Seized Telescoping Camper Canvas Poles

[jhortonvt]

I just bought an '02 WE that was a saltwater boat and both of the telescoping camper canvas poles have seized.

I've been spraying WD-40 into the holes in the outer pole (one has the ball detent in it, the other does not), trying to let it soak between the surfaces of the inner and outer poles, and at the end, off an on for a couple months now and no luck. I've changed the poles position every few days to try to get the WD to migrate in different directions.

I've given them a good working over, wrenches, hammer taps, going as far as I'm willing to go short of breaking them.

Next plan was to let them soak in the tub and let the 'universal solvent'-water work on it, but I'm not sure how well water will work on the salt corrosion.

Any suggestions?

 

[Henry Boyd]

This may seem counter-productive, but water should do the trick. You say the boat was used in saltwater. If there is dried salt it will dissolve it faster than WD-40. I do this at the end of every season to get rid of any accumulated salt.

Henry