How do you tighten a snap ?

[theoldwizard1]

The isinglass front of my bimini snap to slide snap along the top of the windshield. The boat is over 10 years old and the snaps seem to have lost they "snap" ! Any simple methods of tightening them up so the the bimini won't come un-snap while underway ?

 

[Scott Danforth]

replace the snaps

i suggest one of these

 

[jkust]

Yes, there is no maintenance that can tighten them....you simply replace them.

 

[H20Rat]

I've had luck using a needle nose pliers and LIGHTLY tweaking the outside half of the snap. If you can very gently crimp it, you can get quite a bit more life out of it.

 

[frantically relaxing]

inside the female snap is a metal ring, it's what does the holding. It/they may be held against the outer (inner?) edge by rust & crud. Pick up a 3-pack of those brushes Harbor Freight sells, just a bit larger than a toothbrush and there's a stiff plastic wire, a copper wire and a steel wire brush, all for a couple o' bucks. Those and some CRC Electronics Parts cleaner (red spray can any auto parts store) should clean them up pretty quick. Follow up with a Q-tip and your favorite oil and they should be good as new...

OR buy one of those snap tools Scott posted up-- I did, and It Is The Bomb for snaps! And you can get tons o' snaps pretty cheap on Amazon...

 

[gm280]

The problem exist when the inter portion wears smaller then when new and the outer cap also wears wider then when new. So you can splay the inter part with a steel ball and vice grips, or use some pliers to lightly squeeze the outer cap in a little. That works, but the better idea is to simple replace them. Your call. JMHO

 

[JASinIL2006]

Even without the cool snap installing tool, you can still easily replace snaps using an $8 die-and-anvil snap tool. It's not as quick as the tool pictured above, but it works.

http://www.iboats.com/HEAVEDUTY-SNAP...iew_id.1831876