Riva centre pin repair

[Perpetua]

I'm in complete awe Dom.

[domesticextremist]

Mar 11, 2012 22:41:27 GMT Perpetua said:

I'm in complete awe Dom.

Don't be, I am not worthy.
Only a few months ago I didn't know my Ohms from my elbow

[Perpetua]

Mar 12, 2012 8:00:32 GMT domesticextremist said:

Mar 11, 2012 22:41:27 GMT Perpetua said:

I'm in complete awe Dom.

Don't be, I am not worthy.
Only a few months ago I didn't know my Ohms from my elbow

[2risky]

£3.50 incl, for anyone looking for a counting glass-a-like
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000L98020/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

[Tetsab]

Dom, this is tangential to your magnificent presentation, hope you won't mind me jumping in here but I was so impressed with the pics & explanations I'm hoping you have an answer. I'm also a manic recycler of anything that still works if I can manage it - fairly treehuggerish but also terminally, terminally broke.

Attempted dismantling a Stardust earlier today and failed miserably, tube will not budge in the slightest when attached to dead battery & attempted wiggling. Tried to get the bottom silver ring off by pulling with pliers, which I think is an alternative method someone has suggested but that wouldn't budge either, though I admit I didn't want to wrench at it too hard and cause the tube to crack.

Ended up settling for removing mouthpiece, silicon cap + little metal thingy, washing out thoroughly and dryburning so it is now usable again, at least. (Wasn't best impressed it had caramelised & clogged in just a few days of use though!)

Semi-pleased I managed to get this much done (feeling like a trainee gynaecologist getting it back together again - LOL!) but rewicking & re-coiling isn't going to be possible unless I can get the thing apart so figured it couldn't hurt to try asking if you have any suggestions/tips/tricks for getting one apart??

[Gordy]

Mar 12, 2012 18:39:56 GMT Tetsab said:

Dom, this is tangential to your magnificent presentation, hope you won't mind me jumping in here but I was so impressed with the pics & explanations I'm hoping you have an answer. I'm also a manic recycler of anything that still works if I can manage it - fairly treehuggerish but also terminally, terminally broke.

Attempted dismantling a Stardust earlier today and failed miserably, tube will not budge in the slightest when attached to dead battery & attempted wiggling. Tried to get the bottom silver ring off by pulling with pliers, which I think is an alternative method someone has suggested but that wouldn't budge either, though I admit I didn't want to wrench at it too hard and cause the tube to crack.

Ended up settling for removing mouthpiece, silicon cap + little metal thingy, washing out thoroughly and dryburning so it is now usable again, at least. (Wasn't best impressed it had caramelised & clogged in just a few days of use though!)

Semi-pleased I managed to get this much done (feeling like a trainee gynaecologist getting it back together again - LOL!) but rewicking & re-coiling isn't going to be possible unless I can get the thing apart so figured it couldn't hurt to try asking if you have any suggestions/tips/tricks for getting one apart??

i use around a 5mm dowel to push the strdust tube down from the top ...this video may help

[domesticextremist]

Tetsab, I haven't taken one to bits yet, but I've done a bit of
research. RockinRobbies vid is good, though a little harsh.

Someone, possibly Gordy duggested a g-clamp instead of a
mallet which would apply the pressure less violently, and
something like a short piece of steel rod or a suitable sized
small bolt to provide the pressure to the top of the tube.

As far as I can see, you only need to push the tube down a
short way to release the compression seal, after that it should
pull out hen screwed to a battery.

[Gordy]

yep that exactly what i used... i thought it was the best way to apply the pressure in a softer more controlled manner and reduce the possibility of cracking the tube. bashing it with a hammer did seem a little harsh.... it only take a couple of turns of the clamp and then pull out with a battery.

i used a wooden dowel too that i sanded to the correct diameter which i figured was also softer on the internal tube to reduce possible damage

[domesticextremist]

Update: Rockin Robbie rocka

[Gordy]

video Robin was referring to

[maccafan]

I don't know if others have faced this but there is a batch of stardusts which have cracks in them straight from the manufacturer. And reading reports from ECF and UKV many seem to be facing the same problem. They are the ones that are hardest to take apart and the cracks seem to grow on their own which indicates that they are already under great stress straight from the manufacturer. Either the innards are a tad too big or the tank is a tad too small and the manufacturer seemed to have pressed them in anyway and sold them to a lot of people and they arrived with stress cracks already in place. Yet another instance of the manufacturers being a little lax with quality.

The new version 2 with the little cone sticking through the silicone cap seem a lot better and and much much easier to take apart.

So look around the knurling where the stresses are greatest. If you got crazing they will propogate and leak especially when you try to take them apart.