Honeygate malfunction

[omnimirage]

One of my honeygates isn't sealed and is dripping honey. The bolt to the right side won't tighten anymore, it just spins around forever. It looks tight enough though, the left part of the gate seems to be the loose part. I can't tighten that screw though, even when using a spanner to hold down the back, and a power tool to screw it down tighter.

I'm not sure what to do. I checked to see if there was any gunk behind it, getting in the way of tightly sealing and there isn't. I'm left to wonder if it's damaged and whether I need to just discard it, or whether I can some how tighten it so that it won't leak honey.

Anyone have any feedback?

[iddee]

The one on the left is too tight. Loosen it and only tighten it finger tight or a tiny bit more.

The one on the right, the threads are stripped. If the bolt threads are stripped, a new bolt is needed. If the gate threads are stripped. a new gate is needed.

[Acebird]

Photos are important here.  There are a lot of honey gate designs.  I have a plastic one with an embedded O-ring.  If the gate was moved dry it could have sheered a piece of the O-ring and will always leak.  You could have a bad screw, missing a washer, washer in the wrong place, any number of issues.

[omnimirage]

It looks like it's missing an O-ring. Interesting about them being stripped, I'll see if I can replace the bolts.

[iddee]

Only the right bolt, and then only if the threads are gone. If the threads in the gate are gone, the gate must be replaced. You should be able to look at them. One of them will be flat and the other will have very visible threads.

[BeeMaster2]

If the threads in the gate are stripped, you can get a bolt one size larger and buy a tapping tool and cut new threads. I just did this to fix a pressure washer for a friend.
Jim

[iddee]

Jim, you can buy a plastic honey gate cheaper than a tapping tool.

[Acebird]

Jim, you can buy a plastic honey gate cheaper than a tapping tool.

What fun is that?  If the gate is plastic you can warm the thread to near melting point and just thread it in and let it cool.