Separating upper and lower mast

T

TonyW001

New Member
My son has placed the wrong end of the upper mast into the lower mast. They now won't separate. It is possible that the end plug kit has engaged something. I have tried vibration, lubricant and force to separate with no success. Does anyone have any other ideas ?
 
Tony, that is a strange deal. As I remember, the upper mast is 'bushed up' on the correct end.. IE its OD is significantly smaller than the ID of the lower mast, so I can't sort out how it could get stuck. Of course I am old and slow, so it might be real easy...

If you have a 4.7 lower mast, it might be caught in the bend. If it's a regular or radial lower, then it must be hung somehow in the lower plug.. I guess you'd have to drill out rivets and remove the lower plug, then see if it would all slide out the bottom. Or at least get to the point that you could inspect the situation.. Very strange situation, indeed..
 
I'm not familiar with the Laser mast system. But if the two sections are forced together via a friction fit, you might try to heat the outer portion and see if ti will expand to release the inner portion. I'd try a hair dryer,. If that didn't work then a heating blanket. Then a heat gun. Evan a propane torch if you are VERY careful. The air dryer and heating blanket should be pretty safe, heat gun gets a bit aggressive and can cause damage if held in one spot to long. Might even try icing the inner portion some how. The idea is to expand the external portion and contract the inner portion.

Good luck.
 
Remove the lower mast base plug and use a long piece of wood to push/ hammer it out. It may be that the topmast upper plug has partly come out and is jamming so this should correct it, or that it has jammed on the gooseneck rivets.

Renew the lower mast plug.

Good luck
 
There is a much easier solution that (usually works). The gooseneck fitting on the mast is very helpful here. rest the mast on a firm fence, wall or other thing with the gooseneck fitting pointing down and with you on the opposite side of the wall/fence/whatever. slide the mast forward so the gooseneck is 8-10 inches from the wall. Pull hard. If it doesn't come apart, repeat. You will make progress and within 2-3 tries it should be free.
 
TonyW

I agree that removing the base plug and forcing the top mast out with a piece of 38x38 brandering (timber) should do the trick. I strongly advise not to heat up the mast above 100 deg C (water boiling point) as the aluminium tube has been heat tempered to improve it's structural properties and heating it up too much will negate the tempering effect.

Andrew R
 
Jonathan Turvey said:
There is a much easier solution that (usually works). The gooseneck fitting on the mast is very helpful here. rest the mast on a firm fence, wall or other thing with the gooseneck fitting pointing down and with you on the opposite side of the wall/fence/whatever. slide the mast forward so the gooseneck is 8-10 inches from the wall. Pull hard. If it doesn't come apart, repeat. You will make progress and within 2-3 tries it should be free.
Click to expand...

This is the way to do it.
A picnic table is perfect for this.
 
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