Trouble breaking down my doubles

[Graveyarddiver]

I’m wondering if anyone else has faced this issue, and what there solution was. Using my angle grinder in a tight space on my bands hardware was less than desirable.

In my yearly tank maintenance I ran into a slight issue. Having removed all the valves from singles and stage bottles, it was time to break down my doubles. Both sets of my AL 80s, no issues, bands and manifold removed in about 10 minutes. Moving onto my Steel 133s, and this is where the struggle started. Removing the hardware from the first band, was a struggle, so I broke out the breaker bar, and finally got the nut/bolt loose. A few turns into the second band, and the same issue, again the breaker bar comes out, and after a few profanity laced attempts the bolt is warped, and the nut is no looser. After a few more futile attempts with a buddy, I broke out the angle grinder and VERY CARFULLY, ground the bolt so it could be removed. Not once did the grinder come close to touching my tanks or bands, 10 minutes of stressful grinding is nit something I want to repeat.

Has anyone else faced this and what were your solution? I did not use loctite on any hardware, and I’ve done this regularly with other tanks.

 

[Scared Silly]

Galling | Fastenal

Use a lubricant on the threads before assembling.

 

[tomfcrist]

I’ve never had that problem with stainless bolts.

 

[Graveyarddiver]

I hit it with some WD40, that was my only libe option.

This is the first time I’ve used included hardware with assembly. I made the bolts for my other twin set with lock nuts, and a threaded stainless steel rod. I’m in the process of making another set of bolts.

 

[laikabear]

Sounds like galling as Scared Silly says.

Haven't experienced it but using a lubricant on the bolts when assembling and screwing everything together sloooowly should avoid in the future. I think if galling has already occurred, you can't lubricate things apart and your solution was necessary.

 

[Stoo]

I’ve never had that problem with stainless bolts.

I was going to ask that... are you using stainless? Lock washers and nylon-lined nuts?

 

[Graveyarddiver]

The bolts are stainless steel, included in the doubles set from liesure pro, definitely a little larger than the typical bolt sets I’ve used in the past. I was not using nylon lined nuts. In the future during assembly I will put a lubricant on the bolt and nut.

 

[Scared Silly]

Haven't experienced it but using a lubricant on the bolts when assembling and screwing everything together sloooowly should avoid in the future. I think if galling has already occurred, you can't lubricate things apart and your solution was necessary.

Exactly

 

[divad]

I've caused galling (once) by over tightening bands.

 

[tbone1004]

@Graveyarddiver
first off, buy better hardware when you assemble. Sounds like your "stainless" hardware wasn't up to snuff
second off, rinse your tanks better
after that, use impact wrenches instead of breaker bars. It is all about stress-strain curves. Both are able to put the same amount of stress onto an object *y-axis* which roughly equates to force, but the "strain" or x-axis is significantly lower for an impact gun. Area under the curve is the amount of work something experiences and the least amount of work will equate to less risk of something stripping, shearing, rounding off, etc.
When you put your new hardware on, as @divad pointed out, galling is a very real issue with stainless hardware. A bit of anti-seize of some variety will go a long way. I usually just use Dow 111 since it lives around my dive gear, but you need to prevent galling when you put them on, especially if you are wrenching it down quite tight.

Also of note, WD40 is NOT a lubricant though people use it as such. It is a water displacement *WD*, formula that happens to be based on chemicals that can act as lubricants. If you are trying to break frozen hardware, use PB blaster, or for scuba gear since it is usually salt deposits, hot vinegar.