Hi Rod,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. The sticking may not be aluminum
corrosion, but might be a burr on one of the through holes, which could be
digging into the other member and possibly exacerbated by a slightly out of
round condition from over tightening the hardware that held the joint
together. If there is an out of round condition you may be able to correct
it by squeezing slightly across the largest diameter of the joint.
Try heating the joint with a torch (hotter the better, MAP or
Oxy-acetylene), try to concentrate your heat evenly around the outer piece,
the more heat you can dump in quickly means you can raise the temperature
of the outside piece before it conducts to the inner piece, thermal
expansion of the metal may loosen you up enough to slip the joint apart.
To take it even further, using dry ice you can lower the temperature of the
inner piece to shrink it. And another thing that could work is thermal
shock, get the joint hot (torch) then get it cold (dry ice/ice water) back
and forth a few times may work your joint free.
Another thing you can try: build a slide hammer to help you knock the joint
apart.
Lastly, go chemical and try to dissolve the aluminum oxides with a solution
ammonia or sodium hydroxide (lye), this will also eat at the aluminum so
avoid over exposure and cleanup well when done. Also, be careful if playing
with these chemicals; read up on the safety datasheets and don the proper
protective equipment.
Good luck,
Greg N2GZ
On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 6:50 PM, Roger Graves <ve7vv@shaw.ca> wrote:
> I need to separate KLH 3 inch aluminum boom sections. When assembled 20
> years ago I used Penetrox on them so hopefully they are not welded
> together. In fact one of them separated 1/2 inch then stuck. Would there be
> a “penetrating oil” that would help to free/lubricate these joints to make
> the separation easier?
>
> Thanks and 73,
>
> Rod, VE7VV
>
>
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