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CVRT Equilibrator what/ how/ help


SirLanceUK

Question

As a newbie to military vehicles, and a newbie CVRT Spartan owner I have a million and one questions normally as I am taking something apart and reliase I have little idea what I am doing :)

I am awaiting manuals as we speak

I noticed the Equilibrator on the drivers hatch had a broken mount so removed the Equilibrator  and found it to be completly stuck. I have now freed it up but it does not do anything other than just moving freely in and out. Looking thorugh various sites trying to source a replacement, I released not only could I not find one, I didn't understand how it actually works and the more I read the more confused I got.

I understand it is there to help with the movement of the drivers hatch, to make it easier to open and close and not feel like a ton weight. So the question is, it is effectivly a gas strut? is it filled with "fluid"? Is it filled with air and the resistance to the air movement helps with counter acting the weight? what is the internal contruction? can I take a very large hammer to it and take it apart to replace anything inside that has perished?  Does anyone know where I can find on?

So far you kind people have been very helpful with my questions I  am hopeing it carries on :)

 

 

 

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43 minutes ago, ruxy said:

You will find that such as WD40 magic is basically kerosene with pale spindle oil added.  I understand paraffin is just a more refined kerosene with a dye added.     However - try this ,  place some bright mild steel nails (better still some old worn bearings) in a jar of kerosene to soak overnight , remove them and you will find them rust tarnished within hours - this is because kero is hygroscopic .    Diesel  , very near on the scale of light-ends is probably better at penetrating, and a good anti-rust.

Does that mean I have done the right thing :)

Lance

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In one way - yes , because kero is used as the carrier for graphite , MoS2 + thin oil.   Kano Kroil is good stuff but expensive  ,   I use it if DoubleTT fails.  Probably DERV is just as good as TT  on its own, (seems more oil).

However , neat kero  28 sec.   - try what I suggest ,  I would say your blued steel Belleville washers - may even rust tarnish.

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4 hours ago, gordonb said:

I'm told that acetone is a very good carrier for the light oil of your choice to make an excellent  penetrating oil.

Yes,  I understand a common ingredient of pentrant (mobile) fluids,  my understanding is that it is the  'searcher'  component as too light to be a carrier.    I have at times used  NDT  aerosal dye penetrant to check the entry possibilities.

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A further update, I have sent the Equilibrator to a friend (he is now) who has his own fabrication company he has the tools to heat the body and large hammers to do hopefully do the job. I have written to 2 companies on the washers but no reply yet....

Still trying

 

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I've read through your attempts to unscrew the end cap of the equilibrator, item 48 in the parts diagram, and I don't see anywhere where you specifically heat the bugger up to red hot with an oxy-acetylene torch. That's what it needs! 

And by the "bugger", I mean the flat face of the end cap and the region of the cylinder with the internal threads. 

I don't know the diameter of the cylinder but you may need to buy or borrow a crescent wrench, aka adjustable spanner, large enough to fit the flats. And it must fit snugly!

Soaking in the huge variety of penetrants always suggested for this kind of problem doesn't hold a candle to heat. 

The Belleville washers will not suffer from this heating as the thermal conductivity across an interface is very poor, especially if rust is involved. 

Malcolm

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On 5/31/2020 at 5:59 AM, sexton said:

I've read through your attempts to unscrew the end cap of the equilibrator, item 48 in the parts diagram, and I don't see anywhere where you specifically heat the bugger up to red hot with an oxy-acetylene torch. That's what it needs! 

And by the "bugger", I mean the flat face of the end cap and the region of the cylinder with the internal threads. 

I don't know the diameter of the cylinder but you may need to buy or borrow a crescent wrench, aka adjustable spanner, large enough to fit the flats. And it must fit snugly!

Soaking in the huge variety of penetrants always suggested for this kind of problem doesn't hold a candle to heat. 

The Belleville washers will not suffer from this heating as the thermal conductivity across an interface is very poor, especially if rust is involved. 

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm,

I did try heat but couldn’t generate enough. I have a friend who has the bigger hammer, torch and when he gets 5 minutes he has s going to apply his larger toys... I will feedback when he is successful 

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On 5/12/2019 at 5:47 PM, SirLanceUK said:

I have tried to take the big hammer to this and failed. I have applied heat and brute strength and still nothing. I am going to contact a local Tank specialist see if they can help, they may have a bigger hammer :)

On the plus side I have been unseizing things left right and center. Some parts I need fabricating as they have been removed and no one seems to have any and the roof doors finally opened, more difficulty in closing them, I hope the movement will "free" them even more :)

Minus the electrics are not working as they should, Brake lights, front side lights and dipped headlights all don't work... still how boring if everything was working, I would have to be out driving it :)

 

My Drivers equilibrator had the all thread cut in half so i had a new piston made for it since it is all one turned piece. I had put it back together and packed it with grease. With your roof doors id say just keep a daily dose of WD-40 and use them as much as you can. Doing that completely fixed mine and they move as free as they would off the factory floor

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24 minutes ago, Terra1936 said:

Did you take any photos? Still do not know what the insides look like? 

