Boom Repair
Related Links: Boom Grip, Contact Cement, Boom Replacement Parts,
Hardware
Booms are fairly simple. They are built of a head,
tailpiece, tail block, locking adjustment mechanisms, grip material, and
screws. Each manufacturer does things a little differently, but the
components and operations are basically the same. The arms, and tail pieces
are made of either carbon or aluminum, and the heads are made form carbon,
aluminum or plastic, or a combination of the three.
Front End Problems
The most common problem with booms is the line in the front end breaks.
Simply thread on a new line following the course of the old one. If you
lose the non-slip rubber shim that was affixed to your front end, they are
available for purchase here at Windance, or a piece of old bicycle inner
tube rubber cemented in place also does the trick. If the “pin” that
holds the “door” in place is lost, it can be replaced with stainless
steel stock, or just use a mast protector instead. (It is a good idea to
always use a mast protector anyway) Cracks in the front end itself indicate
that it is time to replace it and/or the whole boom. Front end replacement
rarely involves more than simple removing the mounting hardware, wrestling
the boom arms out of the front end, and replacing the old piece with a new
one. Fortunately, front end design changes seem to occur infrequently, so
getting a compatible one should not be too difficult.
Adjustment Problems
As booms get older, they often become harder to adjust. This is because
over time sand works its way into the boom arms, and is subsequently ground
into the arm each time the boom is adjusted. To help prevent this, it is a
good idea to remove the tailpiece every so often and rinse the inside of
the boom arms. It is ill-advised to leave the boom or entire rig lying in
shallow water for any period. That is when the sand gets in and damage
begins.
To fix this, remove the tail-piece from the boom. The ends of the tail
should have plastic caps of some sort on them. Using a fine grit sandpaper
or file, remove the burrs, scratches and grooves on the caps by sanding in
a linear fashion.
The other reason for adjustment problems, is bent boom arms. By sighting
down the arms one can tell if this is the case, another way is that often
after bending a boom arm the adjustment holes no longer line up on one side
or the other. Bending usually occurs near the harness line area during
catapults. Once bent, it is not advised to attempt to straighten the arm,
the risk of creasing the tube is too great.
Over time the adjustment fittings become harder to use. There is not much
that can be done about this as it is mostly just a function of age.
It is NOT a good idea to “lubricate” the sliding portions of your boom,
more often than not the lubricant will attract (and retain) grit and
foreign matter, making your boom worse than before.
Grip
Over time the grip on the boom wears, either from contact with the
ground or the deck of your board, or from the back of your fin when the
board flips over. Knowing
which of these events are causing the damage will help you to reduce it.
Boom grip is simple stuff, and available at almost any windsurfing shop. It
is glued to the boom arms with rubber cement. If part of your grip is
peeling back from the arm, simply apply contact cement to the inside of the
grip and the matching surface on the arm, allow to air dry, then push and
hold them together. If the grip is lost, and there is more aluminum showing
than you care for, regripping is a pretty straightforward
repair easily done in about 2 hours.
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