Seized downstem, now what?

[Deadshort480]

The downstem in my AC has seized in place. This thing is not budging a damn bit. Any advice?

 

[StickyShisha2]

i've had luck using a drop of cooking oil and a hair drier to work lose stuck GonG joints.

 

[Deadshort480]

Thank you much. I will be giving this a shot. I've never had a joint seize up on me so tight.

 

[kingofnull]

Silly question, but you've tried rocking the joint?

 

[Frederick McGuire]

I had my sov downstem stick itself in my Fishbone bub a while ago.

It took me a few weeks of on and off attempts, but I just rocked it.
Pressure left, pressure right, repeat.
Sometimes I'd use a t-shirt to give myself a bit of a better grip.
It never felt like it was gonna budge, but then all of a sudden it just gave up its grip

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Hey guys, Magic Flight ships this stuff called dielectric compound with their water pipe adapters. They say you can rub it lightly on the GonG joints and it helps prevent sticking. I've used it on some older pieces and it worked very well for it. Not sure how I'd feel using it on a DI oil rig, what with such high heats so close, but if this isn't a problem for you, I recommend looking into it, or an equivalent.

 

[Deadshort480]

Rocked it, pulled it, twisted it, and everything in between. Used a rubber glove for more traction. Tried extremely cold water, hot water, ISO. Gotta try the oil with hot air.

The piece is completely useable. I was just going to clean it when I noticed the downstem wouldn't budge. I just cleaned it with the downstem in there and got back to business.

Just the tiniest bit of cornstarch rubbed on the male joint will fix seizing issues. I guess I should be doing this.

 

[kingofnull]

Rocked it, pulled it, twisted it, and everything in between. Used a rubber glove for more traction. Tried extremely cold water, hot water, ISO. Gotta try the oil with hot air.

The piece is completely useable. I was just going to clean it when I noticed the downstem wouldn't budge. I just cleaned it with the downstem in there and got back to business.

Deadshort, did you try Frederick and my advice to 'rock' the offending piece in the joint?

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Avoid twisting, that tends to lead to the most breaks from what I've read

 

[Deadshort480]

Deadshort, did you try Frederick and my advice to 'rock' the offending piece in the joint?

The very first thing I tried, when that didn't work I tried straight pulling yet, when that didn't work I tried twisting it. That sucker is jammed.

 

[kingofnull]

The very first thing I tried, when that didn't work I tried straight pulling yet, when that didn't work I tried twisting it. That sucker is jammed.

Figured you'd have tried it. Mineral oil?

 

[Deadshort480]

Figured you'd have tried it. Mineral oil?

That's my next step. A bit of oil and some added heat from a hairdryer.

 

[Deadshort480]

i've had luck using a drop of cooking oil and a hair drier to work lose stuck GonG joints.

Worked like a charm. Oil, heat, and a bit of rocking and my downstem is liberated from its glassy prison.

Thanks everyone!

 

[lreindl]

So I've had a seized downstem for over two weeks now in my flower piece, turns out that using the joint to my a/c as a wrench isn't the smartest thing to do... Below are the results, that and I still have a seized downstem.
Any idea what to do next? Also tried peanut oil+hairdryer.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Well, if you're planning on getting the A/C repaired, I'd suggest just keep trying, eventually they unstick themselves with enough rocking.

If you don't care about the A/C, I'd say freeze it.
Once it's frozen either;
Fill your sink with hot tap water, and submerge the ac to almost the top of the A/C joint (not the Downstem joint).
Or boil the kettle, and while carefully holding the A/C pour the boiling water on the A/C joint.

either of those methods may induce thermal shock and destroy the a/c, or they might give you the wiggle room you need to free the D/S.

 

[t-dub]

Has anyone tried WD-40? It would displace any water and penetrate very well I would think . . .

 

[Buildozer]

interesting about the WD-40^^^.... if it worked good enough i would do that first thing from now on.. haha

but ya like fred said.. rocking it always works eventually.. too bad about the AC

 

[t-dub]

interesting^^^.... if it worked good enough i would do that first thing from now on.. haha . . . but ya like fred said.. rocking it always works eventually.. too bad about the AC

Oh, absolutely, always rock it warm

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Perhaps these links will also help
http://www.ilpi.com/glassblowing/frozenglass.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470141045.app5/pdf

 

[lreindl]

Well, if you're planning on getting the A/C repaired, I'd suggest just keep trying, eventually they unstick themselves with enough rocking.

If you don't care about the A/C, I'd say freeze it.
Once it's frozen either;
Fill your sink with hot tap water, and submerge the ac to almost the top of the A/C joint (not the Downstem joint).
Or boil the kettle, and while carefully holding the A/C pour the boiling water on the A/C joint.

either of those methods may induce thermal shock and destroy the a/c, or they might give you the wiggle room you need to free the D/S.

Oops, let me rephrase... the downstem on my flower tube is seized, not the AC downstem. I tried using the GonG fitting of the AC as a wrench to pry the stuck downstem, and it broke. I'm not too worried 'bout the AC, just the damn stubborn downstem sitting in my bong.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Ahh, gotcha, I actually used a solo stem to give me some leverage on my Fishbone space hammer when my sov downstem got frozen in it.

Luckily my one didn't snap

One other thing you could try (from one of the links I posted above) is to make a hook out of a coat hanger, if the hook is the right size (and the downstem has an open end) you can slip the hook through the end of the downstem, and pull it from below.

 

[lreindl]

What about applying a low torch flame to the joint?

 

[t-dub]

If you apply torch flame you may have to re-anneal . . . try some WD-40, couldn't hurt, NOT with the torch though . . .