DIN Retainer stuck...and i mean really stuck !

[RobinC.]

Hey guys,
Another stuck DIN Retainer thread.
Bought a second hand MK25 for 50$. Probably never has been disassembled since 10 years.
I manages to take apart eveything more or less easyly except the DIN Retainer. It is stuck as hell !
I tried all the tricks i found in this forum :
- Ultrasonic cleaner... still stuck
- 50/50 White vinegar bath for 30 Minutes...still stuck.
- 30 Minutes in Boiling water then put an ice cube on the retainer ...still stuck
- 1 Hour in the freezer, then dip the Retainer in boiling water...still stuck
- Alternate 30Minutes of freezer and 30 Minutes of boiling water , 10 cycles...still stuck.

Basically i tried to use basic physics principles to solve my case. Expand the body with heat and contract the Retainer with cold. Even tried the reverse process (who knows ).

Anyway, now i'am stuck like my retainer, have you got any more ideas to solve my case ?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Best Regards from France

Robin.

 

[tbone1004]

what tools do you have at your disposal? If you have a multi tool where you screw it into the HP port, take that and a dead blow hammer. Rubber hammer with sand/lead shot inside of the head, used similarly to a sledge hammer but with an effect more similar to when you hit something with your fist or the palm of your hand. Give it a couple good whacks to TIGHTEN, then a couple to loosen. Repeat the process until something budges. Tighten first is important because it can help break the threads loose without causing a lot of damage to anything. One or two hits to tighten, then one to loosen, repeat until the threads break loose. Once they're loose it should come out with no problems.

 

[redacted]

Hey guys,
Another stuck DIN Retainer thread.
Bought a second hand MK25 for 50$. Probably never has been disassembled since 10 years.
I manages to take apart eveything more or less easyly except the DIN Retainer. It is stuck as hell !
I tried all the tricks i found in this forum :
- Ultrasonic cleaner... still stuck
- 50/50 White vinegar bath for 30 Minutes...still stuck.
- 30 Minutes in Boiling water then put an ice cube on the retainer ...still stuck
- 1 Hour in the freezer, then dip the Retainer in boiling water...still stuck
- Alternate 30Minutes of freezer and 30 Minutes of boiling water , 10 cycles...still stuck.

Basically i tried to use basic physics principles to solve my case. Expand the body with heat and contract the Retainer with cold. Even tried the reverse process (who knows ).

Anyway, now i'am stuck like my retainer, have you got any more ideas to solve my case ?

Thank you in advance for your answer.

Best Regards from France

Robin.

hot/cold/time.

The problem is the threads are not protected from SW so stuff (deposits) gets to grow there. I suggest you give it the hot water on the body and ice on/into the retainer (chips should fit once the filter is removed) treatment a couple times a day with a soak in clean water when not treating. I'm not sure how much torque that hex fitting will take so avoid pushing it too much. (When a brass fitting meets a steel allen wrench....) Think days or even weeks of treatments. Worse comes to worse, the retainer can be replaced, but that is pretty severe.

I think the physics of hot and cold will eventually do the job of breaking up those deposits, but the occasional short ride in a US cleaner may help. I doubt if the 50/50 will penetrate much into those threads and it may be pretty rough on the chrome.

Going to a hammer is a last resort. Something will give but you may not like whatever is left. I would not try that until I ran out of time.

BTW, if the retainer to body o-ring is OK, you could fix any other problems and take it on a few FW dives. That will drive FW into those threads in a way you can't accomplish without pressure. That may help dissolve some of the deposits.

 

[RobinC.]

Then i'll keep trying to have physics on my side for a while because i can see the hex fitting getting tired of me trying and trying.
I am in paris for 2 months before heading back to bali so i got time for the moment so i'll try the hammer thing later if nothing else work.
So i am probably gonne soak my first stage in boiling water then put an ice cube on and in the retainer ( the filter is removed ) then soak it in clean water, several times a day, several days a week and see what happens.

@tbone1004: I can have access to basically all the tools i need here in Paris but your explanation is actually not clear to me. I was thinking about screwing the multitool on the hp port, then put the multitool in my vice, put an allen key inside the DIN retainer and then hit the allen key with the rubber hammed, am i right ? Sounds quite hardcore for the body

Thank you guys for your answered.

Another question , does WD40 can help ?

 

[The Chairman]

Show us a picture, please!

 

[halocline]

Follow awap's advice, he's an expert with old nasty regulators. You might also try soaking in fresh water, maybe even distilled, for several days to see if the water penetrates those threads.

If you have access to a pressure cooker, I wonder how that would work? I don't think there's anything in there that would get ruined by boiling water. If nothing else, you can console yourself with a tasty pot roast. Definitely do not use a hammer. If you could find a hex key socket that fit PERFECTLY, you might try an air wrench set to a reasonably low torque.

By the way, you do understand that there are likely two allen fittings; a small one that holds the filter retainer. You remove that first, then there's a bigger one down inside the retainer that will allow you to remove it from the regulator. If you can't get the small filter retainer out, I'm sorry.

 

[tbone1004]

That is what I was saying. The quick impact is a helluva lot easier on the regulator than trying to force it. Quick impacts of high force put less stress on the body than pulling on it with lots of torque. Very hard to strip things with an impact gun. Very easy to do it with a lot of leverage. Whole area under the curve thing. If you put the allen key in there and try to force it you put a lot of force on, but the total stress is very high because the curve is shallow. If you hit it with a hammer, preferably a rubber mallet or dead blow, then the force is very high *what you need*, but because it is so short, it is much less likely to try to strip anything.

 

[spectrum]

FWIW If this is like my Sherwod DIN retainer Loctite may be involved. Heat may be needed to release the thread locker.

 

[WarrenZ]

Penetrating oil (kroil?) might do it it will need to be recleaned after getting it apart anyway

 

[tbone1004]

the heat is actually a good point. boiling water might not help. If you can get all of the plastic off of it, stick it in the oven at 150C for half an hour and then give the allen key a good whack with the palm of your hand. No dice there, put the whole thing in the freezer for an hour, put in boiling water, then try again. Usually the sudden jolt is enough to get everything worked loose though, most of the time people try to brute force it instead of giving it a good whack and that's when things start to round off