Removing a Stuck Seatpost Using Chemistry
Спорт
Mixing an unholy concoction of water and sodium hydroxide to melt a stuck aluminium seatpost from a steel frame. THIS METHOD IS GUARANTEED TO WORK!
Recipe:
1 litre COLD water
400 grams of sodium hydroxide - also knows as caustic soda or lye, which you can easily buy online. It's basically a drain cleaner.
Method. Add the powder to the liquid (NOT the other way round!) and ensure it's mixed. Make sure you wear gloves, protect your eyes and skin and wear a mask. This stuff is evil and gives off fumes once it starts to work.
Remove BB and invert your frame so the BB shell is uppermost and you have access to the bottom of the seat tube. Carefully pour your chemistry experiment into the seat tube (it will spill out of the seat tube bottle boss holes if you've removed them - probably a good idea to stop at that point). You will hear a "fizzing" sounds - this is the chemical reaction. Congratulations - you're winning.
Leave for 24 hours, empty what will now be a nasty grey sludge (essentially molten aluminium), rinse and repeat.
Took me about 4 lots before the aluminium became to thin I could easily knock it out.
DO NOT USE THIS METHOD ON AN ALUMINIUM FRAME!
Пікірлер: 5
Seriously, NEVER put poisonous or caustic liquids in an unmarked drinks bottle!
@PiersWebster
4 күн бұрын
No blackcurrants were harmed/consumed in the making of this film. Promise.
Congratulations, it's good that you finally succeeded, and only small losses around. My memories - a few words: This method is effective. The scenario presented here is very dangerous. The reaction is highly exothermic. The solution may foam and bubble for hours. Hydrogen is released. It's worth being outdoors. But how to protect cats, hedgehogs, birds and children from getting burned? The solution should be replenished from time to time because the process takes a very long time, which means that checks must be made. After etching, you need to have easy access to running water to rinse the frame perfectly. And then dry it thoroughly, clean our tube with a wire brush on a drill, remove filings, and finally pour oil over the frame and protect it against corrosion... The best thing that happened to me was that before digestion, I met a plumber who showed me his hands. They were full of sodium hydroxide scars. When fire burns us, we feel pain immediately. The hydroxide we use burns gently. But deep. I cut off the seatpost at the top, glued a kind of funnel on it, and sealed the area around the pipe from the bottom, on the bottom bracket side. Thanks to this, the mud fell down and I could conveniently pour the newly added liquid from the top. In the funnel, the solution boiled like soup and splattered. Previous attempts with a punch, two car jacks, pouring kerosene or heating were not effective... If two or three days with WD-40 or kerosene do not help, it is worth dissolving it immediately with hydroxide.
@PiersWebster
4 күн бұрын
Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, it's nasty stuff. That's why I kept the solution relatively week and took around 5 days, changing the solution every 24 hours. It still fizzes and makes a mess though!
It's good you didn't splash it into your eye. You could have lost an eye.