MTFCA Forum

Hi all,
I've been having trouble with a weeping sediment bowl on my 25. I found another bowl that is rusty and locked up. I tried heating and using PB plaster to break parts free.... and maybe a little too much force. At one point I stopped and read one of the postings here about heating the bowl and putting it in the freezer. Why not try that? The concept is that different metals heat and cool at different temperatures. So I tried it. Put the heated and smoking (propane torch) sediment bowl in the freezer using welding gloves and immediately thought: What if that smoke would ruin the other foods in the freezer. Well it didn't. After the bowl cooled I put it in my vise and tapped it with a hammer and it came off. Wow. Then I did the same thing with the valve and same results. Off it came. Of course, I had tried hammering the valve and mushroomed the end a little; but I can fix that with no problem. The different metals separated when they cooled and broke free. Physics!
John

We call them "hot wrenches" in this part of the country.

I always heard it as a "Blue wrench"

My mother warned me to stay away from blue wenches.

Allan from down under.

I think that's where the "blue laws" came from...

I had a progression I would use. Sometimes "wiggle" would work it free. Someone told me to put some synthetic motor oil on it, my car at the time ran 0W20 which (I found outlater) had anti-rust properties, so I mixed a batch of 50/50 0w20 synthetic and WDro in a spray bottle. If THAT didn't do it, I'd break out the bottle of Kroil (Gift of the Gods), and soak it. If none of that helped, I would break out Rosebud (the torch, not the sled) and cycle it eith the flame wrench. If still stuck (man, did someone weld this together??) it was time for either the cold chisel or the cutting torch method. I hated that as it can pull any temper out of steel, but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do!!!