Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

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Bay Head
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Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by Bay Head »

This may be old news to everyone (I'm a brand new ORCA member) but I've stumbled upon a product that works great for loosening rusted and frozen screws on vintage fishing reels as well as for loosening frozen bolts on engines, lawnmowers, other machinery, and for loosening threaded plumbing connections, too. I've been using it to take apart old reels that would not respond to Liquid Wrench and similar oil penetrants.

Material is KROIL, made by Kano Laboratories, Inc. in Tennessee. Available in aerosol cans and in small half-pint metal cans, too. Stuff will loosen any connection. Works better than anything I've ever tried. Sold on-line and mail order directly by the manufacturer and available in some hardware stores, too. I wish I had discovered this product sooner (I'm 58 years old) because it's great for hard-to-remove nuts and bolts on diesel engines.

On another note, I want to say that ORCA Reel Talk is a wonderful forum. I've learned more about reels in the past 2 weeks than I learned in the past 20 years. Thank you!


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Don Champion
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Post by Don Champion »

Bill - Kroil has been around for a lot of years. It is not advertised though, just by word of mouth mostly. Be very careful what you use it on though. It will affect hard rubber side plates and celluloid handle knobs. It will disolve celluloid. It may also affect paint.
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Bay Head
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Post by Bay Head »

Thanks, Don. I'll take your advice. Starting tonight.

I've used this stuff for about a year now to loosen frozen nuts/bolts on heat-stresed fittings on a small Yanmar marine diesel engine and also to loosen stubborn plumbing connections at home. Just recently I had to use Aero Kroil (nothing else worked) to loosen scews on an old, neglected Penn reel. I'll be very careful going forward. Great stuff, but apparently more aggressive than I thought. Thanks again.
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Post by Araye50 »

My Dad introduced me to Kroil back in the 70's. I've never been fond of WD & like Liq Wrench. However, when metal things are really stuck, all the Snake Oils are pretty much running neck-to-neck IMO. Some may work better on certain materials-some work worse, the worst being capable of ruining the parts you're trying to preserve. For instance; PB Blaster might have an edge around aluminum & SS, while WD ate 50's Mitchell plastic!

A couple of tips. I really like plain old synthetic motor oil & don't need Rocket Fuel. Applying it accurately & sparingly by using a 10-15CC syringe w/hefty needle.

When the going gets rough, I recommend the mechanic's friend-the Blue Tip Wrench. For decades RadioShack sold a minitorch, now sold by MicroFlame, that uses oxygen & butane (in CO2 pellet gun size cylinders)to fuel a tiny intensely hot flame. I can not tell you how many reels I've saved using this pinpoint extreme heat. Note that its dramatically hotter than common butane minitorches & has tiny flame size that lends itself to antique reels.
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Post by Don Champion »

Bernzomatic makes a propane pencil torch that has a valve that screws onto the tank and a 4 foot hose that goes to the torch head. This produces a pinpoint flame of 3,350 degrees that gets the job done. It does not go out when you change positions with the torch head. Kind of expensive at $60.00 though.
I also use syringes for pinpoint placement of liquids. But I heat the needle, remove it, and replace it with a short piece of brass tubing that allows for more liquid to flow through. A drugies dream, but it would be a little rough going into a vein.
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Ron Mc
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Post by Ron Mc »

I just got apart a Golden West that I've been working on for a month.

Two tools got it for me.
First, a pair of nylon-jaw tubing pliers
http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif? ... nBrass.htm

The second, Boeshield.
I'm pretty impressed with this stuff. It dehydrates corrosion products and penetrates.
When I first got the reel, nothing worked because of the stiff crud inside.
Spraying the screws got some of the Boeshield inside of the reel.
The next day, it was spinning like a top, and functioning like it was brand new.

When I finally got it apart today, the residue inside the plates was a thin, thin film that wiped out with alcohol.
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john elder
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Post by john elder »

I'm stripping down a sideplate at the moment and as usual, a few screws just wouldn't budge. i treated them with Kroil and a couple more came out, but I had three small screws that still wouldn't budge. i needed to degrease the whole thing anyway, so I decided to submerge the whole sideplate in mineral spirits overnight. next day they all came right out! it doesn't appear that any harm came to the hard rubber sideplate...film at 11.

ps: I should add that I just treated the screws with a few drops of Kroil from the back side...it really never came in contact with the hard rubber sideplate...didn't want to imply that was a good plan!
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BirdDog
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Post by BirdDog »

A small pin point solder iron held directly on the screw head causing the screw to expand from the heat and contract when cooling will some times work to break them free.
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Post by Brian F. »

BirdDog wrote:A small pin point solder iron held directly on the screw head causing the screw to expand from the heat and contract when cooling will some times work to break them free.
Ahh, now that's a new one! Thanks!
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Post by Don Champion »

Brian - perhaps you could add this posting to the "sticky" at the top of this forum? It's also a good time to remind everyone to look at it once in a while. Most of the good stuff is saved there.
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Post by reelworks »

