TP thunder
Member
- Sep 9, 2002
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anyone got any tips on pipe dent removel, how much pressure do you put in the pipe , do you pressurise before heating the dent , how do you seal the pipe ends.
:aj:
:aj:
removing pipe dents
- Thread starter TP thunder
- Start date
TP - I just did it myself, against good advice. There's plenty of places around that will do it for $30 or so with quick turnaround. But I had to "do it myself".
It came out OK -discolored and the seam didn't come out real smooth.
I plugged up the ends with stuff I had laying around - pipe fittings, hose clamps, etc. I wired up the plugs so if they blew out they wouldn't hurt anything/anyone. I got minor leaks whick was OK because I hooked up to a compressor with a pressure regulator. It was a bleeder type that would release any build up from the heating, but the leaks took care of that anyway. I used about 25 psi and gradually heated the dented area to a "sorta" bright red. It just slowly came back to shape. It heated up easier than I thought it would. I used a plumbers torch (acetylene/air) but I think a propane torch would work.
Like I said, it came out OK, and I'll probably do it again if I need to. I think I could have done better but I was gettin chicken and it was stinking. My wife came out thinking I was burning the shed down!
I wouldn't really recomment you do it yourself - unless you like to live on the edge.
It came out OK -discolored and the seam didn't come out real smooth.
I plugged up the ends with stuff I had laying around - pipe fittings, hose clamps, etc. I wired up the plugs so if they blew out they wouldn't hurt anything/anyone. I got minor leaks whick was OK because I hooked up to a compressor with a pressure regulator. It was a bleeder type that would release any build up from the heating, but the leaks took care of that anyway. I used about 25 psi and gradually heated the dented area to a "sorta" bright red. It just slowly came back to shape. It heated up easier than I thought it would. I used a plumbers torch (acetylene/air) but I think a propane torch would work.
Like I said, it came out OK, and I'll probably do it again if I need to. I think I could have done better but I was gettin chicken and it was stinking. My wife came out thinking I was burning the shed down!
I wouldn't really recomment you do it yourself - unless you like to live on the edge.
I start with 3 bar (as an engineer you're surely able to convert that into PSI or what you use. I don't try because I don't want to make a mistake here and give you false numbers).
I fill a very small amount of water into the pipe and heat the dented area with a propane torch. You won't make much more heat than cherry red color but usually it is enough.
When it doesn't work raise the pressure, but be careful! The welding seams on some stock pipes seem to crack easily. I had that on a Husqvarna and on a japanes pipe. No problems with aftermarket pipes like SPES, Messico and such.
Make sure that the plugs are pointed away from you and other people!
If you use acetylene and oxygen be extremely careful not to burn a hole in the metal, because then you will sit in a shower of liquid steel!
I fill a very small amount of water into the pipe and heat the dented area with a propane torch. You won't make much more heat than cherry red color but usually it is enough.
When it doesn't work raise the pressure, but be careful! The welding seams on some stock pipes seem to crack easily. I had that on a Husqvarna and on a japanes pipe. No problems with aftermarket pipes like SPES, Messico and such.
Make sure that the plugs are pointed away from you and other people!
If you use acetylene and oxygen be extremely careful not to burn a hole in the metal, because then you will sit in a shower of liquid steel!
Moto Squid
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- Jul 22, 2002
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Has anyone has success with drilling a small hole on the opposite side of the dent and then using a long rod and hammer to beat the dent back?? When I pulled mine back I drillid pilot holes (ended up being lots of holes) in the dent itself and using a slide hammer to pull it out. Then the holes were then welded. It worked, kinda, but sure did look like :eek:
I tried to get a dent out of my pipe with a rod and hammer, all I accomplished was getting a small hole in the pipe. So then I drilled another hole in the dent and used a slide hammer, like moto squid, and pulled it out that way, after heating it with a torch. I then took bolts the size of the holes and cut most of the threads off so that there was only 2mm left. Put these in the holes and then hose clamps around the pipe and bolts to hold them in securely. This was on a 125 so the pipe isnt too wide were the hose clamps are. Now this may look funny but the next time I dent the pipe, I just use the same holes, I also dont have a welder to patch up the holes, so that's why I used the clamps.
motocross316
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- Aug 8, 2002
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get a dent doctor suction cup
Moto Squid
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- Jul 22, 2002
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I heard about the water idea too, but how the heck to you control where and how much the water expands into ice. I'd think it would push against, and possibly damage, parts that weren't dented :think:
jmics19067
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- Jan 22, 2002
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I have an anvil and a welder so I just cut the thing in half right in the middle of the dent witha hacksaw . Tap it back into shape over the horn of the anvil . Line up original seams of the pipe, tack weld , tap any misaligned spots together , trial fit on thebike then weld the kerf of the cut back up.
A lot safer then plugging up the ends and a lot quicker then sending it out. The longest part of the job usually is cleaning up the complete pipe for a fresh coat of paint.
A lot safer then plugging up the ends and a lot quicker then sending it out. The longest part of the job usually is cleaning up the complete pipe for a fresh coat of paint.
Hmmmmmmm. Sorry jmics19067 but I don't consider that such a great idea.
There are lots of rocks in one of our favorite riding areas and I have one or more dents in my pipe after every ride! When I start to cut and reweld the pipe everytime, all those welding seams on the pipe would weigh more than the rest of the bike!
:)
There are lots of rocks in one of our favorite riding areas and I have one or more dents in my pipe after every ride! When I start to cut and reweld the pipe everytime, all those welding seams on the pipe would weigh more than the rest of the bike!
