Help! cannot separate LF strut from fuselage. Leaving in 2 days...

[Starsky]

Tegel was supplied with my foil. It's also noted on their website. I applied on initial assembly and again when disassembling for winter. There was no sign of corrosion. That stuff is sticky and one good application should last the season. The manufacturer recommends you disassemble the unit every couple of weeks likely to address the possibility of bolts seizing/loosening. I quickly settled into only separating the fuse from strut and plate from board. I did however check all bolts every couple of weeks. The tail wing never loosened. Of the other 7 bolts, I sometimes found one that needed to be snugged. Never loose, just off full tight by a micro turn. I think it's just one of those things that should be habit for anyone with an alloy set up. A trade off for the smaller price tag.

I ride fresh water, and also sealed my strut, both things I think help a bit in regard to corrosion. Awareness and routine maintenance is all that should be required to get a lifetime out of an alloy foil. Lacking both of those I would imagine things could go wrong inside a single season.

[Kamikuza]

Your mast doesn't fill with water?

[Starsky]

I sealed the ends. Makes a difference to buoyancy that you notice when waterstarting. Also nice not to have your foil pee all over your stuff in transport.

[greenkiteskier]

Did you try "PBlaster" it's a corrosion remover and has helped me get some awfully corroded bolts apart. Although none on a foil. My buddy had the same thing happen in the Carribean and he had to ship his foil home with the fuselage and mast connected. A pain in the ass which cost him at the check in........Gary

[bigtone667]

No amount of heating solved my issue, I stripped the head of bolt. I ended up having to drill out the heads of the bolts to separate the components and used a multi-grip to remove the remain thread.

Replace the bolts .... good as new.

Did you sell that board?

Nooooo.... it's an awesome board. Just started to get on top of healside/toeside transitions.

But I have recently taken up fishing.

[Kamikuza]

I sealed the ends. Makes a difference to buoyancy that you notice when waterstarting. Also nice not to have your foil pee all over your stuff in transport.

How did you do that? I'm looking for a solution that doesn't involve things I can't buy here, like expanding foam

[Starsky]

I used gorilla glue.

Made plugs about 1cm deep.

I'm sure there are many ways to do it well... ding stick comes to mind.

I put a backstop (bit of cotton swab) in, a few drops of glue. A drop of water and it foams. Once cured, trim, packed the foam in a bit and then sealed the foam to a nice smooth finish with the same glue... no moisture.

I suggest sticking to small plugs. Easy enough to drill/pick out should it not work as planned.