Help annoying rattle inside Petzl Quark Axe!!

So the plastic plugs on the shaft of my quarks fell into the axe and both are making a super annoying rattling sound when they move around in there. Any tips for getting them out and then suggestions for what to put back in the holes to avoid this happening again. I called petzl and they just said to fish them out and said that yes it was hard but possible to do.
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Try getting the plastic piece to set over the hole and then use a heat source to melt and pull through. I can't think of anu other way. Best of luck.

Ya just getting that piece to sit in the hole is super hard. I like the heat idea though. Thanks!!

Dan Cooksey wrote:Try getting the plastic piece to set over the hole and then use a heat source to melt and pull through. I can't think of anu other way. Best of luck.

Shake and move the tool til you can see the plastic piece with a light held to the other side of the hole. Then what he said, use a torch lighter if you can it will speed up the process. Then get a wire hanger and from the hole on the other side push the melted plastic piece through enough to grab it with tweezers or pliers. I've done it before and it works quite well. Albeit tedious and rewarding until you realize there's 3 more to do! Haha Good Luck!

It's the Higgs frackin Boson!! Do NOT swing that Quarky axe!

Use a can of "Great Stuff" (or other expanding foam) to fill up the shaft and therefore stop the rattle.

Squirt a drop or two of super glue into the hole then rotate the axe till the piece of plastic hits the glue and sticks in place.

After a few hours I got them out. Thanks everyone for your suggestions !

Though I don't know what if any heat treatment a quarks shaft goes through, I'd be weary of heating up any metal climbing gear with a flame as you may be inadvertently be changing the material properties.

Ty Falk wrote:After a few hours I got them out. Thanks everyone for your suggestions !

What method did you end up using? My Nomics have done that for years. Its never bothered me enough to spend a few hours on but now I'm curious???

I ended up using a nail to push them out once I got them sitting in the hole. Not fun at all but there quite now!! Lots of paitiannce required. Heating up the shaft scared me too.

Ty Falk wrote:I ended up using a nail to push them out once I got them sitting in the hole. Not fun at all but there quite now!! Lots of paitiannce required. Heating up the shaft scared me too.

Perhaps my explanation was poor, I heat up the wire hanger point or small screw driver and use that to push through the plastic enough to grab with the pointed tweezers. Either way its a good use of 20-30 min and much better than the annoying rattle.