Repairing spreader brackets

[Daverw]

We had a spreader base crack, it was a z spar mast from z spars France, when I spoke to z spars uk they had an updated design which had a spar through the mast, the kit had all needed to fit. Was not too difficult to mod by cutting a slot as per their drawings. Was a perfect solution and very pleased with it. Kit supplied had all fittings and new design spreaders etc. Z Spars uk

 

[sailoppopotamus]

We had a spreader base crack, it was a z spar mast from z spars France, when I spoke to z spars uk they had an updated design which had a spar through the mast, the kit had all needed to fit. Was not too difficult to mod by cutting a slot as per their drawings. Was a perfect solution and very pleased with it. Kit supplied had all fittings and new design spreaders etc. Z Spars uk

That is basically the solution they have offered in my case too. But it's not certainly not cheap, I'm looking at £1000 or so. If the mast were in otherwise great shape this would make sense, but unfortunately it's not. Spending that kind of cash to get shiny new spreaders for my crappy old mast is probably a mistake, and I'd rather put it towards getting a replacement mast. And this isn't really an option at the moment given the money I'm spending on fixing other things on the boat.

 

[Daverw]

I think it cost me approx £550 about 5 years ago

 

[sailoppopotamus]

Nothing's getting cheaper, is it now! Any idea why yours cracked?

 

[Daverw]

Loose rigging allowed the spreader to move, it only cracked on one side at front fixing point.

 

[sailoppopotamus]

An update to this on-going saga. I contacted ZSpars headquarters and a number of dealers around the world. All responded promptly, but none had spares to supply. Luckily I found a local fabricator who offered to make stainless copies at a reasonable price.

My worry now is how to prevent galvanic corrosion between the brackets and the mast. I know this has been discussed extensively before on this forum, and it seems that my choices boil down to Duralac or some sort of gasket. I am aware of alternative compounds that are easier to work with, such as the enticing tube of Tef Gel I have in my toolbox, but it seems that these rely on excluding moisture from the joint and as such are not optimal in this application where the two surfaces won't be a very tight fit.

Between Duralac and a gasket, it seems to me that a gasket (perhaps in combination with Duralac) is the "obvious" solution, as it will provide a thicker barrier between the two materials. Standard material choices seem to include nylon, HDPE and teflon -- basically plastics.

My question is: will using a plastic gasket compromise the strength of the joint? The brackets will be attached to the mast using (monel) rivets. Won't the gasket be crushed by the rivets during installation? Similarly, won't creep in the plastic compromise the joint over time? Or UV degradation? Would I be better off forgoing the gasket entirely and using Duralac alone?

 

[Daverw]

If you were to use a gasket the material could be wafer thin so I would expect it to work,don’t think creep would be in issue then, you can get very thin sheet acetals etc, duralac would effectively do the same adding a thin film

 

[Boathook]

A rigger told me to use plastic milk bottles or butyl out of a tube. Also a smear of 'paste' round the rivets.