Ideas for breaking locktight

[lamanoditrento]

Rushing, I did a stupid thing and used locktight on a flush mounted output jack. Now the jack cannot be accessed from the inside and I of course have a lot of deep regret . If anyone has any ideas about how I can break locktight from the outside, I would be eternally grateful.

This is the type:
https://www.guitartemplates.com.au/1-4- ... rcuit-long

flushmount jack.jpeg (5.49 KiB) Viewed 26498 times

So nothing to really hold on to that won't also probably harm the finish.

[kiwigeo]

A tricky one. You could try heating the jack with a large soldering iron..heat should travel up the threaded barrel without causing too much damage to surrounding wood.

[Taffy Evans]

Hi Trent, I was all ready to post photos of how I would tackle that problem but found that a recent computer service had removed my photo program, and I have not worked out how to get around the problem yet. So I will try to explain it.

First, you need to grip the body of the jack. To do this:
* I have a pair of circlip pliers that open out when the handles are squeezed.
* I place the pliers into the plug access hole in the jack and squeeze to hold the jack from outside of the guitar, this stops it from turning.
* To turn the nut inside I have a tube spanner with an extended handle that I apply to the nut on the jack inside the guitar through the soundhole.
* I cut a slot in the tube to allow the wire from the jack to pass through. I would feed the wire into the slot in the spanner then run the spanner down the wire onto the nut.
* Whilst gripping the outside pliers tight you will be able to turn the tube spanner and break the seal of the thread lock. I hope.
Good luck Taff

[lamanoditrento]

A tricky one. You could try heating the jack with a large soldering iron..heat should travel up the threaded barrel without causing too much damage to surrounding wood.

Thanks Martin, its the surrounding french polish I would worrry about... need to get locktight up to 200 degrees, so I think that is a no go.

Hi Trent, I was all ready to post photos of how I would tackle that problem but found that a recent computer service had removed my photo program, and I have not worked out how to get around the problem yet. So I will try to explain it.

First, you need to grip the body of the jack. To do this:
* I have a pair of circlip pliers that open out when the handles are squeezed.
* I place the pliers into the plug access hole in the jack and squeeze to hold the jack from outside of the guitar, this stops it from turning.
* To turn the nut inside I have a tube spanner with an extended handle that I apply to the nut on the jack inside the guitar through the soundhole.
* I cut a slot in the tube to allow the wire from the jack to pass through. I would feed the wire into the slot in the spanner then run the spanner down the wire onto the nut.
* Whilst gripping the outside pliers tight you will be able to turn the tube spanner and break the seal of the thread lock. I hope.
Good luck Taff

Thanks Taff. Appreciate the response. No need to hold on to the nut its, captured and glued in the block, so it won't turn which is good because there is no access, so will be buying me a pair of circlip pliers.

I have found out that apparently crc brake cleaner will melt it, so I have sent a message to the Shine guys to ask their opinion on interaction with hard shellac. I'd still have to put on my thinking hat on to think how to make a u-shaped syringe to spray it inside from the outside but I'll wait for Shine to get back first.

Also CA'ing in a jack and then using has been suggest, ruining a jack and the output, which is fine, I have plenty of old patch cables and I've already bought a new output so that is now also in consideration.

[Mark McLean]

I like Martin’s idea, and Taffy’s. Hopefully that gets you out of trouble.

Also, Frank Ford at Gryphen Instruments used to sell a tool called Jack the Gripper, which is a tool that inserts into the 1/4 inch jack hole and expands in there so that you can manipulate the thing. I don’t know if you can fashion something like that, or even buy one from Gryphon if you are not in a hurry.

[56nortondomy]

Pretty sure stewmac sell Jack the gripper. Wayne

[kiwigeo]

Loctite has a product to dissolve loctite...acetone will probably also work but you'd need to keep it off wiring etc.

[kiwigeo]

I know you've asked us not to ask you what you were thinking...but it's what we're all thinking so I'll ask the question!!

What were you thinking?

[Taffy Evans]

Hi Trent, ok, if you don't mind wrecking the output jack then what about using an "Easyout", the tapered tool that looks like a thread-cutting bit that has a reverse spiral and is used for removing broken bolts or studs. Just a thought. I have a bunch of the m here and it looks like that would work.
Cheers Taff

[lamanoditrento]

I know you've asked us not to ask you what you were thinking...but it's what we're all thinking so I'll ask the question!!

What were you thinking?

Short answer: I thought I was smarter than I was and acted more stupid than I should be.

Long answer: I prepared a captured nut in block before closing the box so I could insert the flushmout output without need for a tool inside. I prewired the 1/4" output to a 2.5mm output. With pickup and VTC wired to a 2.5mm jack and preinstalled wire brackets I though I could simply screw in the flush mount and connect the two 2.5s. That worked fine, except getting the wires to stay in the brackets and not flop around didn't quite work. So unscrewing the jack, (I now know that was also twisting the wire inside instead of the 2.5mm jack revolving as I had anticipated) I managed to use a bit bent coat hanger rod style to correctly place wires in the brackets and press them closed.

Anyway when I next screwed it in it didn't seem tight and I was worried about it working it's way loose. So without thinking too much and perhaps rushing to get it finished I grabbed the red locktight and screwed it in. It wasn't till much later I found a buzz/hum on the tone thumbwheel. First cutting the capacitor bridging the V&T to realise now the buzz was worse and on the volume, I finally foundout with one of those cheap Tume endescopes that attaches to your phone, that all that twisting had caused a tangled mess at the 2.5mm jack intersection and one of the lower wires had rubbed off the shielding in parts from the bracket.

So I have already removed the pickup/vtc ready to rewire directly to the jack. I'm not going to use the 2.5 connection, I'll "pretwist" the wire the opposite direction of the new output and then reinstall...once I get the old output out. The complication to all of that is it is french polished, so I can't use the heat method and why I worry about the acetone/brake clearner method. New wire brackets may also be a little annoying to install but I reck I can figure that out,

I'm bought a jack the gripper as that seem the way forward to at the very least tighten the new jack. I found a pair circlip pliers in my dad's old tool box and I thinking I'm going to order some screw removers a they seem handy to have anyway.

There you go Martin!

Thanks for all the tips, I reckon one of these will work

[kiwigeo]

When installing end jacks I stick the jack on the end of a long chopstick and guide the jack into the hole using same. The chopstick keeps the jack stationary while I tighten up the nuts.

The same chop stick is used to reset the Gateway on my Tesla Powerwall.....chopsticks are so handy!