Help!! - HH torch Quick release problems...

[CrystalArt]

I've been using my bulk set up now for about 10 days, tank located outside, hose in through window. I had trouble finding the knack to releasing the quick release thingy at first, but then managed it okay - until yesterday.

I simply could not budge it. I tried with leather gloves on to give me grip, and because my hands were pretty raw by then, and then got hubby to give it a go.  No luck.  I tried again this morning - still no joy. 

Being Saturday, I can't reach anyone at Tuffnells for help.  If I can get the dang thing to release, my husband is going to drill a hole in the wall for the tube to come through so I don't have to go through this again (fiddling about outside in the dark and wet, by torchlight, to no avail...)  - but of course we need to release the tube in order to put it through the hole in the wall (if you follow...)  The alternatibe is to dismantle my worktop torch set up, unscrew the torch from the hose, and push that through the newly drilled hole, then fit torch head again, etc etc etc...

Does anyone have any idea what's happened?  I've really strained my arms and rib cage (!!?) - the QR thingy has always been tricky, but this is different. 

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so what did they do about it?  (I seem to remember someone here having problems with the quick release on the HH bulk setup - but I can't find the post now...)

Any help would be hugely appreciated! 

Sally (in Suffolk)

[princess pink]

maybe try greasing it with a little wd40? to release them you hold it and push the ring upwards and it should release. make sure the gas is turned off. I'm naughty and i leave my gas in the garage with my torch but i have no other way of doing it as tis my parents garage and they would be pretty miffed if i drilled a hole in the wall!

[CrystalArt]

maybe try greasing it with a little wd40? to release them you hold it and push the ring upwards

Sounds good - I'll try that - thank you so much!  (It's really had me tearing my hair out...) 

[turnedlight]

Don't grease anything with that until you have checked it won't be flammable! I have a very stiff quick release thingy but I am at a loss as to how to make it better, the only thing I could think of was graphite, like pencil lead, to make it work better. I don't know what you can do if it just won't budge.

[turnedlight]

Read this.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40

Not saying I'm absolutely right or anything, but please ask someone who knows..

[CrystalArt]

Don't grease anything with that until you have checked it won't be flammable! I have a very stiff quick release thingy but I am at a loss as to how to make it better, the only thing I could think of was graphite, like pencil lead,

I've just used the WD40, and indeed it did work (thank you, PrincessPink, for that!) - but I actually applied it by spraying a quick spritz onto a small child's paintbrush, and applying sparingly.  To be on the safe side, I'd better go and clean up every last bit of it, just in case it's flammable (which I do actually think WD40 is), and then maybe work some graphite around the connecting bits.  But the relief of getting the thing undone is currently making me giddy with relief.

I know they're supposed to be a bit tough, but this has really done something to the muscles in my arms and shoulders, which are bad enough already - and I can't go through that again, certainly not every day!  The sooner my DH drills a hole in the wall, the better! 

Many thanks for the suggestions!

Sally (in Suffolk)

[Purple Cobwebs]

I definitely think there is a bit of a knack! I had trouble for a few days, and then it just seemed to work really easily! I push the tube up and then quickly push the release ring up and it just seems to pop off!

[Carl Martin]

There is a knack, one of the things to be aware of is the need to release the pressure in the hose, normally by turning it off at the tap on the bottle and burning off the excess. That way the pressure is released and makes disconnection so much easier. No idea if that helps.

[CrystalArt]

There is a knack, one of the things to be aware of is the need to release the pressure in the hose, normally by turning it off at the tap on the bottle and burning off the excess. That way the pressure is released and makes disconnection so much easier

Yes, that's what I found when I first set the bulk thingy up, and I did think I'd mastered the knack.  Everything was going fine for a week - and then it just stuck firmly, despite my doing all the usual things. I've no idea why that happened - the  ring bit just seemed to seize up.

Anyway, now thanks to my DH's trusty drill, we have the hose going through a nice hole in the wall, so I don't have to disconnect it - I simply couldn't face struggling like that again, outside in the dark and rain (I really seemed to wrench my shoulder muscles!).  Many thanks for all the suggestions and help!

Sally (in Suffolk)

[Bluebottle]

There is no reason to fit a quick release to a hot head supply and it would be easier and safer to disconnect from the bottle connector if you have to disconnect at all !!

Mike   

[Mand]

There is a knack, one of the things to be aware of is the need to release the pressure in the hose, normally by turning it off at the tap on the bottle and burning off the excess. That way the pressure is released and makes disconnection so much easier. No idea if that helps.

I've recently started doing this with mine and it comes apart much more easily - and no more stench of unburned propane either 

[turnedlight]

I have always bled the hose of gas before releasing the quick release, otherwise it will sit in the hose which isn't good for the rubber apparently. It has got stiffer to undo over time, something to do with the ball bearings inside I think.

[Mand]

Aha! That explains why my hose perished so fast then    I had to get it replaced last year.