Tightening fin screws.

[Josef2424]

Hey everyone, I've been creeping on here for a long time now and have learned a lot. Thanks to the information ive gleaned off of here, I recently made the transition from a 7'3" nsp funboard that I've had for around 4 years now to a 5' 10" proctor lil rascal. When putting the fins in after the board arrived, I noticed the threads in the board looked like PVC material whereas the screws were metal. I didn't know how hard to tighten the fins, so I tightened them as much as I could with one hand without having to exert myself too hard. While tightening one of the screws, there was a little pop and it felt like the screw snagged and quickly released and then caught in the PVC again. I didn't know if this is something that normally happens. I surfed with the board a few times after that and love how it feels and nothing went wrong. If I did strip the threads, is this an easy thing to fix? I think everything is fine now, but I really don't want to change out the fins now out of fear that I will completely strip them the next time around.

[jaffa1949]

You probably got away with the tightening, your instincts are right, depending on the fin system, there should be a slight niche in the base of the fin where it fits into the system and the grub screw just tightens on the giving a firmer grip , over tighten slightly and you may get that one thread pop type sound the plastic plug will take a couple of misfits unless you apply a lot of force or you haven't housed the fin properly before screwing. Particularly applies to futures systems.
Watch out for cheaper look alike systems , plastic plugs can be suspect!

[Josef2424]

Ok. So it sounds like it should be alright. Is the plastic plug something that is relatively easy to fix if it is damaged?

[jaffa1949]

Ok. So it sounds like it should be alright. Is the plastic plug something that is relatively easy to fix if it is damaged?

Quite often if the fin is struck hard the tabs break and a plug can be ripped from the board , they can be replaced , I don't know of anyway of rethreading the plug ( there maybe, anyone else know) but a plug replacement is no big deal.
One way of cutting out a slight crossed thread is to take your fin out seat the grub screw correctly and with the key screw it right through until it drops into the plug hole, then re house the fin carefully and screw up with sensitivity, this will take even less force than before to damage the thread!

[tony g]

Hello,Yes you can get the slots re threaded. Usually it will mean going to the next bigger size set screw. I also have heard of people re threading the other side of FCS plugs and taking a dremel tool to make an insert on the other side of the fin tab. If your set screw gets lose you may get away with just getting a bigger sized set screw, without re threading. We have found the biggest mistake people make is over tightening their fin screws. If you do not want to mess with re threading you can also take to a reputable repair shop, and they can put in new plugs or boxes.

[Josef2424]

That sounds good. Thanks for the reassurance.