I bought a used Hustler stainless steel ball mount with a spring at a
recent hamfest. I installed it with a stainless steel Quick-Disconnect
(QD2) screwed into the top of the spring. I found that the spring was
extremely weak, and suspect it is not the original spring from Hustler.

I removed the spring and attempted to screw the bottom piece of the QD2
into the ball mount. It started OK, but wouldn't quite screw all the
way in. Then when trying to remove it, it came out about half way and
seized-up. I'm sure it wasn't cross-threaded to begin with, since it
went in several turns without using the wrench.

Although it was hard to turn, I persisted until the QD2 started to turn
more easily. Then I realized that the piece it was screwed into was
also turning!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to undo the seized parts?
(Penetrating oil and freezing the parts didn't make any difference.)

Fred
K4DII

"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...
I bought a used Hustler stainless steel ball mount with a spring at a
recent hamfest. I installed it with a stainless steel Quick-Disconnect
(QD2) screwed into the top of the spring. I found that the spring was
extremely weak, and suspect it is not the original spring from Hustler.

I removed the spring and attempted to screw the bottom piece of the QD2
into the ball mount. It started OK, but wouldn't quite screw all the
way in. Then when trying to remove it, it came out about half way and
seized-up. I'm sure it wasn't cross-threaded to begin with, since it
went in several turns without using the wrench.

Although it was hard to turn, I persisted until the QD2 started to turn
more easily. Then I realized that the piece it was screwed into was
also turning!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to undo the seized parts?
(Penetrating oil and freezing the parts didn't make any difference.)

Fred
K4DII

nope, they are probably 'galled'. a condition that happens when you put
together two unlubricated stainless steel parts. essentially the pressure
of rubbing has spot welded the pieces together. this condition does not
respond to penetrating oils and other normal methods since the parts are not
rusted or dirty.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to undo the seized parts?
(Penetrating oil and freezing the parts didn't make any difference.)

Fred
K4DII

nope, they are probably 'galled'. a condition that happens when you put
together two unlubricated stainless steel parts. essentially the pressure
of rubbing has spot welded the pieces together. this condition does not
respond to penetrating oils and other normal methods since the parts are
not rusted or dirty.


Unfortunately I would also say this is what has happened - I had the same
experience with new replacement stainless bolts
on my bike - great, I thought, fit and forget, except when I was halfway
through installing the first bolt I had to take it out and it seemed
unusually stiff. I HAD to get it out so slow extreme force was eventually
applied even if it stripped things, but it came out - a call to the supplier
confirmed it must always be used with copperslip grease or similar to stop
this very problem occurring.

I think the only solution may be force but very slowly to minimise heat
causing more spot welds, else it will be a spark eroder or similar drastic
action

Nick

Fred McKenzie hath wroth:

I bought a used Hustler stainless steel ball mount with a spring at a
recent hamfest. I installed it with a stainless steel Quick-Disconnect
(QD2) screwed into the top of the spring. I found that the spring was
extremely weak, and suspect it is not the original spring from Hustler.

I removed the spring and attempted to screw the bottom piece of the QD2
into the ball mount. It started OK, but wouldn't quite screw all the
way in. Then when trying to remove it, it came out about half way and
seized-up. I'm sure it wasn't cross-threaded to begin with, since it
went in several turns without using the wrench.

Although it was hard to turn, I persisted until the QD2 started to turn
more easily. Then I realized that the piece it was screwed into was
also turning!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to undo the seized parts?
(Penetrating oil and freezing the parts didn't make any difference.)

Congratulations and welcome to galling. What you've done is
inadvertently scrape off the protective oxide coatings from both
pieces and welded them together. Next time, try some anti-seize goop
in the threads. Incidentally, you can have the same galling problem
with aluminum and titanium.

You're correct that oil won't do anything useful. However, freezing
should work. Clean off as much oil as you can remove with some
solvent. Find someone that has liquid nitrogen. If that's difficult,
some dry ice. Freeze only the bolt, not the ball mount. A bolt that
size will take some time to shrink, so you may need to freeze it for
some time. My guess(tm) is about 2 hours. You could also warm up the
ball mount end, but it's probably not necessary. When the bolt is
nice and cold, do the brute force trick again. Don't beat on it with
a hammer or impact wrench as you're likely to shatter the bolt.

Another way is simple brute force. Build some custom vice jaws and
lock the ball mount in place. Flatten the sides of the bolt and
attack it with a big wrench and "torque amplifier" (steel pipe over
wrench handle). Beat on it with a hammer if necessary.

Another alternative is to just leave it as is. It's now a permanent
part of the ball mount. If it's sticking out too far, cut it back to
a usable length or install a threaded sleeve between the ball mount
and QD2 disconnect.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 15:50:08 -0400, Fred McKenzie
wrote:

I bought a used Hustler stainless steel ball mount with a spring at a
recent hamfest. I installed it with a stainless steel Quick-Disconnect
(QD2) screwed into the top of the spring. I found that the spring was
extremely weak, and suspect it is not the original spring from Hustler.

