H26 Mast not sitting flush

[dinosound]

I noticed my mast was nit sitting flush on my new to me H26. After the Season was over, I took a very close look at the tabernacle and mast foot. I noticed 1 screw in the tabernacle was slightly raised. It's maybe a millimeter or 2. I checked the mast foot and it sure looks like witness marks are there from the screw. I tried tightening the screw but it's very tight, so it backing out on its own doesn't seem to be the problem.

My question is would it be safe to grind off the area around the witness marks or even a bit of the screw to get the mast to sit flush or would that be risky? Or maybe another solution?

Many thanks guys!

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Is it the mast base or the deck which has deformed?

 

[JoeWhite]

Can you loosen and take it out? There may be debris under the head. Or you may shave off a little at the tip and re install. It may be bottoming out by hitting something below.
I would not grind the screw head as it will make it hard to remove later. Grinding the base is a less of a risk as a last resort.

 

[BobSail]

It almost looks as if the mast step on the deck is sitting atop another plate or previous step mount? my 260 may be slightly different than the 26, but that configuration looks different. My Z-Spar mast step is fastened directly to the deck. Crazy Dave Condon may have an answer. He is on this site and involved with the development of these models.

 

[rgranger]

I had to replace mine once. It got bent a little and the top piece would not sit correctly in the base. It looks to me like the trailing edge of the foot comes in contact with (what use to be) the guide nub. It looks like a PO might have tried to knock it out. I don't have good words for this so I marked the photo

Maybe you can get lucky and just complete the "knock-out" and grind that ridge down (left photo).

 

[CrispyCringle]

If I understand you correctly, your saying one of the four phillips head screws is standing up too high and interfering with the mast base. Yes, you want it to sit flat on the deck as possible. If you cant get the screw to seat any deeper, you could try removing the screw and making a slightly larger (deeper) countersink. Thats probably a manufacturing defect. You should be able to get at least a one time use from a countersink bit made for wood. If you dont want to do that then I would carefully grind out the small area of the mast foot where the screw head is interfering. Dont grind the screw.

 

[Rick Webb]

It's fine don't worry about it.

Those screws are not coming out, not in one piece anyway.

 

[dinosound]

Is it the mast base or the deck which has deformed?

The mast base is slightly deformed from one screw not sitting completely flush (see image).

 

[dinosound]

Can you loosen and take it out? There may be debris under the head. Or you may shave off a little at the tip and re install. It may be bottoming out by hitting something below.
I would not grind the screw head as it will make it hard to remove later. Grinding the base is a less of a risk as a last resort.

Yes, I'm tending to agree with you. I tried to tighten it down as I thought it was loose, but no chance. It must've been that way from the factory, as near as I can tell.

 

[dinosound]

It almost looks as if the mast step on the deck is sitting atop another plate or previous step mount? my 260 may be slightly different than the 26, but that configuration looks different. My Z-Spar mast step is fastened directly to the deck. Crazy Dave Condon may have an answer. He is on this site and involved with the development of these models.

Everything looks original here. There's no damage so I'm thinking this may have been something from the factory. Not sure.

 

[dinosound]

I had to replace mine once. It got bent a little and the top piece would not sit correctly in the base. It looks to me like the trailing edge of the foot comes in contact with (what use to be) the guide nub. It looks like a PO might have tried to knock it out. I don't have good words for this so I marked the photo

View attachment 235202


Maybe you can get lucky and just complete the "knock-out" and grind that ridge down (left photo).

That ridge sits in the slot of the mast base. It doesn't come near an edge. But the screw that is slightly raised has left witness marks on the mast base. So I think this is the point of contact. I'm think of grinding the mast base a bit to remove the excess.

 

[dinosound]

If I understand you correctly, your saying one of the four phillips head screws is standing up too high and interfering with the mast base. Yes, you want it to sit flat on the deck as possible. If you cant get the screw to seat any deeper, you could try removing the screw and making a slightly larger (deeper) countersink. Thats probably a manufacturing defect. You should be able to get at least a one time use from a countersink bit made for wood. If you dont want to do that then I would carefully grind out the small area of the mast foot where the screw head is interfering. Dont grind the screw.

Yes exactly, the one screw is slightly proud. I tried to tighten it but there is no budging it.I was think the same re: factory defect. I think I will do as you suggest and carefully grind out the witness mark that the screw made on the mast base. Thanks

 

[dinosound]

It's fine don't worry about it.

Those screws are not coming out, not in one piece anyway.

Lol, sounds like you tried this before. Yeah, i think I will leave the screws and slightly grind the around the witness mark on the mast base.