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PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:54 am 
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Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 1:08 pm
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A lot of force is required to insert the wings into the hulls and also to remove them. I have to use a rubber mallet and basically knock them into place, then reverse the process to remove them.

Any hints or tips would be appreciated. Is there a lunbricant that is safe to use without damaging the wing tubes and hulls?

Thanks.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:28 am 
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Something is wrong with the wings. Bent leg? Too long a piece under your knee?

Maybe take the cross piece out and see if the fit improves.

Otherwise, careful insertion and removal are normally required. If you get to far on one end, the other end wedges in the tube. Best with two people.

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:59 am 
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Location: Detroit, MI
With one person, you need to "walk" the wings out - pull a bit on one end (2" or less), then do the other. Back and forth until one leg is free, then the other will come out easily.

Make sure the inside of the tube is smooth (no old repairs reducing the diameter) and keep both the hull tube and the wing legs scrupulously clean. (flush with lots of water)

Use a spray-on dry lubricant (silicone, McLube, TDL, etc.) to keep things moving. Don't leave the wings in on a beach for an extended period. Fine sand will blow into the crevice and cement the wings in place.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:42 pm 
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Location: Eagan (St Paul), MN
I've grown to hate the H17 wing tubes over the years. I struggled with poorly fitting tubes and even when i used a lubricant it didn't help. My problem was finally solved when my local dealer basically rebuilt the tubes so that there is less of a tight fit between the tube and he socket. No problems since.

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e-mail: ab at medjet.net
H17S, Hobie Bravo, A cat
Fleet 444


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 12:05 am 
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Location: Folsom, CA
I clean the tubes and the hull insert holes until they are spotless. Sometimes I even lightly sand the inside of the hull insert holes.

I then use a dry lube, like sail slide with teflon.

Have not had a problem since... but I gues my tubes have all been pretty straight...


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:23 am 
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It also helps if the tubes are pretty empty of water when you insert the wings. And in my experience you do need to "walk" them out, a little from each end. Too much and the wings rack and jam.

I don't know how it works, but I found that a drink of good Aussie beer an ideal lubricant...


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:39 am 
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Anybody still onboard for this old thread?? I have to compress the tubes a 1/8th inch or so to get them started in the boat I just bought . Is that normal?

I do have cracks in the the Starb rear tube and have read the thread on the fix.. One wierd thing though. When inserting the wing post it seams to get caught about half way down. There is a definite stoping point. I think it was sailed with the tube in that position and that is why the tube is shattered..
feels like that. Can I get an assembly and relpace the whole thing?? Perhaps drill it out and replace with a PVC pipe?? Might be easier than trying to fix it from the inside.. having to put ports in and all..

Thx H


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:34 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:36 pm
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Location: Tri-Cities, WA
I had troubles with one of my wings getting in and out of the tube. The other worked fine. When I lined the wings up on the lawn toe to toe, I found that the ends of the supports (the end you put into the tubes) did not match (they were about an inch+ different) so I used 2 trees about 18" apart to 'tweek' the difficult wing to match the good one and the problem was solved.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 4:09 pm 
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Try checking for "roundness" of your tube. If it has been over-stressed it may have partially failed and deformed slightly into an egg-shape. The long axis of the "egg" might be the point at which it is resisting further progress into the deck.

You might also try inserting the other wings but only one end at a time so that there is no tension caused by trying to get both ends at the same time. That might help define whether you have a male or female problem and just what it is.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:57 am 
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Location: Washington, DC
MBounds wrote:
Use a spray-on dry lubricant (silicone, McLube, TDL, etc.) to keep things moving. Don't leave the wings in on a beach for an extended period. Fine sand will blow into the crevice and cement the wings in place.


Thanks, Matt. This is exactly what happened to the wings on my club's Hobie 21. The wings were left in for the whole season. And the 21 doesn't get used nearly as the 16s and 14s. At the end of the season, one of the tubes simply would not come out. We tried a number of different tricks over two weekends.

When we finally managed to get the tube out, the hull tube was cracked. It also appears that a crack had been repaired previously, which likely reduced the inside diameter and led to the fit problem.

We have yet to repair the cracked hull tube. So I'll have to look up the fix/repair referenced above.

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Sailing vintage Hobie Cats in West Africa.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:35 am 
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I am sure this will sound crazy and there are probably a dozen reasons it wouldn't work but.....
Has anyone tried drilling a drain hole in the lowest spot in the tube and then attempting to seal the tubes with the wings in? I realize that any water that got in would go into the hulls and that this could be a lot of water over a day of sailing. Also that sealing the joint between the wing tube and the hull tube might not really work and could make removal even harder but you could use something like Vaseline that would come off easily. Now there might be 50 reasons why Vaseline might be a bad idea for the tramp/sail/clothing/hardware so perhapse not that. Just seems like there are so many issues with the tubes, grit, cracking/freezing and cracking/etc. Has to be a better way out there.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 7:52 am 
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Location: Detroit, MI
vtwave wrote:
Just seems like there are so many issues with the tubes, grit, cracking/freezing and cracking/etc. Has to be a better way out there.

There is a better way. It's called preventative maintenance.

Don't leave the wings installed for a long period of time (more than a week).
Flush the tubes out regularly with water.
Use spray lube on the wings / tubes.
In the winter, put a dollop of antifreeze in the tube and seal the openings if you store the boat outside.

I guarantee that you won't have any problems if you do those four things on a regular basis.


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PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:33 pm 
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well for this winter at least my hulls are indoors, heated awaiting the time to repair a few things to be ready to by spring.


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