i have an ‘aquabound’ carbon fiber shafted paddle. it has 20 hours use, give or take.
it is stuck together
everytime i used it i took it apart when i was finished… everytime until it siezed up.
myself and another well proportioned 20something were not able to pull it apart
are there any solutions for this?
stuck paddle
I remember a previous thread on this topic. Try the archives.
I use silicon sprey on one of my paddles.
Me Too
I have a Werner that’s been stuck for years. I tried everything included heating the shaft with boiling water. You might have to live with it.
I had a stuck werner paddle
Per instructions from Pat at Onno paddles, I pushed the button in to get it out of the way and twisted back a forth in short bursts to break the seal. I put the lower blade between my feet and knees to hold itin place. Once the seal was broken it twisted easier. I then washed the salt off and sanded it slightly with 220 grit paper. It’s been fine since. It took a good 10 -15 minutes to move initially.
And then…
Good responses and advice above, once it’s out Aquabound ferrules have slight ridges on them instead of being perfectly round. Take a razor blade and shave these very slighltly by dragging the blade across the ridge lengthwise not shoving to cut into it. Finish by sanding lightly w/220 sand paper. Also for maintenance (sp?) try a local pool supply store for a “tube of lube” this is teflon based lube that is in a 1 oz. tube and it’ll probably last you a lifetime, use sparingly. Wipe off on rag, throw rag away, it’ll never wash off.
See you on the water,
Marshall
www.the-river-connection.com
1 Like
Hmm
try Injecting air from an Air compressor into the ferrule area.
Try some dry heat from
a hair blow dryer.
Just don’t let it get too hot.
Cheers,
JackL
clamp
Try clamping some 2x6’s about 3 feet long,sandwich style, and then get some one to help with the twisting. The leverage worked to loosen my stuck blade.
my recent efforts
yielded positive results on fused Werner spare. Over several days I spritzed in some teflon based lube via button hole and joint crack. Then wedged one blade under car tire and twisted other to break initial bond and then finally apart.
I then citrus solvent, hot water and light sanded both male and female sections for now smooth action. I suspect that I had build up of same teflon lube (and other goo) that was lightly applied and wiped off. I will now try just leaving it apart and fresh water rinse after assembly and use.
I also slapped a vernier caliper on both male and female and found the male bit is less than round by a few thousandths. Only the female is perfect.
Ahh !!! You guys are killing me ! part 2
Paddle speaking… Vices, vise grips, channel locks , big pliers, PIPE WRENCHES, 2’X6’s Car Tires are all the kiss of death for composite tubes… Tube only needs a bit of crushing / notching to occur to introduce where it will fail when you least do not want it to. Heat will not work because :
Save the heat for rusty backband hardware…chances are the ferule and shaft are exact same material and thermal expansion will be the same… in the case of the AB paddles, the newer ones use a sort of plastic ferule ( one of the reasons it is now welded together BTW) and this less dense plastic will only swell up more and faster than the shaft itself… EXTREME HEAT might allow it to come apart but will probably exceed the HDT of the shaft resin … still no good.
Micro movement will break it loose. If poss. soak overnight, when you have time. Push button all the way in and off to the side to get it out of the way. Place it between your legs/feet/calves w / one blade on the floor… use one hand to hold it right at ( lower section) the joint and the other a pretty high up the shaft as you are looking at it Keeping the one blade on the ground between your feet grasping it (shaft) @ the joint with one hand and the other way above… take a deep breath, close your eyes and focus everything on that joint as you hurl yourself into micro moving it like a madman… that tiny bit of movement will fuel you to keep going.
Rock it back and forth 90 % with 10 % sort of pulling it apart… be patient and keep it moving… even re- immerse it and repeat… it WILL come loose… no need to try and twist it 'till you get some movement from rocking… Once you get it to move you have it on the ropes. Having two giants at either end will only damage blades long before full force reaches the joint… most of THAT twisting force is lost winding up the blades and shaft… ferule sees very little of the force… For a bit more twisting/gription as you are working it loose. wrap a couple inner tubes or rubberbands around shaft for more twising leverage.
or
you could spend 10 seconds at a Gas station and inject some AIR into it… POP comes right apart!!!
You Mean…
smashing against the wall, screaming, “BAD paddle! Bad paddle!”, doesn’t work. 
sing
PS. I find wrapping some rubber around the shaft does provide more grip for those micro movements.
After Pat gave you the best pro
advice-I will say what he won’t. Take your paddle apart, sell it, buy an ONNO. Problem solved.
Secret paddle fix!!!
I posted this same question a week or so ago. I discovered a secret way to get these paddles back in shape. It’s so simple I should have done it before I posted a question about fixing them.
I cleaned the paddle. Yep, I thoroughly wet the surfaces, wiped and wiped and cleaned and wiped and dried and wiped and lo and behold, poof! the paddle goes together and easily pops apart.
No silicon or other sprays, no sanding, no sweat.
All I can say is…DUH!!!
Try some ice
the cold will shrink the parts.Hopefully, enough to get them apart.
I usually lay the paddle shaft into the water after a long paddle and it pulls apart fine…
All the sparys I tried (teflon. Silicone, etc. seemed to attract enough grit and dust to really freeze the shafts togeather making it almost impossible ot get apart.
Yet another thought
Patrick’s suggestion of “micro movement” got me to thinking: How about a three person solution, where two hold/twist the blades while a third flexes the shaft at the ferrule? A back and forth movement would slightly distort the male & female portions, and as the ferrule came back to neutral the twisting might break it free.
Jim
No shafts were killed or maimed using clamps, pliers or car tires.
Strictly theory…
…since my double separates easily and fits snugly, but I have two sizes of “jar opener” (from Home Depot, I think) which consist of a hard plastic hand grip with a rubber belting-sort of strap threaded through which can be snugged up. The strap comes out at an angle to the handle, and you can exert tremendous
leverage. I suspect two of these, fixed near the ferrule and pulled in opposite directions, might do it. Much easier on the material than visegrips or
pipe wrenches, too. I’ve found no screwtop container these can’t handle.
my paddle has not been apart …
…in a month or so & I just learned it is not willing to come apart. Oh well, I don’t really mind.
But Swedge, how do you introduce that air into your paddle? Don’t you need a fitting of some kind?
well, almost fixed…
I used the paddle last evening and could feel the friction as I put it together. Taking it apart was do-able but with some difficulty. I need to do more cleaning and such inside the tubing. Getting better though.
I Learned My Lesson
I now clean my shaft in the water just before coupling male and female.