:)
jmics19067
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- Jan 22, 2002
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yes my practice is rather extreme but I usually wait until the pipe is extremely beat up before I do that. I dont worry about the small dents or even large shallow ones in the fat section of the pipe . I only worry about the smashes that close off half of the head pipe. That would be the only thing I do during the riding season. During the winter I usually go through it completey with the grinding down of the welds nice and smooth for asthetic reasons.
Plus I would like to add that if you are going to do this just about every dent you will change the performance of the pipe eventually. Every time you cut the pipe you are removing a little bit of material . If you have to straiten your pipe often eventually you will be removing enough material to make the pipe short enough to change performance. My personal logic is this though, I due to personal scary experience ,will not fix a pipe by plugging and blowing it up .
If I send my pipe out six times to get straighten out it will probaly be cheaper to buy a new pipe . So I straighten my pipe the way I do it till either a fitment problem sets in or performance change is drastic then I buy a new pipe. So far I am a little bit ahead within this logic
Plus I would like to add that if you are going to do this just about every dent you will change the performance of the pipe eventually. Every time you cut the pipe you are removing a little bit of material . If you have to straiten your pipe often eventually you will be removing enough material to make the pipe short enough to change performance. My personal logic is this though, I due to personal scary experience ,will not fix a pipe by plugging and blowing it up .
If I send my pipe out six times to get straighten out it will probaly be cheaper to buy a new pipe . So I straighten my pipe the way I do it till either a fitment problem sets in or performance change is drastic then I buy a new pipe. So far I am a little bit ahead within this logic
jmics19067
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- Jan 22, 2002
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I launched a plug across the shop once. When the heated gases of the oil and carbon inside the pipe got a whiff of fresh air it ignited. You know that little whoooooo sound you get when you blow across a bottle ? Times it by ten with a nice blue flame shooting out the end of the pipe. Luckily the only damage that happened was too my shorts :scream:
I had a couple of people tell me I did something wrong. In my opinion what I did wrong was have a sealed container filled with extra air<containing oxygen mind you> and having oil and or carbon heated up beyond its flash point. I have no clue what really happened or was it just my turn for bad luck but I am definately not going to test my theory or my luck out to find out what it was.
I had a couple of people tell me I did something wrong. In my opinion what I did wrong was have a sealed container filled with extra air<containing oxygen mind you> and having oil and or carbon heated up beyond its flash point. I have no clue what really happened or was it just my turn for bad luck but I am definately not going to test my theory or my luck out to find out what it was.
jmics19067
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- Jan 22, 2002
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other than a schrader valve and a tire gauge no
If I was to try the plug and heat method again this is what I would do. I would have some type of pop off valve in the system and also use an inert gas like carbon dioxide, argon , or nitrogen. If you have a mig /tig welder or do your own shocks probably wouldn't be too difficult to make up a valving system to use your existing bottles. But I scared myself silly enough that one time that I won't bother. Using the hammer and anvil is just too much fun , all I need now is a spreading chestnut tree :silly:
TP thunder
Member
- Sep 9, 2002
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- Thread starter
- #20
thanks for all the ideas . what i did was make up a cap for the portend of the pipe and sealed it off with a gasket. i slipped a section of tube over the other end and hose clamped it there. in this tube i had two holes tapped , one for the air in and one for a pressure gauge.
i then hooked up an argon bottle (instead a compressed air , argon is inert gas) you could still use compressed air. i turned the regulater up to 70psi , and the gauge on the pipe said 70 psi too so i new i had 70 in there. i put the full face helmet on , full overalls and started to heat the dents with the gas torch slowly and evenly bringing them up to cherry red and presto the dents slowly dissapeared , magic. this is a good easy way to remove dents , and safe if you just dont go and blast it with the gas torch - heat slowly.
cheers tp
i then hooked up an argon bottle (instead a compressed air , argon is inert gas) you could still use compressed air. i turned the regulater up to 70psi , and the gauge on the pipe said 70 psi too so i new i had 70 in there. i put the full face helmet on , full overalls and started to heat the dents with the gas torch slowly and evenly bringing them up to cherry red and presto the dents slowly dissapeared , magic. this is a good easy way to remove dents , and safe if you just dont go and blast it with the gas torch - heat slowly.
cheers tp
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Does heating up the nickle colored pipes discolor them much? I have some smaller stuff I would like to remove over the winter.
But, its probably not worth it if it burns the heck out of the plating.
Oh, and sorry to the DA who got mad at me for the cat comment. I was jsut joking. Do not fill your cat with water and freeze him/her. I think this guy might have!
But, its probably not worth it if it burns the heck out of the plating.
Oh, and sorry to the DA who got mad at me for the cat comment. I was jsut joking. Do not fill your cat with water and freeze him/her. I think this guy might have!
The nickle finish will turn yellow/orange and when more heat comes into play it turns blue.
Polishing the pipe with steelwool afterwards helps a bit, but it doesn't really reverse the change in color.
When the plating wasn't damaged because of the dent (sometimes it breaks and starts peeling when the sheetmetal was bent in an too extreme angle) the repair doesn't hurt it besides of color.
You could try to heat the pipe evenly and tell everyone it is the latest aftermarket hop-up: The blue anodized pipe!
Polishing the pipe with steelwool afterwards helps a bit, but it doesn't really reverse the change in color.
When the plating wasn't damaged because of the dent (sometimes it breaks and starts peeling when the sheetmetal was bent in an too extreme angle) the repair doesn't hurt it besides of color.
You could try to heat the pipe evenly and tell everyone it is the latest aftermarket hop-up: The blue anodized pipe!
