Forespar Whisker Pole Irratic

[shavdog]

I have a Whisker pole that sometimes extends and then all of a sudden it locks up...I called forespar and they told me to soak it in vinegar which I did with some but no success....it's a smaller pole with clip ends and extends to about 10-12 ft...I know they sell some kind of repair kit...just wondering if anyones had this issue...the guy from forespar said do not use oil on it...thanks.

[JWSutcliffe]

When mine binds up I just hose it down liberally with fresh water and it frees up nicely. Make sure you store it large end forward so spray doesnt constantly enter at the slip joint.

[Steve Laume]

Wax might go a long way towards preventing minor corrosion without any build up or collection of gunk which must be the reasoning against oil, Steve.

[shavdog]

I'll post here the results of my fix....

[K_LeMans]

You didn't tell us whether it is a twist-lock pole or a line-control pole.......?

If it is twist-lock, I would suspect the locking mechanism, which I would assume means dis-assembling the pole in order to clean.

I have a line-control model, and have never had issues with it extending. I would be very wary of putting ANY kind of wax, oil, silicon, anything that could retain dirt or corrosion.

[shavdog]

Is a twist lock Pole...it extends to about 12 feet..

[tartansailor]

Wax might go a long way towards preventing minor corrosion without any build up or collection of gunk which must be the reasoning against oil, Steve.

I'm afraid that if you wax it, that would defeat the gripping effectiveness of the twist lock.
Have you tried waxing?

Dick

[Steve Laume]

Wax might go a long way towards preventing minor corrosion without any build up or collection of gunk which must be the reasoning against oil, Steve.

I'm afraid that if you wax it, that would defeat the gripping effectiveness of the twist lock.
Have you tried waxing?

Dick

Yup, probably not a good idea on a twist lock, pole. You had not mentioned the type of pole before I posted. Wax does seem to be fine on other types and is certainly good for spars. Even if you can't do the inner pole it would be fine for the outside to help keep it looking nice, Steve.

[Joe Myerson]

Just an academic question, because I have no spinnaker or whisker pole at this point:

Would soap work? I use it on the joints of my aluminum kayak paddles, so they can snap together easily, and I have in the past put it on my twist-lock boat hooks.

--Joe

[shavdog]

That combination actually made it worse...the vinegar seemed to help the most....at times it would slide very easily then without warning just lock up...I did order the repair kit...see what happens..

[Neil Gordon]

I played with mine yesterday and found it slow to extend, then harder to retract. It wasn't metal on metal that was locking up... water penetration created a pretty good seal and I was fighting a serious bubble of compressed air.

A combination of patience, drying/wicking what moisture I could get at when I extended the pole and, finally, a few shots of WD40 freed the pole to operate freely. (I'll check again today and see if the gremlins returned overnight.)

[shavdog]

Told me not to use any kind of oil and that would void any warranties...

[shavdog]

I bought a repair kit from West Marine...took about 15 minutes to take out the old piece and replace it with the new one...its a couple rubber wheel like pieces that fit inside the tubes ...the replacement is pretty straightforward...I don't know what was the problem but the rubber looked worn and it wasnt smooth anymore...works fine now...