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Spent two days trying to clear a single stuck valve on a Boston Harbor job
We were doing a simple valve change on a cooling water intake, but one old 8-inch gate valve was completely seized. Tried everything from heat to a 3-foot cheater bar, even a hydraulic ram. The whole thing took 48 hours of hammering and cursing before it finally broke free. Anyone have a better method for really old, salt-crusted valves?
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ruby_jones8d ago
That hydraulic ram probably did more harm than good on a gate valve. You can actually crack the body or warp the wedge. For something that crusted, I've had better luck with a steady soak in a mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid for a day, then tapping the body with a brass hammer to break up the scale. Did you try getting any penetrant behind the bonnet?
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seth_singh208d ago
Saw a video from a plant in Texas where they used a steam jenny with a needle scaler on a stuck 10-inch valve. The heat cycles and vibration broke up decades of scale without stressing the metal. They got it turning by hand after about an hour. Your penetrant mix idea is solid for getting into those tight spots though.
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