How I disassemble a Stardust for cleaning/rewicking

[dsy5]

Hello, everybody. I have read the many threads on disassembling a Stardust and have found a reliable and safe way to disassemble.

The first thing I did was to take an old spent Ego battery and remove the connector/switch end. I used a dremel to cut away the switch hole and left just enough to make a base at the bottom. I cut directly above the switch hole and sanded the base.


I then found a piece of aluminum rod which just fit to the bottom of the threaded end of the connector. You could use stainless or regular steel - its just something I had lying around the workshop. I may eventually use a slightly larger diameter piece and thread it to .7 mm, but the masking tape on the end allows me to thread it onto the connector quite sufficiently.






This inserts into the top part of the Stardust as seen below.






I use a wood clamp to squeeze the innards out - using a slow gentle twisting of the clamp handles. I have not tried a C-clamp, but I would think that would also work. See next reply for more - I couldn't upload all the pictures in one post.

 

[dsy5]

Here are the last pictures...







To reassemble, I remove the rod from the Ego connector, screw the 510 threads onto the Stardust connection and press the innards back in (sorry, no pictures, as I did not fully disassemble for the picture taking, but I think you get the idea).

This works extremely well, even on the newest version of Stardust that has the more snug fit. There is no need to remove the bottom ring, unless you want to go about the bother of it.

I can usually tear one down in less than a minute. I have yet to destroy a tank, or even crack one. Although after repeated disassembly/reassembly, I did have one o-ring that got squished a little. Maybe I was to hasty in reassembling? Anyone know if these o-rings can be purchased?

Hope this helps every one.

 

[bigpman]

Wow! Very intuitive and a great job