I have two 7U Performance cases with joiners. Today I had to remove the top case, fully loaded with modules, for a photo session. If you’ve tried this, you’ll know it’s very difficult to release both joiners simultaneously and lift the (now heavy with modules) case vertically off. If one doesn’t do this absolutely straight, one joiner will get hopelessly stuck. Once stuck the release mechanism is also stuck and it takes a monumental effort to release it. This happens during reassembly as well! Today I spent about 30 mins trying to free my two cases; with both cases fully loaded, the torque on the offending joiner is immense, making the situation much worse. I had to lift both cases, now joined by one stuck joiner, in various positions to finally get the catch to move and release.
I’m curious to hear if anyone else has experienced this or whether I have a problematic case+joiner combination.
Sorry you’re having trouble. I have to say that while it was a finicky operation most of the time, I never got things “stuck”. It was more a: be very careful and unlatch one side and move only the tiniest amount, then do the other side, same story, operation. Then lift, keeping things aligned. And of course hold your mouth just right. Back together was the reverse, but I usually struggled just a little bit to get everything aligned at the beginning,
I had the 84hp units, so maybe a 104 is trickier (I’m down to one 104 and a couple of skiffs now).
Yes, my experience is that’s the process that sort of works most of the time. The key words are “tiniest amount” when moving - in my case more than about 10mm becomes problematic. Alignment with the heavier 104HP is indeed more difficult because of the weight and having to reach over the bottom case.
It’s tricky business but I’ve never got them stuck.
I have only the 84hp as well so I imagine it’s only more tricky with 104hp.
I wonder if laying the bottom case flat on a table with legs hanging off the edge, so there’s no weight on the joiners will allow some more forgiving play when lowering the top case, so as to not have to be so precisely straight?
This technique would of course have the whole rig hanging precariously while about to disassemble so great care would be needed, and I haven’t tried it, might be too cumbersome and scary.
You’re being nice - I’d say it’s more than a bit fiddly…
I thought about lubricating, however the latch works perfectly smoothly by itself. It’s not the most ergonomic design (one needs strong finger tips!), but it functions just fine on my cases provided the joiner is not experiencing any sideways pressure. I can insert and remove the joiner quite easily by itself, without the weight of the top case. It basically jams anytime side pressure is exerted due to any slight misalignment during removal of the top case. The release mechanism gets completely stuck somehow, i.e. the piece with the round hole where one inserts the finger to release it becomes unmovable.
I don’t own a performance case, so sorry if this is a stupid question, but would it be possible to release the case joiners just enough so that they don’t re-latch, then put the cases on their sides to pull apart?
Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately that is very dangerous: imagine two 7U 104HP cases fully packed with precious modules (how heavy is that?), barely held together with loose joiners, now you would have to lift both without having them fall apart and put them on their sides. It would be a nightmare, unfortunately.
I actually had to do something close to this when the upper case was stuck at an angle. It’s an awkward size and shape with a lot of weight and you don’t want to torque the joiners at all. Serious problem!
I was thinking release the case joiners for one case, and tilt the cases onto their sides. That way, you can have hands on both loose case joiners until you set the cases down.