Removing a boiler fitting

[Miserlou57]

I am trying to remove a very small pipe adapter that went between my ten-wheeler boiler and the check valve. The check came off no problem, but the adapter is very, very stuck inside the boiler. It looks to be about 1/4 NPT, but the stock was not hexagonal. I think it was either octagonal or even more (12?), so grabbing a good grip on it was extremely difficult. I should also mention, I put a considerable amount of force on it (by arm) to try and remove it, and since it's brass, having attempted a few times I've managed to basically round it off. :/

I had used liquid wrench on it numerous times before all this effort, allowing it to sit for days, and even weeks at times, and I still can't get it to budge. I definitely need it out.

I'm trying to decide how to proceed. I suppose I could grind the fitting down to almost square, and I should be able to get a significantly improved grip on it and get it out. I'm worried if perhaps this is a sign of serious corrosion internally, and I'm worried that if I have to put gorilla strength on it, am I in danger of damaging the boiler hole or threads.

Any advice would be awesome.

[gwrdriver]

How about drilling it out, if it isn't already, and using a screw extractor? The other alternative would be to drill it almost completely out and pick out the remains.

[Harold_V]

Simply heating (excessively) and cooling will often allow pieces to be dismantled, as it alters the corrosion that acts to bond the two together. If the area can tolerate heat, try that.

Harold

[duckman903]

If it is brass find a piece of round stock that fits snugly in the the bore then clamp on with a good pair of Vise Grips the ones with curved jaws then just start leaning on it and tap/beat on the end of the rod for some shock effect.

[warmstrong1955]

Simply heating (excessively) and cooling will often allow pieces to be dismantled, as it alters the corrosion that acts to bond the two together. If the area can tolerate heat, try that.

Harold

And if you spray it with WD40 as it cools.....it will help A LOT!

Bill

[Greg_Lewis]

Here's something from my archives:

"The April/May 2007 edition of Machinist's Workshop did a test of penetrating oils where they measured the force required to loosen rusty test devices. Buy the issue if you want to see how they did the test. The results reported were interesting. The lower the number of pounds the better. Mighty interesting results for simple acetone and tranny fluid!

Penetrating oil . Average load .. Price per fluid ounce
None ................. 516 pounds .
WD-40 .............. 238 pounds .. $0.25
PB Blaster ......... 214 pounds .. $0.35
Liquid Wrench ... 127 pounds .. $0.21
Kano Kroil ........ 106 pounds .. $0.75
ATF-Acetone mix.. 53 pounds .. $0.10

The ATF-Acetone mix was a 50/50 mix (1 to 1 ratio)."

[Fred_V]

Heat it and spray it with whatever.

[Pipescs]

No matter what you do as far as heat or lubricants, if it is in fact a 1/4 NPT thread, Try to locate the right kind of EZ out.

These are specifically for pipe and labeled as such. They are hammered into the pipe for max grip. You will have to hammer the piece back off the tool when you get it out

They will be at most plumbing supply houses down to 1/8th inch pipe thru one inch.

[Fred_V]

The problem with those is that they are tapered and will expand the fitting and make it tighter as you try to extract it in a case like this one.

[warmstrong1955]

The problem with those is that they are tapered and will expand the fitting and make it tighter as you try to extract it in a case like this one.

I have a set of those, and no, they are not tapered. Straight shank with straight flutes.
That's why they work so well.....they don't expand the fitting as you turn it.

Bill

[Dick_Morris]

The drill cost may be impractical for 1/4" pipe, but I have a set of left hand drills that I used when I have a broken bolt and I'm drilling a hole for an easy out or to pick out the threads. Sometimes there is a pleasant surprise when the bolt just screws itself out while being drilled.

[Mike Walsh]

I simply heat up the fitting until it's a glowing red or orange, then I use a spray bottle and gently MIST water, focusing at the thread joint. The theory is that it will contract those areas the most, and eventually suck water into the threads, breaking up the rust. LIGHTLY tapping the fitting while doing so will also help. The way I was taught doing this, if you were gently tapping on the hex of a boiler plug while misting water onto the threads (and tapping directly on the head of the boiler plug), you should be able to take the fitting out by hand once it's cooled down (by misting until cool).

There is the debate of changing material properties, but with the boiler being heated up again and again and again, I think the discussion could be moot.

-Mike