pistolpete
New member
One of the things we would like to contribute to this Forum is our help . Hopefully we can answer your questions about your gear and offer advice on how to repair it. It is geared towards the water hunting folks because their machines take the most abuse but is applicable to the dirt hunters as well. One of the most common questions we get asked is how to repair/replace the stripped cam lock on the main shaft. The attached pics show a typical cam lock. Once you see one taken apart you will understand why they strip. Picture 1 shows the cam lock on the shaft. Picture 2 shows a thin utility knife blade pointing to the glued seam or collar. You have to look close to see the seam, it is about 1/8" from the top of the cam lock. Carefully wedge your blade into the glue seam all around the collar. What you are trying to do is break the super glue bond. Once you get the glue seam broken you will see that the cam lock has 3 pieces as shown in figure 3. The 3 parts are the collar, the button, and the main body. In pictures 4 and 5 the button is shown with the small pin on it. Now this pin is not quite 1/8" in diameter and just as high. It is this small pin that does all the work of locking the lower rod and upper shaft together. The pin rides in a channel in the main body and as the body is twisted the pin on the button pushes the button outward to sit against the lower rod. Sand and silt and salt eventually wears down the pin in a sandpaper type action and this is when you experience the stripped cam lock. The pin has simply worn down. Land machines seem to fair better as long as the cam lock is not over tightened. If you want to replace it with the original type, replacement locks are available from your dealer and the installation is quite easy. You will require some type of super glue, crazy glue, etc. Clean the shaft where the lock sits. Install the collar and the button. Make sure the pin on the button is pointed towards the top of the shaft or opposite the coil end. Slide on the main body and very carefully apply a drop at a time on top of the main body where the collar sits into it. Spreading a drop at a time with a tooth pic is a good idea. Be careful not to get any glue running down into the main body or you could end up gluing the button inside. Assemble the collar and the main body together and hold them together for about 1 minute. That's all there is to it. We also offer a replacement called a Sure Grip which is also easy to install and uses a type of set screw to apply force to the lower rod and comes complete with instructions.