Yeeesh - way over tightened

[Hatul]

This may be from a misconception that some people have about O ring fittings. The tightness does nothing to seal the O ring, it's just to keep it from coming undone, and it does not take much torque to do that.

Adam

 

[scubafanatic]

Hopefully they didn't cross thread it.

keep hopin'...'cause dollars to donuts that's the problem !

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

.....I think I've damaged the host connection enough now and after one last try after soaking I'm gonna take it to people with the correct equipment to try to fix it.

Cheers,
John

John,

I'm late to the party, but it sounds like you will need to take it to the dive shop. Once you've rounded the nut, you'll need the proper tools to remove it (as already suggested, probably a very good pair of vice grip pliers, a 1st stage handle, a table vice, a rubber mallet, and a prayer ).

Once the dive shop gets it removed, invest in a good quality wrench that fits the fitting (not an adjustable wrench or pliers!!).

If you do not have a vice, a trick I sometimes employ (carefully!!!) with the correct sized wrench is to place the 1st stage on a carpeted floor, positioning the 1st stage, 1st stage handle and wrench approriately so that I can carefully stand on the wrench to break loose the overtightened part.... sounds gruesome, but it actually works well (the key is to be careful, and have the bits and pieces positioned properly). But if the nut is rounded at all this will make it worse, so it is of no use in your situation.

A first stage handle looks like this:

First Stage Handle, Heavy Duty, Brass

But my guess is that since you'll be installing your own hoses, you'll never have an overtightened fitting again

Good luck and Best Wishes.

 

[CaveMD]

sounds like the guy that put your hose on was the same kind of special ed short bus riding individual that I used to deal with in car racing. Some of these aforementioned individuals thought it was ok to tighten aluminum -AN fittings and -AN o-ringed fittings for fuel lines like they were pipe threaded steel fittings and then want to return them to me as defective when I look at them and they have every corner rounded off and the mating surfaces totally galled to hell.

best thing you can do is wrap it in a towel and put it in a vice long ways with the hose pointing up and try a properly fitting flare or box-end wrench on it if there is enough of the end nut left. If not then do the above except you will need a pair of vice grips with good teeth. Sink them down into it and turn. If they slide off when you turn then you didn't clamp them down hard enough. You will probably have to throw this hose away afterwards(most likely cheaper to buy a new hose then to have a new end crimped on it unless you have a hose fitting place near you...there are a few NAPA's that still do it if you're in a rural area otherwise you could check yellow pages for any tractor supply places that fit pressure hose)


a "1st stage holder" is just a gimick tool for people that need a special tool to bridge the gap in their creativity to make what they currently have work :blessing:

 

[CaveMD]

Once the dive shop gets it removed, invest in a good quality wrench that fits the fitting (not an adjustable wrench or pliers!!).

Can I get an Amen! LOL


for whatever reason the use of adjustable wrenches permeates to all levels.

I have seen them every where from dealings in automotive work, bikes, scuba equipment, boats, airplanes, and I have even seen them in use in the operating room by some surgeons :shocked2:

 

[keyshunter]

Can I get an Amen! LOL


for whatever reason the use of adjustable wrenches permeates to all levels.

I have seen them every where from dealings in automotive work, bikes, scuba equipment, boats, airplanes, and I have even seen them in use in the operating room by some surgeons :shocked2:

Easy Doc,
Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Over the years, I have worked on many things mechanical--from commercial sewing machines to farm tractors. Consequently I have straight and socket wrenches from 1/8" to 2.5" and corresponding metrics. In addition, I have QUALITY adjustables from 4" to 16".

While I use straight wrenches on regs at home, I carry 2 adjustables in my travel kit. If someone manages to round out a fitting on a reg with a QUALITY adjustable wrench it is nothing more than operator error.

 

[burna]

Hi,

A kindly guide decided to replace a frayed o-ring in my LP port last month. Without telling me.

I've just tried to remove the hose as I want to replace it. I cannot for love nor money get it off. It is way over tightened. I'm just wrecking the metal now trying to unscrew it and there'll be no threads for a spanner or wrench to grip on soon.

Am wondering what's the best approach here? WD40? Is that ok to use? Soapy water? Any other ways to get the damn thing unscrewed.

Thanks,
John

John,

First of all, as advised, don't put WD-40 anywhere near your regs for 2 reasons.
1. It is a light oil so will most likely swell all of the o-rings, seals, diaphragms and any other rubbery type component it comes into contact with.
And, 2. WD-40 is a lubricant, it will help reduce friction but wont help loosen something that is over tightened, seized or cross threaded.

If this 'kindly guide' changed the o-ring only a month ago then the chances of it being seized up with salt is highly unlikely, not in that time frame. So, IMO, soaking it wont help either.

Given that your 1st stage housing is chrome plated brass and the hose connection is steel then I can't imagine how someone could possibly tighten it so much without stripping the thread. If it is seriously that tight I'd be worried it is cross threaded as CD suggests in which case I'd assume it is stuffed, but in any case it needs to come out now.

Put 1st stage in the vice (with soft jaws) and get onto hose nut with a good set of vice grips. If you don't have vice grips, just cut the hose off and put the nut directly in the vice. You should be able to loosen it just by turning the 1st stage by hand.

Hope this helps, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!!

 

[CaveMD]

Easy Doc,
Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Over the years, I have worked on many things mechanical--from commercial sewing machines to farm tractors. Consequently I have straight and socket wrenches from 1/8" to 2.5" and corresponding metrics. In addition, I have QUALITY adjustables from 4" to 16".

While I use straight wrenches on regs at home, I carry 2 adjustables in my travel kit. If someone manages to round out a fitting on a reg with a QUALITY adjustable wrench it is nothing more than operator error.

Don't get me wrong, I keep two adjustables and a fold out metric/SAE hex key in my dive bag. They work just fine so long as you are not trying to put a lot of force on them(I'm sure we both know thats where even the higher quality ones begin to become problematic...albeit less so than with the $.99 special at the Autozone check out counter haha).

Time and a place for everything, and adjustables just aren't appropriate for anything involving any where near the amount of force you would normally use with a box end wrench.

 

[CaveMD]

John,

If you don't have vice grips, just cut the hose off and put the nut directly in the vice. You should be able to loosen it just by turning the 1st stage by hand.

If it gets to this stage that you have to cut the hose, you can always do what I used to have to do with people that lost the lug keys to their locking lug nuts

Get a socket that is just a hair too small to fit, tap it down onto the hose nut and then back it off

In any event, if it's cross threaded I don't know if I would continue using it. While the O-ring actually is responsible for the seal and the threads are only there to keep the o-ring trapped, it seems like a bad choice to me. If I were you at a minimum I would put a plug into that one with red loctite very sparingly around the crown of the plug and never use that port again.

 

[keyshunter]

In any event, if it's cross threaded I don't know if I would continue using it. While the O-ring actually is responsible for the seal and the threads are only there to keep the o-ring trapped, it seems like a bad choice to me. If I were you at a minimum I would put a plug into that one with red loctite very sparingly around the crown of the plug and never use that port again.

Agreed. If he gets it out and finds that it is indeed crossthreaded he might try carefully chasing the original threads with a tap. Then check it carefully under magnification. Being brass, there might not be sufficient threads remaining to reliably hold a plug, but if there are, at least a plug will go in straight. If I didn't need that port, I would plug it and forget it. If I needed that port, I would replace the body.