I have been paddling my boat in the surf for a few months and as a consequence haven’t taken my paddle apart for a while. I now have found it is pretty much impossible to get the thing apart. Just wondering if anyone has any hot tips on how to solve this problem?
Cheers
Duke
I have also had a lot of trouble with my paddle getting stuck (an Aquabound Splat) , although I’ve never left it for any length of time without separating the bits. Actually, as I respond to this email, I reralise that my 2 splats are currently out in the shed in one piece, so I might just rush out and separate the sections!
Try heating it up with hot water, or steam - this expands “things” and might allow 2 “very strong” people to separate the sections! This works for fishing rod ferrules which stick.
I actually had to get a belt sander onto the male bits of the ferrules of my first Splat to thin them down so that I could get them to join and separate easily. My second Splat paddle hasn’t been so difficult. Quirkily, I now notice that the belt sanded paddle is rather “loose” at the joins, so I presume that the ambient temperature plays a large part in all of this, it now being cooler in Melbourne. On reflection, I didn’t realise that fiberglass of carbon fibre was so heat sensitive.
Having said all this, perhaps you actually need to cool it all down?!
Anyway, try changing the temperature one way or the other!
A chemist paddling friend says this…
“yes at auto stores they sell tiny tubes (like 1/2 teaspoon) of silicone brake grease used to make the rubber parts slide easily into the groves that they have to be forced into. Silicone is used because unlike petroleum grease, it does not attack rubber or plastic. Most paddles are made of fiberglass cloth laminated with epoxy (plastic). Petroleum weakens that type of epoxy, so silicone would be a good choice to resist water and to not attack the plastic. The auto store also sells silicone brake fluid which also works well but you have to buy at least 8 ounces and it is pretty pricy stuff, so the little tube is the better bet if you can find it.”
I’ve had a lot of problems with stuck paddles and have found the breaking them down ASAP after being out the water makes my life a whole lot easier than waiting until the next morning (or worse, weeks later in the garage).
I used the eraser end of a pencil (and another time the tip of my cell phone charger - the part that plugs into the cig lighter) to push in the button, while another person slightly twisted the shaft until the button was away from the hole. The twisting action broke the seal and was much easier than pulling the paddle pieces straight apart. Once the seal was broken, I could pull the two pieces apart.
We called up Aquabound and asked them about this problem, and they were very helpful in explaining it. Paraphrasing their answer:
The Cause of Paddle Blades Getting Stuck
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Dirt or Grit. The paddle ferrule and shaft socket are counstructed with 2-2.5 thousandths of an inch of clearance. If they aren’t clean upon assembly, then a little dust or grit can easily lead to stuck blades.
Water Absorbtion in the Blade Ferrule. Nylon absorbs water over time, especially if the paddle is stored in a humid or wet environment.
Shaft Curing. The shaft tube continues to cure for several years, and might shrink slightly.
Ways to Avoid & Fix Stuck Blades
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Don’t Force It! If the fit is really tight on assembly, clean the pieces and possibly sand them (as explained below). They were pretty emphatic that, if it’s super-tight going on, it’ll be just as tight when you try to get it off.
Clean Your Paddles. Get dust, grit, slime, dirt, mold, etc. off them: it only takes 1/1000 of an inch, in many cases, to make a paddle stuck.
Store Paddles Unassembled & In a Dry Place. They suggested storing paddles in your house, not outside in the shed, rolled up in a wet boat, etc.: that will hasten water-absorbtion & swelling, or promote growth of mold, etc. which will then lead to a stuck paddle.
Lightly Sand the Ferrule. Aquabound suggests lightly sanding the ferrule (the paddle-portion), taking off about 1/1000 of an inch. That should be enough to ensure a better fit. They stated that, especially after having the paddles a few years or storing them wet for long periods, there’s nothing abnormal about needing to do this and you won’t hurt the paddle.
So… hopefully that helps! -Alpacka
Thanks Alpacka staff for the suggestions. I will do the light sanding. My stuck paddles from the last trip were hard to get together so it only does make sense it will be hard to get apart.
The silicon grease could be messy and would attract dirt, so that isn’t the best solution.
I’ve had stuck blades on my Aquabound paddles and have used a razor blade to shave a tiny amount off of the male ferrule. Now, however, when the parts are dry the paddle is a bit loose. To cure that problem I put a bit of river silt on the offending joints, which tightens them up. The only problem is that then they are hard to get apart again!
I use wax to keep the ferrules on my fly rod from getting stuck. I carry a small bar in my vest.
Alpacka Raft LLC wrote:
Lightly Sand the Ferrule. Aquabound suggests lightly sanding the ferrule (the paddle-portion), taking off about 1/1000 of an inch. That should be enough to ensure a better fit. They stated that, especially after having the paddles a few years or storing them wet for long periods, there’s nothing abnormal about needing to do this and you won’t hurt the paddle.
Thanks for this. Great advice. I was a bit worried about doing this but it’s just worked magic on my stuck Aquabound paddle.
Rods
I had a stuck paddle problem as well. To get them apart I put the paddle blade between a matress and boxspring and had someone sit on it while I twisted the shaft as hard as I could. Sanding didn’t help much–I had to shave it with a razor blade. Works fine now.