Found a weird trick for stuck damper plates in old brick chimneys

I was working on a 1920s house in Springfield last month and the damper was completely frozen with rust. Couldn't budge it with normal penetrating oil. On a whim, I mixed up a paste of baking soda and white vinegar and packed it around the hinge for about 15 minutes. After I rinsed it off, the thing moved with just a little tap from my brush handle. Has anyone else tried something like this on old hardware, or got a better fix for this?

3 comments

3 Comments

wright.leo2d ago

Baking soda and vinegar" is just making salt water, it's not some magic rust remover. You got lucky. For something that frozen, you need real penetrating oil and heat. Next time, try a proper product and a torch, not a kitchen experiment.

wells.christopher2d ago

My uncle is a mechanic and he swears by a 50/50 mix of acetone and transmission fluid for frozen bolts. He says it beats any store bought penetrating oil. The baking soda thing might work on light surface rust, but it's not touching something truly seized. You need something that creeps into the threads, and salt water just isn't that.

robert_ross952d ago

Worked on my old truck's seized bolts with that same mix, no luck until I added some actual penetrating oil.

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