I have just purchased a new Neilpryde 460 SDM mast. after using it for the third time I cant get it apart. I have had five guys pulling and twisting it with two booms attached to it. it moved about five cm, but now is totally stuck. I have tried a list of ways to separate it but haven't had any luck at all. I have tried pulling it apart with a turn buckle, using boiling water flushing it out with water, hitting it with a rubber hammer but nothing.
can anyone give me any advise
Thanks.
Sounds like what happened to me. Bought a new severne gorilla rdm and couldn't get it apart after 2 uses. Took it back to the store, they tried and couldn't get it apart, then replaced the mast for a new one.
Maybe ask at a hardware store? they might have a silicon based aerosol product to spray onto the joint. Failing that wrap a cloth around the joint, soak the cloth with something like WD40 and leave overnight - hoping some of the lubricant will seep into the joint & loosen it. Good luck.
For next time you use a 2 piece mast, when you joint the 2 halves wrap some of that 50mm wide sticky tape around the joint. It'll stop any sand/grit getting to the joint. A fellow sailboarder told me about it (thanks Phil) when I had your same problem. It works a treat.
This used to be a common topic, almost as common as sharts, if you do a search you'll find the old posts. There was a classic video involving a 4WD and a tree, I found it but couldn't get the link to work.
try standing the mast up verticle with the base in the grass at about boom height shake the sh#t out of it and the flexing in the join with the right frequencey the top will rise up rotate your grip every now and then so your power comes from the other side by this time you will need some more beer to keep you hydrated i had the same prob and used lots of dudes and booms and no luck but the shaking worked a treat my mast had been stuck for about ten years and now my mate has it and its a 2 peice again good luck and dont let it beat you think winner not looser GOOD LUCK AKIRAS 
If its a new mast it is not always sand/grit, it can be the initial wear and tear on the ferrule/join surfaces. Tape is good for keeping sand out if your mast has bungs in it. Water internally all the way up the mast to the join carrying grit that may enter the join as well.
Usually it can be a black/grey carbon paste that builds up and stays there unless you give it a wipe with a rag after each use. It can turn to cement and jam your mast even though it appears clean and dry when you rig up as it has dried from previous use. Water in the join and flexing of it during use assists the generation of the paste and hence jamming if its left in the sun to cure while you have a beer and get out of your wettie etc.
Solution wipe/wash your mast join out after each use till you can tell as to when you need not to do it all the time. Experience with such is good, but every now and then even I forget. Manufacturers could put a simple message on the join to remind the inexperienced to clean such before use.
Over time the mast join can get loose so ensure its seated fully closed after rigging or you are likely to snap it whilst sailing.
re your mast try with 8 booms, also asentioned stand its tip in the ground vertically and shake it whilst rotating it around, ...persistance,,,, beer
Cheers
had the same problem got it apart by sitting the top part of the mast on a chair and bouncing it by hand on the joint
Get someone to pin the bottom end to the ground. Then whip the top end up and down to get the centre bending as much as it will. After maybe a minute of that, turn the mast 90 degrees and repeat. Do that for 10 minutes.
Now you need about 6 men to twist the mast and hopefully it will come apart.
The bending grinds ths tiny sand particles that are jamming the mast and loosens them up a bit, just enough to make it possible to twist the mast and seperate it.
I have tried various methods over the years but find the one that seems to work when all else fails is leverage. Try securing a rope to something solid (veranda post,bull bar - whatever's handy) then tie the other end to the base of the mast using a couple of clove hitches. Next rotate the mast getting a nice tight wrap of at least 10 turns until the mast is wound in tight to the post.
Next take your mast extension. Tie the end of the downhaul off to the mast top just above the joint using clove hitches again. Wrapping in the opposite direction as before get at least 10 wraps around the mast until the mast extension pulls up tight to mast. With the mast extension at right angles to the mast you can now apply super human amounts of twist.
The trick is to keep tension on the whole setup or the rope will slip. See photos - good luck.
) and how / where it was hit with a mallet it may well now be buggered.
I tried a new method last summer, i had mine about that far apart and nothing was going to get it any more apart, we sprayed olive oil on the ferral, then put the tip against a fence post, a block of soft wood on the base and belted the mast back together, then got a few guys on each side and did the usual twisting either way until it went no further, more spray the belted it back in again.
each time it come further apart, took 3 goes then come apart..
) and how / where it was hit with a mallet it may well now be buggered.
Try this:
Insert your extension and if you have one, hold a wooden block against the base.
Now use a rubber hammer and hit the block along the vertical axis of the mast. The idea is to get a continuous rhythm going. The shock of the the hammer hitting the mast will travel towards the top and slowly move the top section.
I have used this technique to separate masts that didn't move using any of the other suggested techniques.
Once you get the mast apart make sure you use a bit electrical tape next time you go sailing.
I have an NP X6 masts that got stuck almost every single sail. Once I started using the tape the masts easily separated without fail.
Finally my mast is back in two pieces!! in the end I used a winch block to pull it apart
Thank you for all the replies to my topic
As Mark said, never, ever hit carbon with anything, this type of action will eventually cause a failure or the mast without any warning.
An old trick that always seems to work for me is to hold the tip of the mast with the base sitting on some grass and just wobble. The flexing bouncing gently up and down the mast seems to get things moving.
The car trick works every time.
Done it a few times myself.
There is a video on an old post somewhere.
I had the unfortunate experience to have my mast stuck badly just as Akaris did. Tried the shaking thing and after attaching 6 booms and much effort with the help of my good mate Ian, it eventually came apart. Spotty you are on the money, as you can see from the pictures lots of carbon, off-course much of this would have occurred during the twisting process to get the mast apart. The spigot is pretty much OK after the carbon was gently scraped off, but the socket has some gouges inside and some carbon shards were produced. We put a very light coating of epoxy inside the socket just to stabilise any more carbon material that may be lose, and hopefully after some careful sanding, the mast joint will be OK again. Have checked some of my other masts and yes there was some carbon residue inside the joints, will now check all my masts regularly. The mast was a 460 Loft RDM and I bought it new and had probably used it about 10 times. Wish I had read this thread before to avoid this whole debacle !
I had the issue after some grit got stuck in my NP 430 X3 mast.
I tied one end to a tree (using a tightening knot) and the other end to a 2T chain block which was then attached to the back to the car.
Slowly but surely, I applied pressure and had towels wrapped around both ends (to dampen any release) and then "POP" she came apart.
Not a fun experience and if it is a new mast, I would be taking it back in to get them to sort it out....
Select to expand quotemaxd said..
I have tried various methods over the years but find the one that seems to work when all else fails is leverage. Try securing a rope to something solid (veranda post,bull bar - whatever's handy) then tie the other end to the base of the mast using a couple of clove hitches. Next rotate the mast getting a nice tight wrap of at least 10 turns until the mast is wound in tight to the post.
Next take your mast extension. Tie the end of the downhaul off to the mast top just above the joint using clove hitches again. Wrapping in the opposite direction as before get at least 10 wraps around the mast until the mast extension pulls up tight to mast. With the mast extension at right angles to the mast you can now apply super human amounts of twist.
The trick is to keep tension on the whole setup or the rope will slip. See photos - good luck.
Yep I did that but attached to a tree and that worked after everything else failed
