how do I service a telescopic aluminium boathook

LittleSister

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I have 3 aluminium telescopic boat hooks.
2 refuse to lock and the other is perman

If you could get them to mate, perhaps their offspring would work properly! ;)

For the one that is (I guess) seized, you could try pouring plenty of hot water over/into the joint, then while it is hot grip the two parts with gloves (better still have one gripped by e.g. soft filter wrench secured to something solid) and twist.

For the ones that refuse to lock, dismantle and inspect the fittings to see why they don't work. If all else fails, clean the ends up thoroughly and glue the two parts together with epoxy adhesive.
 

jwilson

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You service them by going to a chandlers and buying another, preferably non-extending. The idea is great, they just don't work for long.
 
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I have always found that WD40 will free an aluminium boathook if left to soak down the join vertically for a few hours. It also clears out the salts/oxidization that seems to stop them locking.
Thank you for that suggestion and to others who responded.
I‘ve sprayed in the WD40.
my instinct said ‘use WD40’ but I felt that there had to be some trick like removing the bottom handgrip to access the mechanism.
Brendan
 
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If you could get them to mate, perhaps their offspring would work properly! ;)

For the one that is (I guess) seized, you could try pouring plenty of hot water over/into the joint, then while it is hot grip the two parts with gloves (better still have one gripped by e.g. soft filter wrench secured to something solid) and twist.

For the ones that refuse to lock, dismantle and inspect the fittings to see why they don't work. If all else fails, clean the ends up thoroughly and glue the two parts together with epoxy adhesive.
How can I dismantle ???
That seems a good place to start if dismantling is feasible because it does allow the option to convert to non-telescopic boat hook.
brendan
 

LittleSister

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How can I dismantle ???

The most sure-fire way of dismantling a telescopic boathook is to stand on a boat with the boathook in your hands, hook onto a mooring ring or whatever else that you want to draw towards the boat (or vice versa) and pull!

The more urgent your need to pull the two things together the more likely dismantling will be successful!

;)
 

Old Harry

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The most sure-fire way of dismantling a telescopic boathook is to stand on a boat with the boathook in your hands, hook onto a mooring ring or whatever else that you want to draw towards the boat (or vice versa) and pull!

The more urgent your need to pull the two things together the more likely dismantling will be successful!

;)
Then lasso the buoy
 

JumbleDuck

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Find a nearby skip. Any real force pulling an extender will cause it to pop out eventually.
Apologies for repeat anecdote ... A couple of years I went through the Crinan Canal in company with a large RM. Its skipper didn't like the way my bow line and his stern line rubbed, so he used his extending boathook to pull them apart. Eventually he pulled so hard that the grip gave way and the business end of his boathook fired like an arrow clean over my boat and disappeared from sight at the back of the lock.
 

trythalljohn

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Rubber exercise band gives a really good grip to twist the pole, as long as it is dry. Works well on twist locking walking poles, too.
 
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