>Werehatrack wrote:
>
>> WD40 is not as good as a penetrant as Liquid Wrench. Neither is likely
>> to have much effect in my experience, but LW has the better shot at
>> actually doing something.
>>
>> For real hints, start here:
>>
>> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>>
>
>Diesel fuel is better than either of those for penetrating fine gaps.

Its presence on the bike and user may cause both to get evicted from
the house for the duration, though. (But LW doesn't smell much
better, as I recall; it's just a lot less pungent.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

02-24-2005, 08:20 AM

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:34:19 +0800, Oscar <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>
may have said:

>Werehatrack wrote:
>
>> WD40 is not as good as a penetrant as Liquid Wrench. Neither is likely
>> to have much effect in my experience, but LW has the better shot at
>> actually doing something.
>>
>> For real hints, start here:
>>
>> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>>
>
>Diesel fuel is better than either of those for penetrating fine gaps.

Its presence on the bike and user may cause both to get evicted from
the house for the duration, though. (But LW doesn't smell much
better, as I recall; it's just a lot less pungent.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

02-24-2005, 09:31 AM

sheldon has the floor!
howbout heating the outside tube
jamming dry ice down the inside
then soaking with PC blaster
repeat

02-24-2005, 09:31 AM

sheldon has the floor!
howbout heating the outside tube
jamming dry ice down the inside
then soaking with PC blaster
repeat

02-24-2005, 03:33 PM

Pat Lamb wrote:

>>>> An acid solvent might work its way in there but I doubt it.
>>>
>>> Ammonia is good for this...I believe it's a base, not an acid.
>>
>> Aqueous ammonia is indeed alkaline [a base], and it is corrosive to
>> aluminum; but a less toxic corrosive is vinegar [dilute acetic acid].
>
> The base also dissolves the aluminum oxide, aka the corrosion that
> froze the seatpost in the frame.

You're certain the corrosion is aluminum oxide?

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

02-24-2005, 03:33 PM

Pat Lamb wrote:

>>>> An acid solvent might work its way in there but I doubt it.
>>>
>>> Ammonia is good for this...I believe it's a base, not an acid.
>>
>> Aqueous ammonia is indeed alkaline [a base], and it is corrosive to
>> aluminum; but a less toxic corrosive is vinegar [dilute acetic acid].
>
> The base also dissolves the aluminum oxide, aka the corrosion that
> froze the seatpost in the frame.

You're certain the corrosion is aluminum oxide?

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

02-24-2005, 05:11 PM

If ammonia is corrosive to aluminum, does that mean that using it when
you've got an al post stuck in an al frame might be bad?