Drain unblockers

Think it's 1986 :)

One pedal axle is fused into non drive side crank so I got the pedals and cranks (generic 170mm road doubles) for about £2. Been trying to get the axle out every so often ever since with no luck, a spiralled allen key and a few broken dremel cutting disks!

Hopefully I can dissolve it out and feel extremely smug and happy. They are wickedly cool looking pedals.

doh! Man I am a twat!

nah - I can see how it was misleading.
I was standing on my head and though that 9861 was the model number.

Yeah that was it, I err like to practice yoga whiile posting shit on the internet and err. I miss read it. Yeah thats it.

and you're doing a Phd in mathematics.... hope it's not number theory!

Yeah - and who's this paul reztims?

right, so i tried pouring 5 litres of NaOH down the drain it's not bloody working... what else can i try before calling the plumber?

turpe Mr Muscle Sink & Plughole unblocker - like Ronseal, does exactly what it says on the tin. Available at most branches of most supermarkets for about a fiver.

Seriously - the clue's in the name...

thanks, will go look for it... now i've got to find a way to get rid of the brown sodium greasy hydroxide in the sink...

Get a east end thug round to 'av a word with it.

Yeah, just shout at it. If you do it loud enough the vibrations of your voice will free up the grease :)

suck it out

lpg Get a east end thug round to 'av a word with it.

Anyone got the number of The Hitcher from The Mighty Boosh?

i hear they're very good!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tAGlUUAmjxk

Alan ford is a complete leg-end!

Momentum

One pedal axle is fused into non drive side crank so I got the pedals and cranks (generic 170mm road doubles) for about £2. Been trying to get the axle out every so often ever since with no luck, a spiralled allen key and a few broken dremel cutting disks!

Hopefully I can dissolve it out and feel extremely smug and happy. They are wickedly cool looking pedals.

Well that worked well. Cut the end of the crank off, filed all the alu surfaces to get rid of any anodisation and thin the oxide layer a bit and dropped it in a mug of warm caustic soda. Fizzed like a bastard and got quite hot. Left it there for a bit and occassionally fished it out with pliers and wearing marigolds to see what was up. Took about 40 minutes for half the aluminium to dissolve and that was enough for me to unscrew the axle. Quick clean and the axle is as good as new.

This could be useful for getting stems and seatposts out as well if you plugged holes and filled the fork/frame. Couple of things to bear in mind for anyone who's gonna try it. First, the shit is called caustic soda for a reason. The bottle explains how to mix it for unblocking drains and stripping paint so don't get on your skin or anywhere else that won't be cool with a chemical burn. Second - it makes hydrogen so make sure it can all escape so you don't reenact the hindenburg.

Maybe the answer i'm after for removing the bottom bracket from my frame. So you say bucket + Soda + Hot water and voila!
I'll go out at lunchtime and get some. ooh, this could remove all the axles stuck in cranks i have as well and chainring bolts, stems and seatposts.

YEY!

Hammo Maybe the answer i'm after for removing the bottom bracket from my frame. So you say bucket + Soda + Hot water and voila!

Will only work if the BB cups are alloy (which seems a bit unlikely - most bearing races are steel). If they are alloy then you might be able to pour the solution down the seat tube and burn it's way out or soak the BB area in a bucket. It will probably strip or mess up any paint that it touches as well. Let me know how it goes.

By the way - the instructions on the soda that I bought explicitly said only to use cold water, but the reaction speeds up with warm/hot water.

I'll go out at lunchtime and get some. ooh, this could remove all the axles stuck in cranks i have as well and chainring bolts, stems and seatposts.

YEY!

Bear in mind that you will dissolve the aluminium part so it's only a good idea if the steel bits are worth more to you.

Forgot to mention that it was also damn good fun and amazing to finally free this set of pedals after trying every other trick I could think of over the last year or so.

I've been trying to get this cartridge bb out of my frame for ages. The the cartridge ends are alloy so it should work, if not, i have no hope of getting the bb out. Tried everything(!!!) else. the frame means more than the bb and there is no paint around the bb as i've had a decent amount of heat on it as well. I'll let you know how i get on.

Chris

Hammo The the cartridge ends are alloy so it should work, if not, i have no hope of getting the bb out.

Should work then - I reckon the easiset way is to seal any drain holes and then pour some soda solution from the top of the seat tube. You won't need much that way and it's kept nice and contained. Wear some old clothes and rubber gloves cos the stuff isn't nice (especially at the strength I mixed it) and don't get flames nearby! Good luck!

Don't, what ever you do, joke with the person who is selling you this stuff!

Leylands have it though which is nice.

I'll see if this works tonight. I've got a couple of drain holes in the BB shell so it can all just sit in a bath of the stuff for a bit.

Cheers,

chris

Hammo Don't, what ever you do, joke with the person who is selling you this stuff!

Can imagine that being a pretty funny conversation!

Remember this bit: "Definitely need good ventilation - an interesting point that I read is that the ventilation needs to be at the top of the space, otherwise the hydrogen will gather at the highest point in a pocket until a spark comes along..."

edmundane right, so i tried pouring 5 litres of NaOH down the drain it's not bloody working... what else can i try before calling the plumber?

Have you tried just unscrewing the u-bend under the sink / bath whatever and then fishing all of the grease and shit out with your fingers? It 's is the easies and sset way of unblocking a sink. Just put the crap the comes out in the bin and not back down the sink.

Momentum [quote]Momentum

One pedal axle is fused into non drive side crank so I got the pedals and cranks (generic 170mm road doubles) for about £2. Been trying to get the axle out every so often ever since with no luck, a spiralled allen key and a few broken dremel cutting disks!

Hopefully I can dissolve it out and feel extremely smug and happy. They are wickedly cool looking pedals.

Well that worked well. Cut the end of the crank off, filed all the alu surfaces to get rid of any anodisation and thin the oxide layer a bit and dropped it in a mug of warm caustic soda. Fizzed like a bastard and got quite hot. Left it there for a bit and occassionally fished it out with pliers and wearing marigolds to see what was up. Took about 40 minutes for half the aluminium to dissolve and that was enough for me to unscrew the axle. Quick clean and the axle is as good as new.

This could be useful for getting stems and seatposts out as well if you plugged holes and filled the fork/frame. Couple of things to bear in mind for anyone who's gonna try it. First, the shit is called caustic soda for a reason. The bottle explains how to mix it for unblocking drains and stripping paint so don't get on your skin or anywhere else that won't be cool with a chemical burn. Second - it makes hydrogen so make sure it can all escape so you don't reenact the hindenburg.[/quote]

Sounds like a cool way to spend an hour.

TheBrick(Tommy) [quote]edmundane right, so i tried pouring 5 litres of NaOH down the drain it's not bloody working... what else can i try before calling the plumber?

Have you tried just unscrewing the u-bend under the sink / bath whatever and then fishing all of the grease and shit out with your fingers? It 's is the easies and sset way of unblocking a sink. Just put the crap the comes out in the bin and not back down the sink.

This was a fun for me to spend a morning a couple of days ago, i gave it a good clean and the water runs free now. it looked like i was pulling mice out of the pipe. I did it a few years ago when living in a house share with other guys. I just didn't want to think about the amount of (man) gunk and hair there was. Still, again the water flowed nicely afterwards.