removing a locktited nut and bolt

[nickfabbri]

just spent the last hour with a wrench and a lot of sweat trying to undo a nut and bolt that have been locktited together. i have managed 1/4 of 1 turn. Any suggestions as to how to breakdown the locktie?

 

[barryhall]

You could heat it up if it is not attached to something that would be affected by heat.

Barry

 

[alan17]

Your choices are heat or a nut splitter

 

[Talulah]

Anglegrinder

 

[nickfabbri]

its a brand new aoutopilot motor. so i'm going to go with heat. does heat break it down? ie do you have to remove the bolt when it's hot or can you let it cool first?

 

[Talulah]

Loctite is a liquid plastic that sets with removal of air. A 'loctited' nut in effect has had all the spaces between the threads filled with plastic. I think the loctite bottle even talks about using heat to enable removing the nut.
The solution is to heat thebolt up. This melts the plastic and then you can undo it. You must remove the nut whilst it is still hot.

 

[Appleyard]

To add to the above suggestions.. it all depends where the fastening is located ,what it is joining and how easy access there is. Heat is the best ,. If you have access to a Mig welder,try the following....put a couple of "Spot welds" on the nut,this will immediately apply a helluva lot of concentrated heat at the point you want it,and the nut will expand the loctite will soften as well ....then quickly undo the nut with the wrench. I have used this method several times and it always works. It has the additional benefit that you can usually reuse the nut & bolt.

 

[Avocet]

Depending on the grade of Loctite, you might not need much heat at all to soften it. Some grades will go at just over the boiling point of water.