I dont have any pictures of the mechanism but its super simple and isnt anything complicated. All it is is that threaded shaft you see in the picture and then the rest is inside the housing and it has about 8 or so Belleville washers alternating down the length of the rod that act as a spring for when the door gets close to completely closing or opening to prevent it from slamming. Its kinda just held in place by the hole that the rod goes through and freefloats inside of the housing. Hardest part on mine was just getting the darn thing to open up, the thread is super fine and it can become quite the obstacle to break free if it rusts up too bad.

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1 minute ago, TheAmericanPatriot said:

No it isnt airtight, mine had grease in it when i took it apart so when i put it back together i repacked it with grease.

I have found that the piston can get stuck unless i rotate the piston, which frees it but i don't feel the washers slowing the piston at all either, which  is why i wanted to take mine apart

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6 minutes ago, SirLanceUK said:

I have found that the piston can get stuck unless i rotate the piston, which frees it but i don't feel the washers slowing the piston at all either, which  is why i wanted to take mine apart

Before you take it apart, try to adjust the lock nut and rod on it to see if someone had just loosened it so it doesnt slow the hatch down. Its adjustable and you just need to loosen the nut on the one side and get a wrench or pair of channel locks to fit on the slotted end of the piston and just see if it will tighten up and thread further into the hull side mount. If so chances are that is exactly whats wrong and you can just adjust the tension yourself, if not you are probably gonna need to open it up and see what the deal is. If you find anything out let me know im curious to see what the deal is 

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36 minutes ago, TheAmericanPatriot said:

Before you take it apart, try to adjust the lock nut and rod on it to see if someone had just loosened it so it doesnt slow the hatch down. Its adjustable and you just need to loosen the nut on the one side and get a wrench or pair of channel locks to fit on the slotted end of the piston and just see if it will tighten up and thread further into the hull side mount. If so chances are that is exactly whats wrong and you can just adjust the tension yourself, if not you are probably gonna need to open it up and see what the deal is. If you find anything out let me know im curious to see what the deal is 

When i said i don't feel the washers slowing the movement down, I mean i can move the piston in and out, with ease, off the the vehicle without any problem. Where as the cooling fan which has the same type of washers in I can feel the washers take up the strain

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5 hours ago, SirLanceUK said:

Been awhile since my last update, but I am still going...

Well I gave the equilibrator to a man with a very big hammer, he managed to unscrew it for me. If you look at the picture you can see the washer (top left, a new one is below it) i took out, all 17 plus 2 spacers were rusted together.

After seperating them they had little or no play left in them, so ebay and China came to my rescue and new washers were purchased. I cant get 17 + the spacers in and get the casing closed again so I have had to loose the spacers..

Now I just have to get the bottom mounting rewelded and I can fit it ...

One step closerequib.thumb.jpg.9d238ab6a78116fa33ed969f0bc23204.jpg

Im glad you got it figured out, it made a world of difference when i finally got mine attached. No more slamming hatch!

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When I put the equilibrator back on, it will be with the hole facing down in an attempt to stop water collecting inside it and rusting the washers solid again. However doing that does mean if I was going to put any oil in there it will drip out...

The air of course will stay in as will the magic, but just to aid the magic along I will be using some graphite grease.

Now the observant ones amongst you will notice I have put another picture on this post. The more astute ones will notice that actual the bottom mounting is broken (Sheared in half). Having consulted a local welder (a friend of my sons)he has advised me that any repair by welding is likely to fail in the not distance future as the mounting appears to be cast. So after thought we came up with a plan to grind the mounting level, drill and tap 2 holes, then make 2 brackets that will screw in to the holes with holes in to pass the pin through that also goes through the equilibrator.

Should that fail I will drill through the casting and the deck and put the new brackets on a threaded bar all the way through and deck and secure them with nuts.

 

Unless anyone has a better idea J  

broken.jpg

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Hi Lance, 

Both Spartans we’ve had have failed in exactly the same way. I intend to do the same thing as you and replace the welded bracket with one that bolts on for our diesel one when I get round to it.

Rather than graphite grease you could try Corrosion Block Grease:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263293111737

Chris

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I would try welding it before grinding it off and bolting on a replacement. If it dosen't work out you can always go back to grinding and bolting.

I'd use MIG rather than TIG.  A spool of pretty thick 5556 aluminum on a spoolgun, *very* high feedrate and lots of amps, it will be something akin to casting a new one in place.  Use a copper rod to keep the hole open and extant.

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