Comptip Removal

Anyone have any tips/experience removing a comptip?

The top two feet of mine snapped during a near turtle. I cut the rest off, and am now pondering how to remove the portion still epoxied into the extrusion.

Slowly chipping it out with a chisel & hacksaw blade is an option, but I'm wondering if there's another way.

Any thoughts?

Mathew

.Maybe a little acetone would work, I know it dissolves nylon and plastic, you could try it with some of the old com tip, it wouldn't hurt the existing mast

You can heat the outside of the extrusion with a butane tourch. That expands the aluminum, but the fiberglass will not. It will break the bond of the epoxy. Another thought is to cut a groove down one side to split the tip and then collapse the tube of fiberglass inside the extrusion.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Good ideas, thanks to you both.

I'll try them this weekend and report back.

Mathew

Got it out, following Matt's suggestion to use heat.

First I cut out the foam sealant until I could see the bottom edge of the comptip. Then, with an inexpensive propane torch, I thoroughly heated the exterior of the mast, and allowed it to cool. Sure enough, the heat completely weakened or broke the epoxy bond.

Next, I used a chisel to cut the Comp material into two halves.
Once it was cut in two, it was relatively easy to collapse them into the center (again using my chisel), and then extract them.

So there you go. A job I had been somewhat dreading turned out to be much easier than anticipated, thanks to help found here.

I too will be replacing a broken comptip and am wondering if the propane torch had any ill effects on the aluminum portion of the mast? I was going to try a heat gun on mine to try to avoid any discoloration of the mast. My neighbor has an industrial heat gun which may work better than my cheap Home Depot brand.

Also, what is the best epoxy to use to adhere the comptip to the aluminum mast?

Thanks.

The heat has no ill effects.

I always used automotive Bondo to glue tips in. Easy to mix and handle.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt, I never would have thought of using Bondo. How does it compare to a good epoxy like 3M 5200, etc.?

3M 5200 is a flexible sealant and should not be used to seat CompTips. It is more like a tough silicone. The Bondo is thick and easy to spread onto the tip and inside the mast. It sets up hard as a rock and that is what you want in the connection...no movement.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

FWIW - we've used West Systems epoxy to install comptips with very good success.

Brian C