Just had my laziness/ignorance bite me really hard today. I’ve been riding my evolution cedrus mast for a few months with one foil brand only. It came assembled with the adapter and i never took it apart. Today i got a new foil and tried to change adapters. The old adapter was completely stuck. I was eventually able to get it off by attaching a foil and using a rubber mallet against the fuse. It took a solid 45 mins of hammering at close to max force. Turns out one of the guiding stainless pins was full of crystalized salt. I’m very glad my omen foil has a stainless steel fuse. I highly doubt my carbon f-one fuse would have survived. I was also really worried about breaking the foil box of the board i had to mount it to.
Definitely recommend other cedrus owners to grease the adapter pins. They seem more susceptible to this sort of seizing than what i have experienced with salt on regular threaded connections in the past. The cedrus user manual clearly states the gear should be broken down for maintenance so this was a user error, but i figure this warning might be useful for other lazy foilers out there
I left my Evo assembled for about a month when I got it and also had a bit of a scare like this. I didnt have to hammer it or anything, I just have to screw my front wing on, step on the base plate, and use the fuse of the wing as a handle to pull it out. But it crystalizes in the adapter M8 holes and the M10 pins. I have started using tefgel on the bolts and also was thinking about putting some oil of some sort on the M10 steel pins. The thing about the adapters is they fit so perfectly that they are very difficult to get out lol.
Good warning…and really for any setup, there’s very little excuse for not taking 3 minutes to break down and rinse after a session. I do this every day. It is not hard.
There were no issues with any of the screws on neither adapter nor base plate. Only one of the adapter pins. My guess is that fresh water wouldn’t be an issue at all since the cause seemed to be crystalized salt
For something that’s being disassembled frequently grease is the better option but a curing marine silicon sealant would be better for someone looking to never take it apart. If your leaving assembled indefinitely that grease will degrade and water will find its way in. A cured sealant will not go anywhere and keep water and corrosion out of the parts.
I wouldn’t use anything as aggressive as 5200 (or even 4200) - you’d be hard pressed to get it apart. Silicon though is removable and comes off parts fairly easily when disassembled. Great solution for someone looking to leave a system assembled for months on end while keeping water, salt, and corrosion out.
Please do not do this with. The Evolution interface is an extremely precise fit. Water molecules are very small and will find their way in even if you try and gap fill. Worse yet, if you swap adapters, it will be a nightmare trying to get the new one to slot into the holes if filled with sealants. It will be difficult to remove cured sealants and provide no benefit.
This sounds like an absolute worst case scenario, but one we knew would happen at some point. We have had adapters in prototype masts for almost a year now with no issues. Places like FL and HI are worse for salt buildup because the water is higher salinity and the warmer temps accelerate the process. Use tefgel, grease, even olive oil. Anything will help. If it is difficult to remove, spray WD-40 or Boeshield T9 penetrating oil on the adapter overnight, and it will wick in and dissolve the salt.
It’s really important to rinse after use, too. The best the thing to do once in a while if you don’t want to fully remove the adapter is to at least loosen the screws and pull it out a few mm. Then rinsing is even more effective, and you can more easily spray the pins with penetrating oil if needed. It’s literally a 2 minute job that can save an hour.
All of this is discussed on our owners info section. We know Cedrus requires a little more care/maintenance than other setups, but it’s a small price to pay for the stiff/strong adapter interface and universal compatibility. We liken it to lubing your bike chain, servicing your suspension, or waxing your skis. We don’t always follow our own advice, but put it out there to prevent this kind of stuff from happening.
