Select to expand quoteHeavy1 said..Sandman1221 said..
Sorry, but I would run away from a foil that did as fast as I could! And by fixing the problem you risk having a catastrophic mast/fuselage failure, instead of bolts loosening and breaking.
Good point. The aluminum mast could break, but why would it be more likely to break now. Besides a "catastrophic mast failure" would really only be similar to the bolts breaking in terms of getting home and the size of the crash. And you can buy a new mast. I will certainly report back if I have a mast break.
What I meant by catastrophic mast/fuselage failure is instead of bolts slowly going, the mast or fuselage breaks in an instant and the wing slams up into/through the board bottom.
The forest service in Washington State (US) stabilized landslide prone mountain slopes, that prevented mini slides for years, and then one year the whole mountain slope broke free and buried a river and the town on the other side.
Select to expand quoteSandman1221 said..
What I meant by catastrophic mast/fuselage failure is instead of bolts slowly going, the mast or fuselage breaks in an instant and the wing slams up into/through the board bottom.
I have had a fuselage breaking in the middle of a run, and it ended up being no big deal. Since the board speed was much higher than the speed with which the wing drifted to the surface, the wing did not hit the board, and I can't really see that happening at all (except if you run aground). The wing (i84) with ~ 1/3rd of the fuse attached was drifting on the surface when I went back to look for it.
The reason the fuse broke was that I had added an extra hole to get a "D" position, which I needed to get the setup balanced on my slalom board. That left an empty hole between the front wing and the mast, and that's exactly where the fuse broke after about 50 sessions. Had to put in tracks into the board instead.
Select to expand quoteHeavy1 said..
Fact. The cut down pedestal allowed me to windfoil 3 hrs on 99 infinity, no issue at all which is unprecedented for me.
Fact . Im shocked by how much more stable the foil feels to me. Massive increase in confidence. massive decrease in crashes.
Fact. despite the completely unfinished shaping the extra drag was unnoticeable to me.
Speculation: Its so much more stable I speculate that the wing resists instantaneous roll inputs and with my weight flexes mico amounts at the mast fuse interface. Given the weird angles the foil is traveling through the water, (slight up, slight yaw), any flex, steers the foil in weird ways, possibly even stressing the fuse mast interface even more. Generally the wings may be balanced but surely they resist rapid wobble movements. Water at speed is pretty resistant to sudden roll movements. I think this is why the set up feels so much more stable now. This could loosen bolts, but even if the blots are red lock tighted any micro flex in metal is going to eventually fatigue, and snap.
So how do you get super red lock tight broken bolts out of the mast. Speculation : this is a bad idea.
Opinion: I love and highly recommend slingshot gear for wind foiling. I highly recommend the 84 and 99 infinity wings for heavy weights. However my suggestion is that for confidence in not snapping bolts, and even more so for a much more stable enjoyable ride, the cut down pedestal is a dramatic improvement, and I hope slingshot bring out a purpose built adapter.
Great to hear your solution worked for you. I agree that using red lock for the bolts is probably a bad idea. I think that the screws coming loose happens after some "forwards and backwards wiggling" of the mast. Glue won't change that, so the risk of bolts breaking remains .. and getting the remains out would be a real PITA.
How tight is the fit of the mast in the pedestal adapter you used? For some of my older masts, the fit is just somewhat tight, the masts are still easy to get out. But for my newest mast, I always have to use a rubber mallet to get it out of the pedestal.
Also, when things were still braking, did you use the Slingshot titanium bolts, stainless steel bolts, or both? There are some statements about titanium being more brittle than stainless steel, causing "brittle fractures". When the strengths of titanium screws is touted, it's usually in the context of strength-to-weight ratios. Perhaps important in airplanes, but much less for foiling. Neither is the higher corrosion resistance relevant, since the aluminum corrodes quickly with both titanium and stainless screws.
Select to expand quoteboardsurfr said..Sandman1221 said..
What I meant by catastrophic mast/fuselage failure is instead of bolts slowly going, the mast or fuselage breaks in an instant and the wing slams up into/through the board bottom.
I have had a fuselage breaking in the middle of a run, and it ended up being no big deal. Since the board speed was much higher than the speed with which the wing drifted to the surface, the wing did not hit the board, and I can't really see that happening at all (except if you run aground). The wing (i84) with ~ 1/3rd of the fuse attached was drifting on the surface when I went back to look for it.
The reason the fuse broke was that I had added an extra hole to get a "D" position, which I needed to get the setup balanced on my slalom board. That left an empty hole between the front wing and the mast, and that's exactly where the fuse broke after about 50 sessions. Had to put in tracks into the board instead.
I have actually seen it happen where the wing flew up & embedded itself in the board. After all the wing is lifting, so if you are moving along at good speed & the fuse breaks behind the wing it can(...did...) fly straight up & into the board.
