[FIXED!] Bushing broke off radiator...how to extract remaining bushing thread?

nc23

Unfortunately while removing the nipple off on a radiator I broke the bushing and now some of the remaining thread is essentially flush with the radiator and stuck in the radiator. It's not much — maybe 2 threads worth is still on. (It was barely connected!)

I am trying to cut some of the threads but a little worried about nicking the radiator. The good news I see (I guess) is that there are at least four other rows of threads in the radiator so I suppose if I do barely nick those first two rows and add strong pipe dope I should be ok?

Is the best reprieve here to keep slowly cutting and getting it out piece by piece? I haven't been able to get a chunk out at all yet—the bottom of the photo is where I've made the most progress but I'm worried about messing things up further.

I've also considered an internal pipe wrench/easy out/nipple extractor but heard they can crack the radiator.

Is PB Blaster even likely to help here?

Thank you in advance.

LRCCBJ

You are done with the cut near the bottom. Go a bit deeper with the cut at 90 degrees but not as far as you went at the bottom.

Now take a small steel chisel and smack that section hard with a hammer. It will break away and go inward. Pull it out with a set of channel locks.

Once the first piece is out, the remainder will remove relatively easily with the chisel.

nc23

Thanks @LRCCBJ . Just to confirm, the 90 degree cut = the one at the right?

LRCCBJ

Yes.

Looking at it further, you actually did a good job on the two cuts near the bottom. It's quite possible you can knock out that small piece right now with a chisel and a hammer. All you need is to remove one piece and the rest will easily come out with the chisel. Drive the piece upward away from the thread.

Intplm.

The cut at seven o'clock is your best one so far. Try to follow that example. If you accidentally go too deep and the thread is questionable, you can use a pipe dope called "X-Pando". Look it up. It's some really good stuff.

Mad Dog_2

Safety goggles, Safety glasses or faceshield please! MAD DOG

nc23

Success!! Thank you to this board for being so wonderful. Threads seem pretty solid too.

I had to search for a few stores for a cape chisel and lucked out on the 3rd store. I cut a bit more at the 90 degree mark. A few whops and then the chunk was out.

The rest was indeed easier after the chunk was extracted. Some small parts of the bushing went into the radiator, but it seems difficult to fish out, so just hoping it'll rust out over time.

mattmia2

could probably get them with a magnet but they probably won't hurt anything

pecmsg

It looks like it was only in by two or three threads to begin with.

if you have the time I would get a tap and chase those threads

LRCCBJ

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1852906#Comment_1852906

Agreed but you'd need a mortgage to buy a new one. 😲

mattmia2

I'd like to become a slumlord where this house that is as cheap as a large pipe tap is.

https://drillsandcutters.com/1-1-2-11-1-2-npt-carbon-steel-pipe-tap/

i'm not sure what size your tapping is, i don't think it is bigger than 1.5"

LRCCBJ

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1852916#Comment_1852916

That is phenomenal. I suspect that it is 1.5…………

mattmia2

i meant to say 1.5", don't know where that 2 came from

Long Beach Ed

Chinese taps are cheap. even the large sizes. They'll work (with lots of oil) for cleaning stuff that's already tapped. Don't expect too much.

pecmsg

$25 - 35 on Amazon

EBEBRATT-Ed

McMaster Carr sells good taps and the China taps. I have some China ones because I only used them for cleaning out threads.

If i ever actually really tapped anything I would used Ridgid.

But the China taps i bought at McMaster seemed like good quality.

You can make a tap out of a nipple good enough to clean out threads. Kind of hard to describe but put a 6" nipple in a Bench vise vertically.

Take a hack saw and cut down through the nipple vertically through the center to just below the end of the threads. You cutting both sides of the nipple at once. Turn the nipple 90 degrees and make another cut the same way.

With the nipple in the vise heat it with a torch and with a small ball pein hammer tap the threads to the RIGHT of all 4 cuts one at a time.

The left side of your cuts are your "cutters"

Works well enough for cleaning out threads if you don't have a tap.

psb75

Great idea using the cut nipple! I'll make several in the larger sizes as "thread chasers"

.

EBEBRATT-Ed

@psb75

If you want to you can harden the cut nipples by heating them red hot and dropping them in a bucket of water. Probably not necessary when only using them for a thread chaser.

nc23

Alright, since the choir sung, I bought a tap.

The tapping on my rad is actually 1 1/4" (Arco Sunrad) so I got the appropriate 1 1/4" tap version and it was cleaned out. Put in a new bushing and nipple.

I just finished doing the rest of the work and ran a long cycle. No leaks.

Successful bushing and valve replacement!

EBEBRATT-Ed

@nc23

Out of curiosity what tap did you buy and the approximate cost?

nc23

@EBEBRATT-Ed I got one from Amazon, it was $26. Brand was "DKIBBITH". Typical Made in China Amazon-only brand.

I actually hate shopping on Amazon and prefer to go to my local plumbing supply. However, this valve replacement project had already dragged on a couple days…I wanted some assurance on the thread chasing on the weekend, figuring if I got the wrong size I could at least get the right size on Monday morning when I picked up the domestic fittings. (My local shop was closed on Friday and Saturday for Easter.)

The last time I got a 1/8" tap from my plumbing supply (to chase the threads on a vent) it was the Drill America brand previously posted.

ARobertson13

I have purchased 1/8" 1/4" and 3/4" taps from Drill America and they worked well and are of good quality. Some taps are for cleaning existing threads and others are for initial tapping. Go to the Drill America website to identify them.