I removed the spring and attempted to screw the bottom piece of the QD2
into the ball mount. It started OK, but wouldn't quite screw all the
way in. Then when trying to remove it, it came out about half way and
seized-up. I'm sure it wasn't cross-threaded to begin with, since it
went in several turns without using the wrench.

Although it was hard to turn, I persisted until the QD2 started to turn
more easily. Then I realized that the piece it was screwed into was
also turning!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to undo the seized parts?
(Penetrating oil and freezing the parts didn't make any difference.)


This is a relatively common problem with stainless. It will 'friction
weld' itself easily, and once that happens nothing seems to get it
apart. I've some interesting stainless bolts and nuts that this has
happened to, and have seen the effectiveness of the welding being
higher than the failure point of the bolt!

What is worse, it is difficult to predict when this will happen, but
it is important to use a stainless compatible anti-sieze compound on
stainless hardware.

I doubt you'll get it apart... If you want I can give you a picture of
a bolt end with a non-cross threaded nut--the bolt snapped rather than
the nut coming off (and it took a lot of work to break that bolt!)

You may have better success drilling it out, if that's an option.

Fred McKenzie wrote in news:fmmck-055CC2.15500821102007
@nntp.aioe.org:

I bought a used Hustler stainless steel ball mount with a spring at a
recent hamfest. I installed it with a stainless steel Quick-Disconnect
(QD2) screwed into the top of the spring. I found that the spring was
extremely weak, and suspect it is not the original spring from Hustler.

I removed the spring and attempted to screw the bottom piece of the QD2
into the ball mount. It started OK, but wouldn't quite screw all the
way in. Then when trying to remove it, it came out about half way and
seized-up. I'm sure it wasn't cross-threaded to begin with, since it
went in several turns without using the wrench.

Although it was hard to turn, I persisted until the QD2 started to turn
more easily. Then I realized that the piece it was screwed into was
also turning!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to undo the seized parts?
(Penetrating oil and freezing the parts didn't make any difference.)


When dealing with frozen parts, I use a torch to heat the parts up (if
they and their nearby parts will stand the abuse. Get 'em good and hot -
a red glow is not too hot - and back the screw out.

The obvious disclaimers as to the dangers of this method, such as red hot
metal burning things, and "Don't try this at home, kids!" apply.

- 73 de Mike KB3EIA -

In article ,
**THE-RFI-EMI-GUY** wrote:

Heat the ball mount with a torch to cause it to expand and melt some
candle wax into the threads as a lubricant (watch for fire). I don't
think you need red hot, just get the mount to expand enough to break the
bond and apply force to turn the QD threads.

Joe & All-

Thanks for the information and suggestions. I understand stainless is a
poor conductor of heat. I might try a combination of freezing the parts
and then using a torch on the outer piece to increase the temperature
differential.

The female threads may have been tapped prior to crimping that piece to
the top shell of the ball, and the crimping process could have distorted
the threads near the crimp. If I had known about the likelihood of
"galling", I might have tried re-tapping the threads prior to installing
the QD.

Fred
K4DII

On Oct 21, 9:44 pm, Fred McKenzie wrote:
In article ,

**THE-RFI-EMI-GUY** wrote:
Heat the ball mount with a torch to cause it to expand and melt some
candle wax into the threads as a lubricant (watch for fire). I don't
think you need red hot, just get the mount to expand enough to break the
bond and apply force to turn the QD threads.

Joe & All-

Thanks for the information and suggestions. I understand stainless is a
poor conductor of heat. I might try a combination of freezing the parts
and then using a torch on the outer piece to increase the temperature
differential.

The female threads may have been tapped prior to crimping that piece to
the top shell of the ball, and the crimping process could have distorted
the threads near the crimp. If I had known about the likelihood of
"galling", I might have tried re-tapping the threads prior to installing
the QD.

Fred
K4DII

Hi, Fred.
Retapping won't help, unless you have an oversized tap. What will help
is using an adjustable die on the male part and squeezing the die down
quite a bit before using it. This will give you a less than 50% thread
engagement, but will still be enough for your antenna. Antisieze
compound is the real answer. Also, if you ever need to drill and tap
stainless, use the next larger size drill bit for the tap you are
going to use. Otherwise you will surely break the tap. I have scars to
testify to learning that!

Good luck,
Paul KD7HB

In article . com,
" wrote:

Retapping won't help, unless you have an oversized tap.

Paul-

I understand there is also a "thread chaser" tap, which might be
slightly oversized. I was thinking about the distorted threads being
cleaned up by re-tapping. Perhaps one of the local hardware stores will
have a 3/8-24 tap, as well as some anti-seize compound.

I contacted New-tronics by E-Mail. They also suggested heating the
female threaded part with a torch. They apparently have encountered the
problem before, but their instruction sheets never mentioned it or the
need for an anti-seize compound.

Also, New-tronics does not sell parts, only complete assemblies!

Fred
K4DII