Removing galvanized

[rjudd200]

I'm removing 1.25" galvanized and wondered, prior to buying new hacksaw blades, what the best "unfreeze frozen joints" stuff is. WD 40 wasn't up to the job; Liquid Wrench now on my shopping list. Any thoughts appreciated, thanks.

Bob

[thezster]

A 12 inch pipe wrench (or larger) does wonders... You'll need two... one on the pipe and/or joint you're removing... and one on the pipe/joint you're removing it from...

[rjudd200]

A 12 inch pipe wrench (or larger) does wonders... You'll need two... one on the pipe and/or joint you're removing... and one on the pipe/joint you're removing it from...

Thanks thezster... Yup, my 18" pipe wrench wasn't big enough (or I wasn't strong enough, depending on how you look at it), and I was hoping not to have to go buy one of those monster pipe wrenches... I'll go to the saw before I do that, anyway.

[speedbump]

Here's another trick, take a hammer and beat the coupling/elbow to death all the way around. Then try your 18's.

bob...

[Gary Swart]

You can also use a "cheater" on your pipe wrench. Take a piece of 3-4 foot pipe and slide on the wrench handle. That will give you lots of leverage. Bit awkward, but works if you have room.

[thezster]

Gary's solution sounds like the best to me.... but remember - you really need two! If you don't hold the pipe/joint you're removing "from"... you could end up loosening a joint "upstream" that you didn't want to remove...

Leverage is power! find it - and use it!

[rjudd200]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try a long pipe to help w/ leverage. I have plenty of work room on this, and it connects to a 90° elbow (but I will have to buy a length of pretty wide pipe to get it to fit over the big handle on the wrench...).

[RioHyde]

WD40 is a water displacement agent and not a penetrating oil. Liquid Wrench and the like is much better suited for this application.

Something else you might try is to heat up the fitting that the pipe you want to extract is screwed into. The heat will make the metal expand and you should be able to get the pipe to turn.

[rjudd200]

Just to follow up: pipe is out [hallelujah!]-- liquid wrench, whacked w/ hammer, and utilizing a 4' pipe together w/ my 18" wrench. Thanks for the tips folks!

[thezster]

Glad we could be of assistance....

[toolaholic]

if it,s all getting trashed. a zip cutter disc in a worm drive grinder is super fast. BUT you have to know what you,re doing! weld gloves, and full face shield necessary,and watch for fires

[finnegan]

Give it a shot with your pipe wrench and cheater pipe, but old galvanized it tough to work with. Do not feel bad about cutting your loses and the pipe and continuing with a rubber coupling. Also, your 1.25" might be 1.5" in pvc. Good luck.

[jimbo]

Glad you got it out. Here's a tip for future jobs: Penetrating oil is not instant-acting. It can soak into a very tight joint like a pipe thread, but it takes time! Literally, I would soak it a few times a day and give it up to 48 hours to work.