blast tube stuck in boiler

[apcdave]

Hi - it a Worcester 70/90. Not been touched in years. Today after trying to remove burner, the burner came away but left the blast tube stuck fast in the boiler. May as well be welded in place - any ideas on how to remove? Going back on Monday with lump hammer to try and knock out from inside but not much space to swing a hammer

any thoughts welcome

ta

dave

 

[Best]

Big problem if it's same as I have came across! The blast tube is a tight fit on the boiler tube to start with & very slight corrosion on it locks it solid. This is on the N.I. Worcester boilers.
I keep spraying wd40 around each end & using a piece of 3x1 1/2" timber in front if it, I thump it with a 2lb hammer each side. You don't want to squash the edge as it def won't come out then, so use the timber! You need to eventually tap it out from inside. Keep just tapping it to see if it moves a little & try to scrap around the outside part you can get at.
Could take an hour or two so have patience & good luck!

 

[Best]

I should have also mentioned the nose cone may need replaced (if it is the newer type Electro oil burner B9 or 2000 or Sterling) as it will have a couple lugs sticking out for the large heads on the allen bolts to keep it on the burner body. The lugs will be damaged as the burner coming off has ripped the lugs. It is possible to straighten these lugs again though.

 

[Dotty]

Sometimes it's easier to knock the tube into the boiler. Recover it and clean it up then.

 

[Best]

Sometimes it's easier to knock the tube into the boiler. Recover it and clean it up then.

That's right, but the blast tubes that have lugs sticking out on their burner end will not push inwards, unless the lugs were flattened. Think it's worth tapping it inwards slightly & reaching inside boiler shell & scraping the tube & tap it back out again, using a small lathe endways. Very difficult must admit & the blast tube would need gentle grinding if it comes out.

 

[Killy Bing]

If you can get a chain wrench around the inside then a sharp twist and wd40 should free it.

 

[Roger Welton]

I try and get them inside the boiler as croppie says, though may need to grind the lugs of if a electro oil, so have a spare to hand.

And don't forget to give cust a suitably sized bill to encourage them not to leave it so long in the future.

 

[Best]

Mine seized very badly & it wasn't ignored for years! To be fair, most others I saw have been neglected that had their blast tubes seized. The boiler tube through the waterway is simply far too tight on the Worcesters & a shim of build up will seize them solid.

 

[Bunker]

Afterwards, use sandpaper or pipe abrasive to clean tube and hole

 

[Chalked]

Could you use a slide hammer.
Sealey Slide Hammer Kit 9pc, SEADP935B - Toolstoday.co.uk

 

[apcdave]

thanks for all the replies chaps - all good stuff - don't mind if the tube gets damaged in the process , just so long as I can get the damn thing out

 

[Robert Tyrrell]

Get the baffles out and go in from the top. Plus Gas it all then leave it for 5 minutes before attacking it with a dead hammer. WD 40 merely displaces water (As in in it's name). Try turning it clockwise and then anti-clockwise, with a chain wrench if you can get it in the combustion chamber.

 

[Best]

Get the baffles out and go in from the top. Plus Gas it all then leave it for 5 minutes before attacking it with a dead hammer. WD 40 merely displaces water (As in in it's name). Try turning it clockwise and then anti-clockwise, with a chain wrench if you can get it in the combustion chamber.

WD 40 does contain oil & is for penetrating & freeing up things (as well as water desplacing).
I use it but not for long term lubricant. Only a couple of pounds a tin which is very cheap compared to Plus Gas I notice when I looked it up, but I see Plus Gas is supposed to be tops for freeing anything.

 

[Bunker]

You have undone both screws havnt you......?

 

[keltoyboy]

Lots of heat around the outer ring.....and a tap of the persuader!!!

 

[WHPES]

Can't remember the entire set up of the boiler but is it possible to remove the ring with the tube stuck in it and free the tube from the ring in the workshop?

 

[Robert Tyrrell]

WD 40 does contain oil & is for penetrating & freeing up things (as well as water desplacing).
I use it but not for long term lubricant. Only a couple of pounds a tin which is very cheap compared to Plus Gas I notice when I looked it up, but I see Plus Gas is supposed to be tops for freeing anything.

I ride a Harley and do the work on it myself. I would never use WD 40 in an attempt to free up or lubricate anything other than the smallest of small jobs. It just doesn't have the content. It was just designed for water displacement in aircraft but over the years people have taken it to be the 'go to' for releasing bolts and suchlike. I've even seen it used to lubricate door hinges, and they are better lubricated with a pencil (graphite works as a lubricant). In all honesty the best way to really ease something that's stuck metal to metal is to heat one side of it, usually the female side so that it expands and releases the male part. It's obviously easier if the two metals are different because of the rates at which they heat up but it can still be done if the parts are made of the same metal by placing a wet rag around the female part to act as a heat sink while you heat up the male part.

 

[Bunker]

@ Robert:I ride a Harley too, which I have rebuilt many times, and its probably very very different from yours

WD40 is an excellent bit of kit to have in the van but is a little weak for some purposes but as a general lube I find it works very well.

 

[Robert Tyrrell]

@ Robert:I ride a Harley too, which I have rebuilt many times, and its probably very very different from yours

WD40 is an excellent bit of kit to have in the van but is a little weak for some purposes but as a general lube I find it works very well.

what do you ride then? Mines a very black 95" FXSTBi with apes & Buell USD forks. I rode it to Brittany in the summer but I forgot to change the seat so now I'm scarred for life - great trip though

 

[Bunker]

what do you ride then? Mines a very black 95" FXSTBi with apes & Buell USD forks. I rode it to Brittany in the summer but I forgot to change the seat so now I'm scarred for life - great trip though

Mines a '96 MT350 with a 640 lump. They pretty much came in green or green

 

[lame plumber]

by placing a wet rag around the female part to act as a heat sink while you heat up the male part.

surely that would increase the chances of jamming it in even further as the male part increase in size!! think biology to see that one through.

 

[Robert Tyrrell]

surely that would increase the chances of jamming it in even further as the male part increase in size!! think biology to see that one through.

Yep you're correct - I confused myself there. It should be the male part with the heat sink :blush5:

 

[WHPES]

Lame is correct but not in the way you think. If you do what he says it will tighten the fit when heated, then when it cools down it may well crack the joint open for you. Sometimes adding extra stress for a while allows the fitting to spring apart when unstressed a bit like when you can sometimes tighten a nut slightly to make it easier just before you undo it.

As it cools down, tap it from side to side with a hammer which may persuade it to ease its grip.

 

[Bunker]

Order a new one and cut it off, hell Ive probably got one on my shelf of bits...