Paintball

[CamoDeafie]

Hello, im looking to remove the helicoils in one of my pumps, so I can send it in for a re-anodizing....my question is, how?
And no its not a phantom :P

[Schmitti]

Do you have a stainless steel insert or a spring helicoil....

If it is a regular spring helicoil.... the simplest way is to get a needle nose in there and pull it out... it will unwind itself out of the hole... just make sure you know what size was used so that you can get a replacement.

There is probably a less "Backyard mechanic" way to do it.. I just don't know it.

E

[Railgun]

Yep, you pretty much need to just grab the upper/outer end and pull it out like an old spring. I suppose that if you were very careful you could pulll on it the right way and unscrew it but if the little cross tang in the other end isn't there then you won't be able to re-insert it anyhow.

[CamoDeafie]

well. i guess i'll have to take pics of the helicoils on the one that i want to reanodize lol

[Railgun]

By the way, it's also a pretty decent grade of spring tempered steel so it's not easy to remove. But if you can tease the first part at the opening into bending inwards into the center then you can carefully grab it with a small pair of needle nose pliers and then turn the insert out. It's like a Chinese finger puzzle in that it'll only turn one way from one end. You need to turn it in the direction that tends to make it wind into a tighter circle and it'll spin right out. But try to turn it the other way so it tends to grow and forget it. It'll be like it's welded in there.

[Deus Machina]

If it's a steel insert--threaded inside and out--the best bet would be to use red Loctite to lock a screw in there, then unscrew that and see if that will crack it free.