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Seized Mushroom Vents


Stephen Jeavons

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Hi All,

Did a search but found nothing on this.

I have 7 brass mushroom vents on my boat. The previous owner clearly never adjusted them and they are seized solid. I sprayed WD40 on the threads and tried turning them from the roof with a strap wrench. Unfortunately the latter slips on the smooth dome so I cant get much purchase. I thought I'd loosened one until it unscrewed itself from the shaft. Likewise, a lever on the wing nut in the cabin results in that unscrewing from the shaft. In a clock wise direction they simply wont budge. Any suggestions? 

Edited by Stephen Jeavons
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"Plus Gas" penetrating  oil.  Available in aerosol cans, as well as spout cans.

Use this instead of WD40, which is not much use for freeing off corroded threads.

Apply above the bracket, allow to soak into threads, maybe for 24-48 hours.  

 

Bod 

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Thanks for the tips all.

No locknuts on these vents. The dome and handle appear to have been tightened with a thread-lock of some sort (Loctite, ThreeBond or some such). Odd, I would have put a pin through at the handle end not glued it. If I get them apart I'll likely do that and fit locknuts as well.

Thanks again

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6 minutes ago, Stephen Jeavons said:

Thanks for the tips all.

No locknuts on these vents. The dome and handle appear to have been tightened with a thread-lock of some sort (Loctite, ThreeBond or some such). Odd, I would have put a pin through at the handle end not glued it. If I get them apart I'll likely do that and fit locknuts as well.

Thanks again

A blow lamp played on the lock-tited bit will unstick it.

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1 hour ago, springy said:

Is there a Locknut ?

It seems unusual for Brass to seize that solid on a large thread, and I added locknuts to mine to ensure that they could not be removed from the outside.

 

springy

Not all mushroom vents use brass studding for the threaded part, and left unused will seize quite easily. 

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18 minutes ago, mross said:

I absolutely agree that WD40 is useless as a penetrating fluid.  Plus Gas is great but hard to find.  Acetone can be had at the chemist's.

Many thanks. As it happens, I use acetone every day at work cleaning lenses so I'll try some with the ATF mix as previously mentioned.

 

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4 minutes ago, mross said:

But brass shouldn't seize.  I would try heat first in case loctite was used

 

Perhaps I wasn't clear. What I was trying to say is that the dome and the lower handle appear to be stuck on with Loctite or a similar product. The seized bit where it passes through the mounting frame isn't going to have any locking product. That is simply seized solid from lack of use for a decade or more and that's the bit I need to free so the shaft can rotate like it should. Sorry if I misled you.

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Being as how it's winter and all (according to my roof which is covered in snow), and stoves are working quite hard so adequate vent is essential, might it be a good idea to leave well alone til sorting out a self-inflicted hole in the roof might be less of a problem?

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On 11/12/2017 at 12:00, Stephen Jeavons said:

Hi All,

Did a search but found nothing on this.

I have 7 brass mushroom vents on my boat. The previous owner clearly never adjusted them and they are seized solid.

More fundementally, why do you want to adjust them? Have you introduced new, or unistalled old, fuel burning equipment?

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1 minute ago, Rob@BSSOffice said:

More fundementally, why do you want to adjust them? Have you introduced new, or unistalled old, fuel burning equipment?

I don't have a wood-burner (the boat hasn't had one for about 10 years), it's freezing cold and they are all two-thirds to fully open. I'm losing a lot of heat with 7 vents open.

Apart from anything else, they are meant to adjust. I don't like it when fundamental things don't work properly :)

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Inverted plantpots over them will keep some heat in and rain out, and fix when weather is kinder.
Edited to add:don't cut all ventilation off (obviously!)

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/12/2017 at 00:05, mross said:

And I was trying to say try heat first.  If you try heat after penetrating fluid you will have fire or smelly smoke!  This will annoy the wife.

Aldi sell a neat little lighterfuel powered soldering gun for less than £20. It has a micro blowlamp attachment. This may be useful for your problem. I used it on my wife,s knife n fork handle before lunch. Its a much easier way to upset her !  ( Ps anyone know how to get a fork out of my head ?).

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Well forget A&E till after the end of the month, they're apparently snowed under. Jam one in the other side and a rubber band between the two will keep your hat on in this windy weather :D

Thanks for the tip. Fixing jammed vents hasn't crept to the top of the to-do list yet but as soon as I get a warmish, dry weekend I'll get up there and have a go

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