There are two others that work super well on really stuck screws, both PB Blaster and Rustex from Crest Industrial Chemical.
The latter is an automotive spray chemical which we used to use back when I worked in automotive dealerships. It was supplied pretty much only to the automotive trade. It was fantastic for loosening corroded hardware, whether it be steel, brass, or aluminum. The same for PB Blaster, but I've had better luck with PB Blaster on steel and aluminum.
All work best when a temperature change in introduced, whether it be heating the part of fastener or freezing the inner part or screw.
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Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by fishugo »

Don Champion wrote:Bill - Kroil has been around for a lot of years. It is not advertised though, just by word of mouth mostly. Be very careful what you use it on though. It will affect hard rubber side plates and celluloid handle knobs. It will disolve celluloid. It may also affect paint.
I have pretty much given up on removing 2 Nickel Silver faceplate screws on an EVH Peerless, for fear of mashing the heads or snapping them off. They may be cross threaded. I have tried semi-gentle whacks and long soaks in WD 40, Stay Bil and brake fluid. The idea of using Krazy Glue or Zap a Gap to get a good bite with the screwdriver blade would do more harm than good. :bricks:

As a last resort I would like to try a sonic bath at the local jewelry store, but need to ask first if there is chance that would affect the hard rubber? :roll:
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Post by john elder »

Did you do an overnight soak in 1 part white vinegar:2 parts warm water? I routinely use that treatment for cleaning reels as a first step. I have found that most tough screws will come out after this soaking when they wouldn't budge prior to that. No guarantees, but worth a shot. MHO, the sonicator shouldn't bother your sideplates unless you have working cracks already started...probably not then, but it's a concern.
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Post by brian »

Kroil is great stuff! As others have said it has been around for many years, Most machine shops and gunsmiths will have a supply on hand. Brownells, the gunsmith supply house carries it and they have a great web site. I have not had any problem with Kroil on paint but all paint is not the same.

We joke about Kroil at our Rod and Gun club. Folks say if you spill a can it will cover the entire floor in about an hour.
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Post by Baithound »

When you heat the screw with the soldering iron, melt a little wax from a candle or such, so it gets a chance to penetrate the threads. Sometimes when you do this the screw can be removed with your fingers.

If the screw is broken off in the plate and both ends are accessable, the jewelers screw extractor will sometimes work.

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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by jimbofish »

Soldering iron worked well for me. Heat seems to be the universal stuck, rusted, corroded part remover and this is a convenient method that doesn't discolor the finish like flame can.

I'd add that one might need to use a larger iron than a 25 watt pencil iron used for electronic work. If the reel is all metal, the mass off the reel will absorb a lot of heat before the screw gets hot enough to break free. A chisel tip placed directly into the screw slot transfers heat well, IME.
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by Bill Sonnett »

One use for Kroil I have never seen spoken of, but I discovered quite by accident has been very handy. When a reel has that kelly green growth which seems particularly common on german silver, a simple wipe with a Q-tip or cloth with some Kroil on it dissolves the green crude instantly. Been using it regularly ever since I discovered it and it has never failed me.
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by chrisham61 »

what about the acetone and transmission fluid mix 50\50 anyone tried this
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by Wayne B. »

Be careful with the acetone. It will wipe any or all of the ink on any decal. It's an easy way to make a mint Ambassadeur a beater. I know from experience. Acetone hates most plastics as well. It will melt most thermoplastics (vinyl, polystyrene, ABS, etc.), but may be safe on some thermosetting plastics like bakelite. Always check out on an inconspicuous spot first to make sure.
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by ken w »

I purchased a Bill Ballan Baby Trout raised pillar reel today at a fly fishing show. The reel is near mint but needs a good interior cleaning and lubrication. The pillar screws do not want to loosen as well as one of the larger center screws. The three front plate screws did loosen and they appear that they may have something like Loctite on the threads. I do not want to risk marring any of the screws. I sprayed WD 40 on every joint. Will some of the above mentioned products damage the aluminum? I'd certainly appreciate your recommendations.
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by john elder »

A bill Ballan reel isn't old enough to be in trouble unless it was really abused. In my experience, ballan reel screws have a habit of working loose and i'm betting your loctite idea is right on. The counterbalance on the face plate can come off and be lost.

If you don't think sneaking oil past the spool will serve well enough, you should be able to get things loose with heat applied to the screws ( i prefer a heat gun), followed by putting an ice cube on the screw. You may need to do this a couple times, but should work. There may also be a specific treatment to loosen loctite, but i don't know it.
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by ken w »

I just went down to my shop and succeeded in loosening enough screws to get the reel apart. I'll let the WD40 do some more of its work overnight and try the rest tomorrow. The reel has not been abused, it's close to mint. This is a pretty little reel that will see some action this summer.
Thanks for the response.
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Re: Removing Frozen Side Plate Screws

Post by Don Champion »

To loosen Loctite heat the parts up to 500 degrees using a heat gun. Different grades loosen at different temperatures but 500 is a safe bet.
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