stuck stanchions Swan 41

When I bought my Swan 41, I inherited 5 stuck stanchions. These were corroded so firmly in their sockets that no normal methods made any impression. As the sockets are aluminium tube welded to the toerail, removing the stanchions was vital as the sockets could never be replaced without removing the toerail.

 Other owners in the same position might be interested in the special screw jack I had made. The operation of this is shown in the photograph. The jack includes a roller thrust bearing to reduce the friction between the bar through the stanchion and the rotating part of the jack. Each stanchion took 3 to 4 hours hard work to remove, with as much heat as possible applied to the socket, with the deck protected with wet towels.

 With the stanchions out, I could inspect the sockets. In a few of these the corrosion had penetrated right through the toe rail at the bottom of he socket. I cleaned up the sockets, and painted them on the inside. I also drilled a 6mm hole through the toe rail from the outside so the sockets could drain. All 10 stanchions were then serviced as the plastic parts had deteriorated and new ones were not available. A 6mm ring nut was welded to the top of each stanchion and the centre hole was bushed. Before replacing each stanchion I wrapped the base in thin insulating plastic tape to eliminate direct contact with the aluminium. The stanchions were secured with split pins insulated with heat shrink sleeving to further reduce electrolytic corrosion. I think that provided the drain holes are kept open, and the stanchions are removed every few years , then I will not have any further problems.

Thank you, Cosmo, for a very practical sounding and wellcome method! I think I will try it.
Jyrki

There is an alternative, instead of heating the socket cool the stanchion with dry ice, or better liquid nitrogen, this will make it shrink.

Doctors use liquid nitrogen in hand-held bottles for removing skin moles

Lars

Cosmolitttle,

I have the same problem with several stuck stanchions.  The ones that are free I have insulated with miliar film.  Do you still have the jack and is it available for sale, rent, loan?