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Honestly, I was ready to give up on this seized seatpost
Had a steel frame come in with an aluminum post that hadn't moved in maybe 10 years. Tried the usual ammonia soak for a day, then a bench vise and a big pipe wrench, nothing. Ngl, I was about to tell the customer it was a lost cause. Then I remembered an old timer saying to try a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. Let it sit for three days, reapplied it twice a day. Came back, put the frame in a stand, gave the post a solid twist with a cheater bar, and it broke free without a single creak. Has anyone else had a seized part that a weird homebrew solvent finally fixed?
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morgan_ramirez1mo ago
Yeah that ammonia soak is no joke, I tried it once and the fumes were awful. Had a similar stuck seatpost on an old bike, ended up using a mix of brake fluid and wd40 because it was all I had. Let it sit for like a week, tapping it every day, and it finally came loose with a loud crack. Sometimes the weird mixes in the back of the shop are the only thing that works.
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mark_thomas1mo ago
Wait, you let that ammonia soak for a full day? That stuff is so nasty, I can't believe you went that hard on it first. Tbh, I would have been scared to even try that on a frame I cared about.
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