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cleaning the mast step (and stainless bolts)

G

Greg H

New Member
The adventure continues -
mast step 1.jpgmast step 2.jpgmast step 3.jpg
I am cleaning up a bunch of items, removing corrosion, rust, etc. from a few parts that will be difficult to reach once the mast is up. One item is the mast step. This was "welded" to the mast from years of moisture, salt and aluminum to aluminum contact. I have attached some photos. I will need to clean up the inside of the mast too (no photos of the mast). It looks to me like the step may be anodized aluminum (it is a little hard to tell in its current condition. The mast definitely is anodized.

Any suggestions on how to clean this up? I have a few ideas, wire brush, scrape/sanding. Soaking in some solution???

I appreciate any insights. I also have a bunch of bolts that have corrosion, the bolts are good so would like to reuse them but they need to be cleaned up. I did the wire brush in a Dremel tool which worked ok but was a little time consuming.

Greg
 
Yikes...... So, where is the main water intrusion from, to get this so corroded? Is it past the mast boot, or from inside the mast ( from the top?) Or high bilge water?
 
Not sure exactly where the water was coming from. This boat has been in Florida for probably 2+ decades, there was a corroded fitting on the mast under about 3/16th inch (yep really) of duct tape over what I think was the original mast boot. There was also some interesting material inside the collar, looked like some sort of pad that had broken down over the years, probably blocking the exit for water or ???. The bottom of the step is a bit of a mystery as far as the amount of corrosion. I responded to the mast step ad -
 
Water comes down through the mast. If your mast collar was faulty it would also come down through there. There is a drain on the aft side of the mast bucket. Yours is/was probably plugged up. A good machinist could replicate the mast step.
 
That looks like there was some electrical current going through it. Do you have a bonding system connecting to it? That would not be from the factory, but something added. Or, could a wire in the mast have chafed and is shorted to the mast itself?
 
HI Warren, good question, I have asked the marina to check for electrical leaks as part of the launch process so that may provide some insight. There is a bonding strip (looks to be thin copper about 2" wide) running throughout the boat so I think there is a bonding system but I will find out.
 
If there is a bonding system, find an electrician that has ABYC certification in corrosion protection. Its a complicated topic and i would not trust a boatyard with it.

If something is wrong the consequences are a sunk boat, as what happened to your mast step can also happen to through hulls.

An option is to tear the bonding system out.
 
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