Empacher Double - Wobbly Fin

[SoCal Scullers]

Any ideas on how to prevent a carbon dagger-style fin from wobbling from side-to-side in its fin box? To my knowledge the fin is original equipment, has never been damaged and has never been removed. It is in no danger of falling out, it just has a LOT of sideways play, causing instability which the rowers can feel.

The obvious answer is to remove the fin and inject a bunch of silicone into the slot and then reseat the fin. Any other thoughts?

[fisch]

Empacher is using polyester bondo to fill the gaps between the fin box and the fin.

[132K]

You can remove the fin, wrap the section that seats in the fin box with electrical or packing tape to make it wider, trim any excess away from the tabs in the fin and reinstall. It's worked for me a few times on older empachers - also totally reversible and won't leave material in the fin box for the next guy that has to replace it.

[SoCal Scullers]

Thanks for the input. The problem we're having is the bondo seems to have 'bonded' the tabs of the fin into the slot and we can't get the fin out (without perhaps breaking the tabs).

[JD]

We snapped off a carbon Wintech fin last week. The front tab was left in the slot. I thought I was going to have a real problem but the slot was filled with clear silicon and with a little digging I cleared the silicon out and the tab was accessible. The silicon is there to keep the fin from rattling. It never hardens like the bondo.

[bd_sculler]

I don't know if this will help. Have you tried heating the fin a little? I have used a heat gun to soften epoxy on a boat. I don't know if some heat would soften the Bondo. Obviously you would need to be careful to not damage the boat.

[steelpot]

Late to this, but the easiest solution I've found is plumber's putty. Don't put silicone in there -- if you hit something with the fin, you could ruin the fin box.