Table Keeps Sliding Down

[Prairie Schooner]

Our dining table slides down no matter how hard I tighten the screw. It's sort of like a séance in reverse. Have any of you had that problem and remedied it?
I'm thinking about taking some 240 grit to the inside of the plastic collar.

 

[RedDog]

View attachment 51166

Our dining table slides down no matter how hard I tighten the screw. It's sort of like a séance in reverse. Have any of you had that problem and remedied it?
I'm thinking about taking some 240 grit to the inside of the plastic collar.

Settee table or cockpit table?
In my E35II there is no hole in the floor for either, so it can not slip down

 

[peaman]

Roughing the sleeve may do the trick, with little risk. But before you do that, take a look at the positioning of the sleeve. If is like mine, as I recall, there is a “tab” on the sleeve (slots in the sleeve on either side of the tab) which the screw should work against. If the sleeve has twisted so that the screw no longer pushes on the tab, it will require more pressure to hold the tube from sliding.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Settee table or cockpit table?
In my E35II there is no hole in the floor for either, so it can not slip down

Good question. Settee table.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Roughing the sleeve may do the trick, with little risk. But before you do that, take a look at the positioning of the sleeve. If is like mine, as I recall, there is a “tab” on the sleeve (slots in the sleeve on either side of the tab) which the screw should work against. If the sleeve has twisted so that the screw no longer pushes on the tab, it will require more pressure to hold the tube from sliding.

That tab is indeed off the screw's center by about a half inch. I tried to knock the ring out by using the smaller tube as a ram. It didn't budge and I'm worried about breaking it. Maybe some gentle hair dryer heat? I've broken my fair share of things trying to disassemble them.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

From when the parts were sitting in our living room a year or two ago.

 

[Christian Williams]

Drill hole for through bolt. Worked for me.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

@peaman Thanks, you gave me the courage to tackle disassembly again. Turns out the plastic sleeve was in the right place. It was the outer collar that was off. I've just been futilely cranking down on the outer tube. As a nice bit of design, there is a metal disc between the screw and the plastic to keep from digging a hole clear through. - The plastic sleeve has been driven down a little here. I rammed it back up before reassembly. - Christian, if this doesn't work, yours is a great plan B.

 

[Christian Williams]

Zwaardvis! It means swordfish, in Dutch. Coolest name in the chandlery!

 

[Bolo]

As another alternative for those of you who don’t have a Zwaardvis and don’t want or can’t have the post go through a hole in the cabin floor when it’s down then consider a Springfield column. Here a video, from 2 years ago, showing the one I installed on my E32-3. After two years of use I can say that it’s working out well and in my opinion better than the old Zwaardvis that came with the boat and was broken beyond repair.