Need help removing frozen governor screws

[VintageTechnologies]

I need to completely disassemble an eratic Edison Opera governor to polish the flange and balance the springs, but I am stymied by all of the tiny screws that are frozen - every last one of them. I have precision screwdrivers with large handles, but I am afraid of snapping off the screw heads if I get too aggressive. There is no rust or corrosion, so I wonder if the brass has shrunk? I soaked the governor for a week in a bottle of Liquid Wrench penetrating oil. No help. After degreasing it in a solvent, I baked the governor at 500 degrees in the oven. No help. I am afraid of applying a torch for fear of de-tempering the steel springs. The only thing I haven't tried yet is freezing the thing. Which expands or contracts more, brass or steel?

Does anyone have additional ideas to try?

[De Soto Frank]

Generally speaking, brass moves more with temperature than steel.


Have you tried gently tightening the screws ?

If a fastener won't loosen, sometimes a slight "tighten" will break them loose.


You are quite right not wanting to twist anything off...


I would try giving it a night in the deep-freeze...


Good luck...

[Chuck]

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[Curt A]

PB Blaster does work very well, along with soaking parts in kerosene. Another thing to try is to clamp vise grips to the blade or your screwdriver - then exert pressure down on the handle while gently applying force with the vise grips... the lateral force sometimes is enough to break things loose.

[Amberola 1-A]

Another good product is Kroil. I use it w/o fail on frozen/rusted gun screws as well as machines. A little bit goes a long way.

[Orthophonic]

According to some studies that I read about what works best as a penetrating solution turned out to be home made. It scored better that nay commercially available penetrant and is simply a half and half mixture of automatic transmission fluid and acetone. It was pretty interesting to say the least!

[VintageTechnologies]

I want to bring closure to this thread by reporting that I finally was able to loosen the screws on the Edison Opera governor. I bought a spray can of PB Blaster and squirted some into a narrow jar until I had enough to immerse the governor for an extended soak -- for a month. I had gingerly tried to budge the screws every now and then with no success. After a month, the brass and the PB Blaster had begun to turn a slight green in color. It was time to do something. I gritted my teeth and gave a screw a harder twist than before. Snap! After a brief panic, I realized the screw had broke free as intended, rather than the head breaking off. There were no signs of rust or corrosion on the screw or brass parts. Encouraged, I attacked the other screws. Every one of them released with the same unnerving snap. I have disassembled a lot governors, but none were ever so stubborn as this.

[Jerry B.]

Wow, you soaked them for a month? That's a true act of patience. DeeDee said I had a little patience at forty but nearly none at sixty. Jerry

[VintageTechnologies]

Jerry, it was nothing really. It was the poor customer that had to be patient! I sure didn't want to bust any screws on his machine.