# Two screws on the boiler broken, can it be saved?



## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

I bought a very cheap Classic on eBay and then discovered why it was so cheap. Seems like the machine had never been descaled or taken care of. I took the boiler out and wanted to open it up and clean it out. Two screws managed to come out but then the other two just clean broke off. Question is, can I still save it (how?) and is it even worth it?

Here are some photos before I started unscrewing everything: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xmrhsx1xlxoi6wb/AAA2ehUSxJokw0l1aP2mKoFUa?dl=0


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## Sam_d (Feb 8, 2019)

You can ether buy a new boiler unit I think. Or buy a set of stud/screw extractors


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

1 Cut the heads of the stuck bolts

2 Remove the upper boiler

3 Apply heat by torch to the bolts

4 Undo with pliers

Tested many times


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## Sam_d (Feb 8, 2019)

L&R said:


> 1 Cut the heads of stuck bolts
> 
> 2 Remove the upper boiler
> 
> ...


He said 2 of them come out and the other 2 bolt heads have sheared clean off so a stud extractor is what is needed to get the rest of the bolt out of the bolt hole

The other 2 bolts are not just suck fast they have sheared off


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

No need to bother with expensive extractor, as I wrote I did many boilers and shed, stuck, damaged bolts are pretty common.


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## Sam_d (Feb 8, 2019)

So if the head of the bolt has sheared off how can you get a pair of pliers on what is now inaccessible

Also stud extractors are not expensive and are an extremely handy tool to have many people do not like using heat and do not apply enough to help as there "scared" they will do dammage


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## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

Thanks for the tips. One of the heads is broken off cleanly, the other is just broken (the screw was soft and I tried too often on it and turned it into a clean circle). I'm not afraid of using heat on it, have done so on my Vespas in the past







the only issue is that I have to get it open first for that.

I'll take a photo of how it looks tonight.


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

You have to cut the heads first, apply and enough penetrating oil if you haven't already.


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## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

L&R said:


> You have to cut the heads first, apply and enough penetrating oil if you haven't already.


So essentially heat it enough so that you can just push the screws through, you mean? Couldn't you also just drill through the screws?


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

Not convenient place for drilling, I remove bolt heats with an angle grinder, but you should be precise.


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## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

And how would I go about it with a stud extractor?


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Smash a torx into the head that's not broken and try and extract it that way, or smash the head off it and then the group head will separate from the boiler (may need a soak in descaler first!)

There may be enough thread protruding from the 2 bolts for you to undo with a pair of pliers once you've separated the boiler from the group.

Failing that, i have a couple of spare group heads at home which i'd be willing to sell one to you if necessary!


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## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

Uploaded two additional photos to see the screws (or what's left of them) https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xmrhsx1xl...aP2mKoFUa?dl=0


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Smash the head off the last remaining bolt and you'll be able to split the boiler


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

A boiler is about £35 on fleabay - but you need the bit its bolted to

Take the time to use penetrating oil / heat / drill out or use extractor - it might go pair shaped but work through the options


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## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

Finally managed to separate the two! The group head is saved but the boiler will have to be replaced. Thanks for all the help!


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## MartinB (May 8, 2011)

Hooray!


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## L&R (Mar 8, 2018)

What is the case with the boiler?


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## mayorcesar (Mar 10, 2019)

L&R said:


> What is the case with the boiler?


Got a bit damaged with trying to remove the last screw. My fault, but a good way to learn


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

On the plus side, the new boiler won't need any descaling.


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