Siezed nipples

careful

Nothing to do with extra clothing in winter! I have been lucky in not breaking any spokes for years, and used to find spoke removal/replacement easy on wheels with steel spokes and brass nipples years ago. One or two occasions with modern factory wheels (eg Shimano RS20 and Mavic Elite) when I have tried to do minor truing, the nipples were either siezed or maybe glued in in some way. Recent threads about broken spokes have made me wonder how I could prevent them from siezing, or free them when necessary. Is this a common problem and does anyone (especially the wheel builders on here) have any tips or comments?

sungod

apply a smidge of spoke prep or linseed oil when assembling

ugo.santalucia

Alumimium nipples seize due to the two metals (steel and alu) bonding together. That doesn't happen with brass-steel, which can become a bit stiff, but they should not seize completely. Light wheels typically have aluminium nipples.
Not much you can do on a set you bought, there are way round it if you build them yourself

careful

Thanks both, confirms my suspicions - good reason for getting hand-built next time. Looks like I will have to hope that my spoke luck holds - or have I tempted fate by saying that!!

sungod

if aluminium has corroded/seized and it's not too bad you can try acf-50, it'll penetrate a bit and neutralize corrosion, there's a limit to how deep it'll get though

on an assembled component, that's not otherwise been treated, you can use it to help avoid corrosion, you will need to re-apply every 1-2 years

if you want to try it, shop around, some places charge a crazy price, motorcycle shops may be best for a reasonable price

cycleclinic

Anodised alloy nipples seize less quickly. However a wheel should not need any truing until a spoke breaks upon which the nipple will be changed anyway (unless it was not built properly or the wheel was not suited to you in the first place). Applying coppaslip to the nipples can help if you think you will have to true one day.

Too many builder use no lubriaction with brass nipples and then they will seize or at least twist the spoke when turned.