Any information on old rod kicker?

[SvenH]

Replace gas strut in old rod kicker?

The rodkicker on my boat has suddenly stopped working, probably a gas strut as there is hardly any resistance left.

I'd like to repair it but I can not find out how to open it.

Do any of you guys know what make this is and if it can be repaired?
Boat is from 1988 and this rod kicker seems original.

(I've removed all the rope for the repairs)

 

[vyv_cox]

I assume you have tried to unscrew the collar on the end of the external tube? That appears to be the only means of access.

 

[Andy61]

I can't help with manufacture of the kicker, but, for your information the mild steel gas strut in my Selden rod kicker failed a couple of years ago and I replaced it with a stainless steel gas strut from SGS Engineering which was a third of the price of the Selden unit.

 

[SvenH]

Thanks guys.

The collar has no marks that point to any way to disassemble. Well, the whole thing has none of those : )

I thought it might be reasonable manufacturing to just stick a gas strut in with a one way clip or something.

A rod kicker can not disassemble by itself..

That could mean i might be able just to pull it apart with well dosed force?

 

[Ian_Edwards]

It seems most likely the the two outer parts just pull apart.

There can't be any screwed connection between the black part on the aluminium tube. They have to slide relative to each other.

There could be some sort of connection between the gas spring and either or both the black part or the aluminium tube, although I can see no reason why there should be one. In operation the strut is always in compression.

If there is a connection it'll either be a pin, which would be visible from the outside, or a screw thread. To check if there is a screwed connection, I'd mark the aluminium tube with tape or a felt tipped pen, where if exists the black part and then try and unscrew it. The tape or mark will tell you if one part move against the other.

If it was mine I'd give it a good hard pull, but bear in mind that the gas spring is probably steel, so there may be a lot of rust holding it together.

 

[SvenH]

Thanks Ian, I'll try to devise a way to pull hard but gently.

 

[SvenH]

Double post, deleted

 

[SvenH]

Did the first gentle and hard pull, with the rod kicker between two trees and a lever of about 1:10 up to maybe 1:15, so something like 300 to 450 kilos of force, not budging.

Continued...

If all fails, I can also cut the tubes at the ends and re weld

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Looking at picture 3 and thinking some simple 'reverse engineering' I would suspect that there is only a spring inside the tubes. The 'white' tube slides inside the 'black' tube, thus compressing the spring inside as necessary, using the control line. To prevent the white inner tube from being shot out of the black outer casing I would have a collar formed at the end of the sliding tube and this collar would bear against a similar 'collar' at the outer end of the black tube when at the end of travel. This would be the 'ring' that can be seen at the end of the black tube. Since the gadget should be easy to be assembled BUT unlikely to be dismantled I would have the 'ring' screwed into black tube at the end of assembly. To hold the ring I would use some form of adhesive, probably something like a cyanoacrylate 'super glue' as a thread-lock or, if not yet on the market (age?), perhaps some araldite. In either case, some gentle persuasion from a heat-gun combined with tapping with a soft mallet would do the trick, enabling the bond between the aluminium mating surfaces of the ring and the black tube.
Please note that while this is being offered in good faith BUT without any guarantees!

 

[SvenH]

I was able to get the black collar out with a screwdriver, no problem.

I think that if it were a coil spring, it is very unlikely that the complete thing would lose 200 mm of stroke.
There also seems to be a bit more resistance when pulling out compared to pushing in.
That does suggest to me it is a gas strut, not a coil.

 

[SvenH]

Well, got access.

To my great surprise, the thing was in fact painted after assembly, almost completely concealing the primary screw in the process:


After scraping away the paint in the absence of better ideas, I found the screw which was only an irregularity in the surface and hardly visible.

After that the gas strut came out and I was able to have a replacement in house within 24 hours.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Thanks for coming back with the solution! :encouragement: