Removing Mast's Sail Track Screws Seized.. Any ideas

[PGIJon]

My mast is currently down and I'm rewiring and replacing all Nav lights with LED's and Antenna... There is a wiring pipe (see attached photo) that runs just under the Sail Track. My problem is 2 fold. First the Screws (the first screw is visible in the picture) that hold the Sail Track are seized not necessarily in the Mast track but in the opposite side of the pipe inside the mast. I can't get any sort of solvent down the pipe. The second part is without being able to remove the track, I cannot put the new steaming light's wire down the pipe. Any suggestions on how to remove the screws would be most welcomed!

Thanks
Jon

 

[Don Crowther]

could you roll the mast over and pour some wd 40 or like down the wring conduit? Or drill out the screw heads and remove the track to get at what's left of the screws?

 

[Ray T]

I would use an electricians fish tape. The tape should find its way around the bolts shown. You can then attach the new wire to the tape and pull it through. You might find a tape through a rental place that has tools etc.

 

[Dougo]

The fish tape idea is very good. If you must get the screws out, they can be drilled-out, then retapped easily. My need to oversize the screws which will require oversizing the countersinks, but none of that is rocket surgery.

 

[PGIJon]

Thanks all... The fish tape work for everything at the masthead, however the steaming light is a different beast. I'm going to attach a small diameter line to their existing wire and see if I can pull it through. Rt hen attach a round 16/3 wire to the line and see if j can puul it through the sharp right hand turn halfway up the mast and hope I don't strip any of the wires. Otherwise, I'll have to drill out the screws.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I think you will be very sorry if you attempt to remove the screws. That looks like a job that is just begging to go south. I would try attaching the new wire to the old and with the help of a friend, push the new wire into the mast at the steaming light and have the friend gently pull the old wire out. I wouldn't bother with a line because it just creates another step and more opportunity to have a problem. If that doesn't work- jams completely or breaks, then try the fish-tape.

If you use the fish-tape, and it should be one that is 1/8" wide and 1/32" thick; you should be able to push it from the steaming light hole to the bottom without any major issues.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

I think you will be very sorry if you attempt to remove the screws. That looks like a job that is just begging to go south. I would try attaching the new wire to the old and with the help of a friend, push the new wire into the mast at the steaming light and have the friend gently pull the old wire out. I wouldn't bother with a line because it just creates another step and more opportunity to have a problem. If that doesn't work- jams completely or breaks, then try the fish-tape.

If you use the fish-tape, and it should be one that is 1/8" wide and 1/32" thick; you should be able to push it from the steaming light hole to the bottom without any major issues.

Rich is right on about not bothering with a line. I had no problem using the old wire as fish from both the masthead and the steaming light. In both cases, I skinned the old and the new about 1/2" and spliced and soldered them. Then I pulled on the old from the base while a friend fed from masthead and then the other one from steaming light. I used shrink tubing over the soldered area and then lightly lubed the covered section with some dishwashing soap which made tighter passages easier. Worked like a charm.

 

[heart of gold]

If you still need to loosen those screws...I had a similar problem on the goose neck. I had success with 2 methods and combinations. I purchased an impact screw driver, http://www.garrettwade.com/large-impact-driver/p/13F02.08/, and this worked for all but a couple. A bemused friend in the next slip was watching me flail away and handed me a can of compressed air, the kind for cleaning camera lenses. I wondered what he was on a bout but he turned the can upside down and sprayed the screw head with the liquid in the can and it to my amazement, froze the screw, causing it to contract enough to be loosened with the impact driver. What a "cool little trick"

 

[Bosman]

Is it possible that the bolt was secured with some sort of thread-locking compound? (such as loctite blue or red?) Perhaps a little bit of heat from a torch might solve the problem?