How to fix a spinner
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When one comes across a bolt that has a loose hanger he/she attempts to tighten it; however, what does one do when the bolt itself begins to turn instead of tightening up? Does one just leave it loose? Rebolt it? Or is there a way to fix this without rebolting? |
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My dad always told me that when the bolt just keeps spinning that something has failed in the expansion bolt or the rock has failed but either way it will need to be rebolted |
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Come on Robert. You know the answer to this question. The old school guys would slip a wired cable of a nut under the hanger, clip a long sling, hitch up their panties and plan not to fall. |
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Hahahha lol, best advice ever! |
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If the bolt is spinning in the hole the expansion sleeve isn't working. Bolt is junk for an outward pull, but probably pretty alright in shear. Either way should be pulled and replaced. |
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I always use shaped charges to remove spinners, but for some reason land managers don't like explosives. |
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Yeah, if the bolt shaft keeps turning then something is wrong. |
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Most climbers carry chisels and small angle pitons for this exact purpose. When you find a spinner, remove it with the chisel and hammer in a nice angle into that hole. Problem solved. |
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Not all spinners are bad bolts. It really depends on the type of bolt and the quality of the rock. With plated Rawl/Powers 5-piece bolts the cone and the bolt can become rusted together. This makes it very hard to loosen or tighten the bolt. That doesn't make it bad as the cone is expanded in the hole and the desired strength should be there. |
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What most likely occurred is that the nut gets hit at the same time the stud is (ie, wedge anchors), and it damages the threads to the extent that when the bolter wrenches it, the whole thing will turn. It is an otherwise good placement however. This tends to occur on wedge anchors which do not have a dog point on the end. People will run the nut out to the end to protect the threads, and the reverse occurs when the hammer driving it in whangs down on it less than square on. Occasionally, just clipping your daisy to the hanger and weighting it while carefully turning the wrench, will set the bolt perfectly. Sometimes grabbing the exposed threads with a pair of vice grips while turning the nut will also work. I have not tried the funkness device idea yet, but I would expect that it should work if the anchor or rock is not damaged. If you could set it, you would know if the nut had damaged the threads. Sometimes you can back the nut off which also tells you that the anchor has damaged threads when the new nuts goes on most of the way and then the unit starts spinning. |
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Sometimes, you MIGHT, maybe pull very slightly down on the hanger while tightening the nut just a bit..It can work but usually the bolt is bad. |
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Billcoe, John Strand, Gregger Man: great info, thanks! |
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Billcoe wrote: What most likely occurred is that the nut gets hit at the same time the stud is (ie, wedge anchors), and it damages the threads to the extent that when the bolter wrenches it, the whole thing will turn. It is an otherwise good placement however. This tends to occur on wedge anchors which do not have a dog point on the end. People will run the nut out to the end to protect the threads, and the reverse occurs when the hammer driving it in whangs down on it less than square on. Occasionally, just clipping your daisy to the hanger and weighting it while carefully turning the wrench, will set the bolt perfectly. Sometimes grabbing the exposed threads with a pair of vice grips while turning the nut will also work. I have not tried the funkness device idea yet, but I would expect that it should work if the anchor or rock is not damaged. If you could set it, you would know if the nut had damaged the threads. Sometimes you can back the nut off which also tells you that the anchor has damaged threads when the new nuts goes on most of the way and then the unit starts spinning. |
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Billcoe. Thanks for the post. This is EXACTLY what was happening to me….just didn’t know why my bolt wouldn’t tighten down. Now I do. |