North sonar mast fitment

[Saffa365]

Hey Guys
New on this forum , looking for some advice

We recently bought two north Sonar Foils , the surf edition.
We used them in a lake to practice pumping as there has been no wind lately

We noticed that the mast was rocking slightly in the board adapter, we tightened the bolts and carried on , we ended up doing this about 3 times and it still comes loose (3mm movements)

It looks like the mast doesn’t fully seat in the board adapter , I’ve measured it and it looks like it needs to go in another 5mm .
I’ve tightened the screws very tight , to the point I’m worried about threading them , but it just doesn’t seem to be able to pull the mast in that final 5mm for it to seat on a flat surface in the board adapter
The channels in the mast seem to be too wide for the grooves provided .

This is the same issue with both our foils

Sorry for the long winded message

[gmb13]

Hi Saffa,

What do you mean with Board Adapter? Do you mean the Track? Or do you mean the Baseplate of the Mast?

Do you have a picture of the mast connected to the Plate? Make sure that it is the right way around. The Board side and Foil side are different.

--
Gunnar

[Saffa365]

Hi Gunnar

Yes I meant the baseplate . Basically the mast doesn’t sit all the way into the base plate. It seems like the grooves on the mast are slightly too wide for the channels provided in the baseplate ( obviously the deeper into the base plate the narrower the channels get

The blue tape is the depth it should sink into the base plate

[Saffa365]

The mast needs to be seated 5mm deeper in order to be all the way in to the baseplate.
Pretty sure I’ll thread the bolts if I apply any more pressure

[nixmatters]

Hi Staffa
I know what you are talking about, had the same issue.
When new, you need to tighten the 2 screws with very small increments, one after the other. After few sessions the issue will disappear.

[Saffa365]

Cheers mate

Doesn’t that seem weird to you , surely you would expect it to fit straight out of the bag ?
Did u contact north or did u just persevere?
I’ve sent a message to the retailer but I will give it a few more sessions and see if it does indeed seat properly

Cheers

[gmb13]

Hi Gunnar

Yes I meant the baseplate . Basically the mast doesn’t sit all the way into the base plate. It seems like the grooves on the mast are slightly too wide for the channels provided in the baseplate ( obviously the deeper into the base plate the narrower the channels get

The blue tape is the depth it should sink into the base plate

Hi Saffa,

Ok. The Mast actually should not be bottoming out completely. The sytem is designed to lock in the mast. When new, tighted the scews intermitenty, meaning tighten one, then switch to the other, then back to the first. The mast will pull itself into the plate more until it locks into the grooves. If it is properly seated then the mast should no longer slide in more during riding and the scews will stay tight.

If the problem still persists, talk to your dealer. I am sure he can help, or if there is an issue with it he can sort it out.

--
Gunnar

[papasmerf]

Hey Guys
New on this forum , looking for some advice

We recently bought two north Sonar Foils , the surf edition.
We used them in a lake to practice pumping as there has been no wind lately

We noticed that the mast was rocking slightly in the board adapter, we tightened the bolts and carried on , we ended up doing this about 3 times and it still comes loose (3mm movements)

It looks like the mast doesn’t fully seat in the board adapter , I’ve measured it and it looks like it needs to go in another 5mm .
I’ve tightened the screws very tight , to the point I’m worried about threading them , but it just doesn’t seem to be able to pull the mast in that final 5mm for it to seat on a flat surface in the board adapter
The channels in the mast seem to be too wide for the grooves provided .

This is the same issue with both our foils

Sorry for the long winded message

if you put grease on the threads,, i would say just turn them 1/4 of a turn at a time, alternating from one screw to the other,, when it bottoms out, you will know it, that screw will just stop. if you didn't put grease on the threads, i would start over. it is easy to get it off kilter,, might just start over and make sure you tighten screws evenly

it has been a while but i remember mine going together fairly easily,, i think the instructions said to slowly tighten up each screw a little at a time. (once the bolts got hard to turn) and that you should put a little grease on the threads. the bolts have to be tightened up very evenly. i am not trying to sound condescending but did you read the instructions? perhaps unscrew them and start over again? i remember being a little nervous as it got harder but when i finally got to the point where it solidly butted up, i could really feel it in the m8 threaded screw when it couldn't turn anymore.

when i said it went together easily,, i meant with no problems,,, turning those screws you mentioned, does take some elbow power, I will say after putting together some other brands,, the north set up is a very, very high quality set up. the best, most rock solid mast/fuse/rail adaptor i have used. ( i have not used every brand though)

i love my sonar,, using the 1150 front wing predominantly with the 85cm mast for kitefoiling.

[Saffa365]

To be fair , I did read the instructions but we probably didn’t pay as much attention to the little turn alternating situation as I now realise maybe we should have
The mast was square in the mast adapter and the screws pretty much as tight as it felt comfortable with the small tool they provided.
I have managed to tighten it a bit more with a torx bit in a socket wrench
Are you guys leaving the mast attached for long periods or stripping down after every session?
There has been some small scratches/knicks in the mast from where it moved around , I guess I could just apply a touch up paint to those areas to protect it

It’s seems like it’s just needs a bit more elbow grease to tighten it up

They really should have put a torque setting on those bolts

Thanks guys

[papasmerf]

To be fair , I did read the instructions but we probably didn’t pay as much attention to the little turn alternating situation as I now realise maybe we should have
The mast was square in the mast adapter and the screws pretty much as tight as it felt comfortable with the small tool they provided.
I have managed to tighten it a bit more with a torx bit in a socket wrench
Are you guys leaving the mast attached for long periods or stripping down after every session?
There has been some small scratches/knicks in the mast from where it moved around , I guess I could just apply a touch up paint to those areas to protect it

It’s seems like it’s just needs a bit more elbow grease to tighten it up

They really should have put a torque setting on those bolts

Thanks guys

i only use the one size mast and it has never been taken back apart after a 7 months of hard use ( i do have the 70cm mast as well but have never used it)
you really may want to take apart and start over,,,although the mast may look square, it may be imperceptably out of square which will greatly increase the friction of the threads as you are trying to pull the adaptor and the mast together. if anything, it would be a good way to practice again. you are going to get a whole lot more torque from a socket wrench as it has a much longer handle than the little tool... with the little tool, you are almost assured of not being able to strip the threads,,,,and the little tool worked fine for me, i still use it to take front wings on and off