boom failure- this ever happen to anyone else?

[Wind-NC.com]

hmmm, bummer. I used to have the triple clamps, and I sailed them Super Hard and never had an issue. One thing, though- I did perform pretty routine maintenance on them, like checking those screws, and occasionally replacing the heads altogether. Dunno if it was really necessary, but it seemed like cheap insurance. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me- I check all of my stuff pretty often, actually. Cleaning sand out, making sure hardware isn't deteriorating, etc etc...

I will add, since you're thinking about shopping- while the triple clamp was a pretty awesome boom for it's time, the new Pro1 carbon completely eclipses it on all levels. The Pro1 is an absolutely amazing boom!

[thombiz]

Chinook's new Pro 1 carbon boom does appear to be a new and improved choice plus, it's made right there in the Gorge, keeping American workers employed. When you buy made in America products the jobs you save might be your own. There's an interesting video on this web page: http://www.isthmussailboards.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CHP1C

[slambo]

so out of curiosity I cked my older chinook carbon booms and I am glad I did as the outer screws are all broken in 2 other booms- some of the broken screws I can't get out. Need to try to find something small to punch out the bolt w/ broken screw. The inner screws are ok. Wow- now I really need to call chinook as I have 2 booms in otherwise good condition but the outer screws are toast. Now I have to say this is bad design.

Guys, ck your screws on your chinooks carbons! I had always bragged about these booms but now I got to get rid of them- after I get new screws in them of course.

Will see what chinook says when I call them.

[johnl]

One of my Chinook carbon booms had the same problem. Felt a little loose, so I BARELY tightened the screw and it snapped (the screw). I took it to Chinook (a short 15 minute drive) and they put in a new one. I think they got a bad bunch of bolts.

[isobars]

Maybe not. They stopped making their shock-absorbing Hydroshok base years ago because of SS corrosion in salt water ... decided the demand didn't warrant redesigning the unit to remain failsafe when the SS part failed as it very often did after salt water use.

I've also found (today's?) SS to be pretty unimpressive stuff. Take footstrap screws ... please. Their Phillips heads bugger up so fast I now use hex heads any place I'm not stepping on them too often. I once put a speck of Gorilla Glue on all my SS footstrap screws to keep 'em tight in plastic inserts, and EVERY screw snapped when I tried to remove them shortly thereafter after use only in fresh water.

I haven't stumbled across SS hex heads yet (haven't looked), but hex works so much better plan to look. In the meantime I'll just inspect my coated steel screws occasionally. I don't know whether there are higher quality SS machine screws/bolts available for our boom and footstrap applications. Both would be worth a few extra bucks. Surely the aircraft and marine industries must have more corrosion-resistant hardware available; after all, it IS proudly called "STAINLESS", not "stain resistant in pure H2O", "sorta dishwasher safe", or "warranty void outside Arizona".

[jfeehan]

I checked the outer screws on my boom, and they are a bit stained, but not broken.

I'm thinking of replacing them.

Is there a way to get higher quality stainless?

[Brian_S]

[bred2shred]

As others have suggested, this seems to me to be an issue with Chinook's fastener supplier rather than a problem with the overall triple clamp boom design. I think the triple clamp design is sound. This is likely a case of either a bad batch of screws or simply buying cheap fasteners.

When I inspected the screws on one of my triple clamp booms (after reading this thread), one screw sheared off and that all of them had signs of corrosion (after about five years of use in salt water). So while I won't be rushing out to buy a new set of booms, I will definitely be replacing the screws and nylock nuts. I've already placed an order from McMaster Carr for the 316SS M5 x 25mm screws and nuts. I don't know what the OEM hardware is, but 316SS has high corrosion resistance and is considered to be "marine grade."

sm

[joespeed]

it happened to me too (twice) on a 4 to 5ish year old chinook tripple clamp carbon. the first time I heard a big snap, I couldn't figure out what happened, another sailor (Ron) told me to check the booms head bolts, sure enough one of them snapped. the other time I knew what that big snap sound was, the 2 bolts from the other side broke... about 8 months apart. I was lucky, both times the bolts stayed in place and I could continues sailing.

I would say replace those bolts every 2-3 years (I sail mostly salt water)

Louis

[feuser]