PSA: An old timer at a supply house in Tacoma showed me a trick for stubborn union nuts.

I was fighting a 3-inch union on a boiler swap last Thursday and this guy saw me struggling, walked over, and said 'heat the female side, not the nut, with a torch for ten seconds'. It broke free instantly. Anyone know why that works better than just cranking on the wrench?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_kim24d ago

That's the kind of thing that makes me wonder how much time we waste forcing the wrong part. Like trying to open a stuck jar lid by just twisting harder, when a tap on the side of the lid breaks the seal. Or pulling a door instead of pushing because the hinge is stiff. The direct force isn't always the fix. It's finding the one spot that changes how the pressure works.

oliver_ward1424d ago

That "one spot" idea is why I always check for a stripped screw head first.

rileyjones12d ago

Wait you can actually fix a stripped screw head? I thought once it was stripped that was it. Oliver_ward14 might have just saved my next project.