Soldering iron for seized bolt?

[Jonathan S.]

Is it out yet?

I've been away visiting Grandma.
My little assistant and I will visit my hometown Home Depot for additional supplies tomorrow morning.
(Reminds me though of growing up here as a kid when I'd accompany my father to hardware stores that were all small locally owned businesses, often tucked into semi-residential neighborhoods...)

[1000-oaks]

If you can get a new screw from Dfit, here's what I'd do with the tools I have:

Heat up the screw with a mirco torch: http://amzn.to/2bvRGqU Get it hot, but not so hot that you get a cherry red or melt the aluminum. It might be easier to keep excess heat off the aluminum by buying a cheap allen key, and heat up the top of the allen key to cherry red with the torch. Let the key transfer the heat down to the screw. Have some pliers ready to pull the hot key off the screw when things start sizzling, and someplace safe to drop the hot key after you pull it off. The allen key won't be hardened after this, so don't bother using it for anything but heat transfer in the future.

(I do this same thing with a 5mm bolt to remove epoxied inserts, or a binding screw to remove epoxied helicoils. Once the epoxy starts to crackle, you can unthread the inserts or helicoils with an easy-out.)

Let the screw cool completely, then follow the instructions with an quality extractor like this (use the smallest one): http://amzn.to/2baTu3u

[Jonathan S.]

Is it out yet?

Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I let some more PB Blaster soak in again, attempted to heat up the screw with a soldering iron, inserted a 2.5 hex bit into the screw head, then took the manual impact driver (w/ a 3/8" sq > 1/4" hex adapter), and ....

... just turned the bit inside the screw head, probably from the prior damage.

Pounded in a T10 bit: too small.

Pounded in a T15 bit: tight!

Tried multiple rounds of multiple strikes with the manual impact driver, but the screw just won't budge.
The T15 bit is still tight in the screw head even after all this.

Verified that:
- Just pushing down by hand on the impact driver on the workbench with no bit turns the bit holder counterclockwise.
- Striking the impact driver with a #3 pozi on a binding screw in plywood turns the screw counterclockwise.
- Screw head indeed won't budge when placing an ordinary manual driver on the T15 bit.

Maybe remove the T15 bit and try more seriously with the soldering iron?
(That micro torch idea sounds scary with the petite alu binding housing!)

[Alpinord]

Sounds like more heat and possibly more force is needed. A 1/4" t-handle hex driver can be used to apply more force than a standard 1/4' driver handle. You can even dream up some wings for more leverage:



I have a 1/4" ball driver that also works great when extra persuasion is needed. You can grab it with both hands and crank. If it strips, the other suggestions on either cutting a slot or progressively drilling off the head may be best. If it really came down to it, drilling out the entire screw may be needed.

[Todd Zander]

Or take it to a machine shop if drilling ss bolts out of an alum housing make you cringe.

Can you take that entire heel piece off and put it in the oven? You want to heat the aluminum not the bolt.

[Jonathan S.]

Can you take that entire heel piece off and put it in the oven? You want to heat the aluminum not the bolt.

Yes, it's currently remounted on a piece of scrap wood.
Would my Scarpa convection oven be best, or doesn't it matter?
Any suggestions for what temp and how long?
And should be okay to keep the steel mounting screws in the alu body while heating?

[fatnslow]

Sounds like as this point you should try using a breaker bar on a ratchet handle with the T15 bit. It will do one of 3 things. Strip the head, break your bit or break the screw loose. IF that doesn't work you'll need to drill it.

Folks claim a 50/50 mix of acetone and AT fluid will loosen just about anything if you have it kicking around your garage.

[Todd Zander]

And after you take it out of the oven blast the bolthead with a shot of co2 aka keyboard cleaner can upside down

Edit: yea leave it on the wood too so you can screw that onto the workbench after you take it out of the oven

[Jonathan S.]

And, and, and ...

VICTORY!




Huge thanks for all the tips and tricks here.
The final difference seems to have spraying PB Blaster at the interface between the two parts of the binding (i.e., as opposed to trying to in at the bolt head) and then using a socket-style driver for more leverage.
More pictures tomorrow of this epic adventure...

[Jonathan S.]

That's what she said

Indeed, that's the only dialogue I can come up with for this newspaper photo from earlier today:

[FLS]

[Jonathan S.]

Most excellent with the medieval theme, as that thing sure felt stuck like Excalibur in the stone!

Here's the complete "TR":
https://www.facebook.com/NERandoRace...24144834293428
Huge thanks again to everyone here for all the help!
(I especially love that trick of turning a hex head into a torx.)

[Jonathan S.]

More conversion fun: when reassembling an old futon frame with a stripped 5/32 hex head, now a perfect T27!

[Jonathan S.]

So almost a full year later ... after my final lap of this season:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/NERandoR...59106070797299
... I realized that one of heel units had seized up again.

However, after proudly informing Skimo Co last year of my ingenuity in disassembling the heel unit to get it turning again, I was informed that just lubing up the interface between the two different parts of the heel unit usually did the trick.
So sure enough, took that same can of PB Blaster from last year, sprayed it into what seemed to be a nonexistent gap, yet awhile later it had gone from totally seized up to smoothly turning again!

[BobMc]

Although you keep saying those are 2.5 mm allen heads, I'm quite sure you're mistaken. Those certainly look like Torx screws to me. You'll strip them every time trying to use a 2.5.

[Jonathan S.]

Although you keep saying those are 2.5 mm allen heads, I'm quite sure you're mistaken. Those certainly look like Torx screws to me. You'll strip them every time trying to use a 2.5.

I can see how it looks like that in the picture I posted, but what appear to be the add'l indentations of a Torx screw are actually just the damage from a 2.5mm head that is starting to strip.
I have a couple remounts for other racers coming up later this summer, with one of them apparently needing some tightening, so I can post add'l pictures then.
(Plus I've successfully both tightened up and disassembled other LTR "1.0" heels using a 2.5mm driver.)
That said, I sure wish they were Torx instead! The 2.5mm head is fine for the little ski crampon clip attachments (which are also shared with the older Plum 135/145/165/185 race toe), but what a strange choice for such a sizable and mission-critical bolt. (My personal favorite for a small fastener is the Torx 25 on the Plum 165/170 heel fore/aft track adjustment.)

[Jonathan S.]

Ugh, not this again!
(Different unit, but same problem.)
Even soaked it in a PB Blaster overnight:



Time to try pounding in a T15 bit.
But might be time to retire one of these pairs to spare parts for my other three pairs.
(Especially since one pair had been in line to go onto some new race skis, which I'm thinking might now be deserving on new bindings...)

[m29319]

Hi..after proudly informing Skimo Co last year of my ingenuity in disassembling the heel unit to get it turning again, I was informed that just lubing up the interface between the two different parts of the heel unit usually did the trick.

[Jonathan S.]

Usually, yes.
I have one heel unit that has seized up a couple times after "touring" at closed ski resorts with "snow" that is some combination of dirt and slush, which seems to be the enemy of that interface. So far Kroil has done the trick, although I some point I might disassemble it to clean it out more thoroughly.
(Still one of my all-time favoring binding designs though.)

[gregL]

(Still one of my all-time favoring binding designs though.)

Yes, wish they still offered it.