keeping 2 piece mast UN-stuck?

[dennisearly]

Brand new 2 piece powerex mast, right out of the box ... STUCK! Managed to unstick, question is how to make sure it stays UNstuck? Tried lightly sanding down the bottom part, lubricating with dishsoap, and it seemed to work. Any better ideas?

[spyder]

sounds like its defective

[isobars]

Powerex will replace it in a heartbeat.

But Im curious ... they are delivered in two pieces. Yours stuck after you put it together. Did you get some foreign body -- or body part --- in there?

Mike \m/

[gemoore]

Interesting comments from Isobars and Spyder, worth checking out with Powerex.

That said, I suspect a fix will work. I had a NP mast that failed when the top section split where the ferrule inserts at the bottom. Years later, I broke a Fiberspar 4600 base. By coincidence, the bottom of the NP fit well into the top of the Fiberspar.

The problem was that the bottom section ferrule was short in comparison to most masts, and I suspect the ultimate cause of the failure. So I wanted to lengthen the ferrule. Using a mast top section stuck into the end of the ferrule to create a spindle, I sanded the ferrule to a taper and layed fiberglass to extend the ferrule a couple inches. Now we get to the part relevant to you.

The trick was then forming the modified ferrule to fit back into the top section. This was a problem akin to yours. In my case, the ferrule layup was too thick. In your case, either the ferrule is not narrow enough, or the top section is not wide enough. Its unlikely youll crack the ferrule, and the bigger amount of stress is on the top section. So you dont want to sand the top section, and should sand down the ferrule.

To do this, what you really want to do is remove the minimum amount of glass to make a snug fit. Its unlikely that the ferrule and the top section are PERFECTLY round, so that means there are high spots that can be sanded away, leaving the rest of the ferrule unaltered. To identify the high spots, you need something to mark them. The top section will do this, if you just insert the ferrule and then twist the sections around a few times. Pull it apart, and youll see the areas that are more scraped up - this are the high spots. Use a sanding block and a fine grain sand paper to grind down the high spots. If you can already get the two parts together, youre already very very close. Shouldnt take more than 10 or 15 minutes to finish the job.

BTW - my repaired combo mast is the lightest mast Ive got, and has (by feel) an extremely high reflex response. I primarily use it as a backup, but have rigged it ten times or so. It may break some day, but until then, its a free mast.

GEM

[mastfoot]

Dont put it together!!! Just kidding spray the sleeve with graphite ,works for me

[tkiser]

Very interesting, I had a similar issue, I called the shop I purchased my mast from and was told that the mast had never been used. After calling upon 3 neighbors to assist in twisting the mast sections apart I decided to call the shop again, this time I spoke with another person in the shop that told me they sell the masts as new that are used for display (rigged sails with masts.) He said that customers call regularly with this same issue, is it possible that your mast was used to demo a sail in a local shop?

I would recommend doing what I did, return the purchased item. If the mast is truly defective the shop will send it back to manufacturer. I wouldn¡¦t spend several hundred dollars for a new defective ƒ¼ item and attempt at home modifications. That is unless you bought it for an unbelievably low price with an as is sticker on it.

[MikeLaRonde]

how about how to keep it stuck? my new Z-wave comes apart so easy I keep losing the top half inside the sail sleeves. sounds like they have a loose manfacturing tolerance.

[rpdemink@yahoo.com]

simple fix-lightly sand until feels OK then when using,always tape joint w/ any kind of tape to keep grit out(I use duct tape)It will never stick on you again