Can't unscrew bolts on rail

[gilbertpsk]

Hi all. Here I am, trying to close my pool without a company for the first time. And, I've encountered my first show stopper. I'm trying to remove the bolts on the hand rails, and 3 out of 4 bolts unscrewed fine. But this last bolt is a nightmare. I tried a socket and adjustable wrench, and nothing. I've wiggled and pulled and yelled, and nothing. Before giving up to bandage my bloodied knuckles, I did spray some wd40 in hopes that soaking in the spray will help.

Are there are tricks out there to help?

 

[samt]

Well If that happen to me I would head to the shed and get the sawsall. It may not be the best solution but it makes me feel better after bloody knuckles. Or try some PB blaster on it.

 

[Husky25]

Is there a chance it is cross threaded?

 

[gilbertpsk]

At the risk of sounding uneducated, what does cross threaded mean?

 

[pabeader]

Cross-threaded is when a bolt is screwed in without the threads being lined up properly. With a power driver, you can force the bolt to screw in but then the threads are crossed each other instead of interleaved. Makes removing the bolt almost impossible.

On railing bolts, usually crud gets in there and makes it hard to remove them. What I've read is folks will use a garden hose or even a pressure washer to make sure the area is cleaned out, then wd-40 or pb-blaster overnight.

 

[Catanzaro]

Try WD-40 first after allowing it to soak an hour or so. I actually spray everything with WD-40 as I am installing the bolts in the spring. Make sure after the bolt is up, to bang down slightly to remove rails. It disengages the lock. Keep us posted!

 

[gilbertpsk]

Hi all. So, I spray it with WD40, waited overnight and still couldn't get the bolt to move. I then bought an attachment for my power drill to connect the socket. This worked and without the drill, I would not have been able to get it fixed. There was still a fair amount of pulling and wiggling that I needed to accomplish to get this all done. I think that it wasn't seated properly to begin with and after an entire pool season of use, the bolt was all messed up. I guess my next step is cleaning the railing seats up before the winter comes.

 

[chiefwej]

The bolts usually screw into a wedge that is pulled up against the railing to hold it in place. You need to be sure that everything is clean and free of any sand or grit when they are installed. Never over tighten. When removing I would blast it with my pressure washer then wait a couple days to let it dry out. Then soak with some PB Blaster or WD40. Let it set over night, then try to loosen a turn or two and tap on the top of the bolt. It only needs to move down just a bit to free the wedge and release the railing.

 

[kywildcats]

When you get it out, coat all bolts with a thin layer of grease for the winter, then clean them up a little before you open!