Is there a way to dissolve or break down polyester fibers? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 year ago by ViscountMochi@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I recently bought a shag rug for my living room. Not realizing that the motor/actuator for my electric recliner sat directly over the floor, the fibers got caught in the actuator which is now seized and no longer functions. The motor is still fine, however, so if I could find a way to dissolve the polyester fibers and clean up the actuator I could get it working without having to buy a $170 replacement.

For further clarification, the actuator is a large metal screw with a plastic piece that fits over it like a ring on a finger. The plastic piece gets bolted to the recliner's internal hardware. The only other way to "fix" it that I can think of is to break off the plastic piece but I am unable to find a replacement part.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] SheDiceToday@eslemmy.es 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

An alcohol or strong acid will probably have a small effect on the fibers. Try rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol first. Hydrochloric acid might work, marginally. Sulfuric acid in a dry form is often used to make ester bonds, but aqueous solutions will have some effect on breaking them, but that will probably affect the plastic part more than you'd like.

Oh, and usually heat makes everything go faster, so if you can place the motor/actuator in a warm spot, or even inside of an oven below the water/alcohol boiling point, it will probably help.

[-] Hircon@ttrpg.network 4 points 1 year ago

This is probably your best advice. Any solvent that will completely dissolve the polyester is pretty likely to damage the plastic part as well, but running some isopropyl in there could weaken the fibers to the point that the motor can break them up. Higher concentrations of isopropyl will work better, but even the 70% stuff work if you can heat it up past 150F

[-] AnonStoleMyPants@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

30/70 water ipa mix can make the mix dissolve materials that are not normally dissolvable in ipa. It is a cosolvent system which reduces the polarity of the mix and hence, can make things miscible in it that normally are not.

Just fyi, if pure ipa is not working, using the diluted version might!

this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023

30 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27027 readers

723 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.