In an attempt to break Chris' seat post free from seizure, we drove down to the local welding/gas supply shop for a liter or so of LN2, or liquid nitrogen. The idea is this: aluminum (the seat post) contracts quicker than steal (the bike frame) under cold temperatures. According to the sales man at the LN2 shop, we were playing with about -362 degrees Fahrenheit, which to me seems cold enough. Note: I researched and found that LN2 freezes at -346 degrees, so maybe he meant -342 degrees. Either way, the seat post is still stuck and Chris went with the last resort of cutting the post off attempting to cut a slit in the post with a long hack saw blade. This is obviously a to be continued post.
Prepping involved taping the holes to the downtube and stays in an attempt to funnel the nitrogen down the seat tube, thus freezing the seat post mercilessly stuck in the frame.
A look inside the bottom bracket reveals the cave of confusion, wondering what the heck we were about to pour into it.
LN2, the smoking gun, awaits patiently as we prep allez. Little did he know it was like frosty waiting in a greenhouse, only moments longer and you'll be dead.
After a couple seat tubes full, vice grips, vices, monkey wrenches and a lot of brute force we concluded defeat. That wouldn't stop us from using the LN2 to freeze burn anything we could find in sight.
1 comment:
Liquid nitro is certainly cool to play with, however complete precaution must be administered while using it. Hospitals, medical labs and physicists take the help of dewars to store it.
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