Karl said:hi all
I have a frame/BB that required some of the blue (medium) loctite to get
the BB cup to stay in place. I am now having trouble removing the BB.
Loctite says to heat the joint to 325 to dissolve the loctite - anyone
know if this is ok for a Ti (Litespeed) frame? Are their other ways to
do it? Will a lower temp help? I was going to set up my campstove in the
driveway and give the BB shell a steam bath for a few minutes to try to
loosen it up, I have already tried acetone but it obviously does not get
far into the joint.
TIA Karl
Careful with the heat if the BB cup is aluminum because 325 will
definitely kill the temper of the aluminum and might make it prone to
stripping.
There is another bad thing going on here and that is oxidation of
the aluminum from galvanic action. Yes, even if you used
threadlocker, the aluminum is in contact with the Ti, setting up a
dissimilar metal corrosion problem. Use ammonia solution to dissolve
the oxidized aluminum.
Since aluminum has a higher expansion coefficient than Ti, try chilling
the frame to break the bond. You should be able to get it loose with a
few pounds of dry ice. Wrap the frame in rags to insulate it, leaving
only the bottom bracket exposed. Modify a cheap styro cooler to fit the
frame and pack it in dry ice. You can get an even more severe chill by
adding alcohol to the crumbled dry ice. Oh, do this OUTSIDE as the
carbon dioxide can get dangerously high. At least leave a door open
since CO2 sinks and will flow out. Put the dry ice in a towel and hit
with a hammer to break. Funnel the pieces into your cooler.
The beauty here is aluminum actually gets STRONGER as it is chilled. Be
careful of your wrenches because they get brittle at low temperatures.
And as always, wear heavy gloves and safety glasses. Dry ice fragments
are quite damaging to your eyes.
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