Next newbie question.

F-one carbon foil with alloy mast and stainless bolts.
I've used generous amounts of Tefgel on all the bolts, but still concerned with corrosion issues from saltwater.

How long do you leave your foil assembled in this situation?

Thanks
Jethrow

Carbon electrically connected to Aluminium is bad for corrosion.
the Tefgel insulates the connection.
how long between pull down to clean and re apply tefgel? That will grow as you gain experience and confidence.

I do a full assemble every session. It adds about 5 minutes at the start and end of each session. It makes it much easier to get stuff into the car. That helps to keep the gear organised in the car, and to transfer gear to the storage cupboard at home. I can carry a full kite foiling kit in the boot of the car and the wing foiling kit goes across the back seat.

I wipe each component down with a damp chamois cloth and blow any salt water out of screw holes. It all goes in padded bags. I never wash anything.

I used to get some wear in the hex head screws but that has stopped since I switched to Torx screws. A t-handle wrench spins the screws almost as fast a drill without the risk of cross threading.

I think there's a certain element of luck in getting corrosion. The aluminium components in the early days were garbage and corrosion was almost immediate. That's why I switched to all carbon.

Newer aluminium components have better coatings and often come with a tube of Tefgel. People talk about disassembling and finding everything in perfect condition after months of use. On the other hand I frequently see threads on forums from people with very recent, very high end foils with corrosion problems.

Three years of windfoiling and now wingfoiling, I Tefgel twice a year and loosen off all bolts after each session. 95% of my foiling is in salt water. Never had a problem here.

I pull my aluminium foils apart once every two or three months......I generously tefgel my bolts.

I have locked two bolts in five years. Old LF fish foil that had to drill out, and sheared the head of a torque screw on my AXIS. Easy to get out.

Tefgel is your friend.

Have an Armstrong foil never wash it never disassemble it. Lives in my car. Titanium no fiz bro

I at least crack the bolts once every two weeks or so.

has been longer - like a month.
And maybe a gel up like above every 2-3 months. I suppose cracking them as a routine before each session might be worthwhile but who can be stuffed doing that.

as far as pulling the whole thing apart after each session .... yeh nah.

Loosening bolts good idea.
Tefgel can get sticky after 5 apps without cleaning.

Definite Armstrong bonus - no tefgel, no fizz.. stays together its whole life with no issues!

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bigtone667 said..Tefgel is your friend.

Nothing beats dropping a tefgeled bolt into the sand when rushing to get out after work with limited light left

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hilly said..

bigtone667 said..Tefgel is your friend.

Nothing beats dropping a tefgeled bolt into the sand when rushing to get out after work with limited light left

Nothing beats a tefgel'ed pre-assembled foil already attached to the board in your van :-)

No problem leaving my Alu foil assembled for 6 months, but with liberal amounts of Tef-Gel, and Titanium bolts.

I just rinse it fully assembled after a session and let it dry before storing it in its bag.

I realize I am an expert at leaving my foil assembled, since I do not foil anymore... I just dissasembled it to install a carbon mast, and it was 6 months ago :-)
But I am not reselling it yet. I may foil again as I will have more time at retirement in 3 months.

When you apply the Tefgel and tighten the screws. The Tefgel doesn't wash away, ooze out, or evaporate. It's there until disturbed.
either from a screw loosening or being undone etc.
so once you have the confidence to correctly apply it then it should protect the thread area from corrosion until undone.
other contact areas of alloy to steel to carbon should have a Teflon washer to avoid that contact.
my foil stays together months at a time then when I'm bored I'll service.
still on the original tube of Tefgel I got 2015.

My Ali foil was fine where tefgel was but everywhere it touched something it corroded really badly. This was after 3 weeks of being assembled and rinsed after every use. The salt water in the mast seeps out. This is one photo of many, the whole thing was fizzing