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Screw corrosion - how bad is this?

 
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amarie



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 233
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 9:22 am    Post subject: Screw corrosion - how bad is this? Reply with quote

The screws on this boom were a little rusted when I bought it used. Otherwise the rest of the boom was and still is in great shape. The screws look a lot worse now, as shown in the current picture.

I'm wondering first, how much should I worry, and second, what should I do? Can the screws be maintained or replaced? Should I start by trying to scrape away some rust and get the screws clean again, or perhaps will this just break them down worse? It's a chinook carbon boom and obviously expensive to replace the whole thing.

The good news is I now live in a house with plenty of room to wash my gear, so I can keep up with it better now. A big part of my problem was living the last few years in a condo without hoses or a good way to wash gear.

*edit to add that they aren't actually screws, but I don't know the word. Grommets or something?

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westender



Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 1288
Location: Portland / Gorge

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would soak that in white vinegar till the rust was gone?

https://www.thespruce.com/homemade-rust-remover-recipes-1387936
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amarie



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 233
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 11:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

westender wrote:
I would soak that in white vinegar till the rust was gone?

https://www.thespruce.com/homemade-rust-remover-recipes-1387936


I’ll do that now and report back. Thanks.
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rswabsin



Joined: 14 May 2000
Posts: 444
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They are called snap rivets or pop rivets. I got the same rust happening on my old carbon boom. Going to try the vinegar bath and see what happens. I've been hoping they are stainless steel and this is only a surficial problem?

Rob
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wsurfn1426



Joined: 20 Mar 2004
Posts: 223

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alissa:

They are pop rivets, I am sure they could be easily be carefully drilled out and replaced if you felt they were going to fail. I don't think there is a lot of force on them since the outhaul pulls the plastic piece against the carbon tailpiece. It is always good to be preventive minded though.
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wsatl



Joined: 30 Sep 2014
Posts: 66

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Definitely stainless pop rivets. And, yes, even stainless will rust although various types of stainless or more or less resistant to rusting. We used to have a stainless steel sink that was about as rustproof as an iron bucket but I digress...

Whatever you do, if and when you replace the rivets, do not be tempted to replace them with aluminum rivets. Aluminum and carbon do not get along at all - the aluminum will corrode very quickly. A pop rivet "gun" and rivets are relatively inexpensive. If you know anyone with a sailboat, especially racing dingy, there's a good chance they already have one. Or anyone who does gutters.
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amarie



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 233
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vinegar and lots of scraping with an ice pick worked. Thanks. iwindsurf to the rescue. Picture:[img][/img]


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Wind_Boarder



Joined: 13 Nov 2005
Posts: 91
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had Chinook carbon booms break on several occasions because the stainless steel bolts on the head corroded through. Now that I'm a foiler, I am wiser to the notion of galvanic corrosion which got drilled into me when I bought the foil. I believe that this is what happens between the stainless steel bolts and the carbon on the boom. Chinook has since changed the boom design to a one piece head but if you still have a boom with stainless steel bolts, I suggest taking out the bolts, checking them, replace them if corroded, then coat them with TefGel to prevent the galvanic corrosion. I don't know what can be done about rivets though. Just pray they don't corrode in this way.
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bred2shred



Joined: 02 May 2000
Posts: 989
Location: Jersey Shore

PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most likely those rivets will rust again if continually exposed to salt water. I’ve seen the same thing on the rivets and screws used on my Chinook booms and bases. Most likely it is the result of using inferior (i.e. cheap) fasteners from China. Some of the screws on my triple clamp boom heads just snapped in half when removing.

For fasteners in critical applications (like the boom head), I would remove and replace with fasteners confirmed to be 316 alloy stainless (this is the most corrosion resistant alloy). For the rivets in the tail piece, I wouldn’t really worry about them too much. As a previous poster mentioned, the load on the tail piece is largely inboard, so the rivets don’t see much load. You run more risk of damaging the carbon composite if you try to remove them.

sm
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westender



Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 1288
Location: Portland / Gorge

PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let the vinegar do the work. What's the hurry?
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