CVRT Equilibrator what/ how/ help

[SirLanceUK]

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

 

 

 

[SirLanceUK]

I do try to round up topics I start.

I got the bracket made by an engineering friend of my son flat plate with 2 arms welded to it, and a hole drilled through them. Bolted the plate on and after some messing around with the washers, adjustments and grease (thanks Chris) it is now installed and works.

Onwards and upwards

Lance

[Terra1936]

Excellent! I just need to find one! 

[SirLanceUK]

1 hour ago, Terra1936 said:

Excellent! I just need to find one! 

Have you tried Mr Baker, he should have so many laying about, Or even Mr Mead.

If you don't know how to reach them try CVRT appreciation group or Tanks A Lot on facebook if that is not working for you let me know and I will see if I can reach out to them.

 

[SirLanceUK]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:04 PM, Terra1936 said:

Excellent! I just need to find one! 

Robert Dove is breaking a Smaritian on the CVR(T) Appreciation group, get talking to him he might have one

 

[SirLanceUK]

On 1/17/2021 at 7:13 PM, SirLanceUK said:

Have you tried Mr Baker, he should have so many laying about, Or even Mr Mead.

If you don't know how to reach them try CVRT appreciation group or Tanks A Lot on facebook if that is not working for you let me know and I will see if I can reach out to them.

 

I am off to see Mr Mead for work would you like me to chat and see if he has one and a price?

[Terra1936]

That would be great. Thank you!

[SirLanceUK]

On 1/25/2021 at 7:30 PM, Terra1936 said:

That would be great. Thank you!

Spoke to Nick and he has several as thye dont use the, infact they cut them off as he says "we dont close the hatches."

I could not pin him down to a price but saw no point in pushing as you had been talking on Facebook to Rob who was scrapping that smaritan.

[Terra1936]

Yes but I could use three, My fox and Sultan are missing theirs! Ill be happy with any as i do not have any!

[Terra1936]

The big question is where do they go? Do they fail so ofter they just toss them? 

[SirLanceUK]

33 minutes ago, Terra1936 said:

The big question is where do they go? Do they fail so ofter they just toss them? 

Hi there, as I said Nick cuts them off, depending who in the team does it. Some it appears go on the shelves some in the bin. If you look at the pictures you can see there is nothing to go wrong with them at all, new washers from China is the worst case.

What everyone is saying that “users” wrench the hatches and the weak castings snap and rather than getting it re-welded they remove the equilibrator and throw it away. 

[Terra1936]

Thanks. I am sick of dropping the hatches both directions and watching my feet! Or something else! 

[robin33ba07]

are you looking for one of those 

CVRT Equilibrator what/ how/ help  ???? I have one taken off a Spartan yesterday ? located in Ireland ,my e mail is robin@fcp.ie regards Robin 

•  

[teletech]

On 11/24/2020 at 2:23 PM, SirLanceUK said:

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  

 

It's very interesting the way these fail.Those are very clean breaks right on what look like they could be casting lines.   it looks as if there is a defect in the way that they were cast and the two mold halves get jostled as they cool or something.  It the case of this one, you can see it had been cracked for so long there was paint in the crack.  Mine is cracked in just the same spot and has been for quite a while, but I'm inclined to repair it before it fails outright.  Welding cast iron is problematic but cast aluminum is usually not too bad.  I made myself a little jig of copper and clamps to close up the gap.  Welding will have to wait a few days I fear as work beckons.

 

[Terra1936]

Did you cut the originals off and make new ears? 

[teletech]

9 minutes ago, Terra1936 said:

Did you cut the originals off and make new ears? 

No, my ears were still intact, they had just split at the seams and separated about 1/8".  There was a thin bit of material in the seam, I don't know if it was some epoxy that was used to try to patch things up or a contaminated boundary-layer of material (guessing the latter).  I threw that out and ground a bit of a V for my root-pass with the welder.  If the brackets had separated from the hull, it would have been a lot more work and I'd have wanted a larger TIG welder or to set up my MiG wirefeed with spoolgun.

[teletech]

I found the nice center and sides I made sucked out too much heat and didn't allow the contaminants in the cast aluminum enough egress, so clamped it back up with just the 12.5mm center pin in place, knowing I'd have to dress the weldment a lot more.  The part looked a bit snotty after welding as I kept depositing a little more here and there to make sure I'd have enough material to remove.  I did go ahead and weld one side below the bore, I don't think it was needed and it won't add much strength, but I was right there.  I ran TIG with a lot of argon, 90-125A on top and 125-175A on the side, arc balanced to do a LOT of cleaning.  Sat on it a while up top to boil out the contaminants from the metal.  5556 alloy is what I'd bought as the most compatible with the hull material.  I couldn't find my TIG rod so used  some spool wire I'd bought.  The hatch works much better with the equilibrator installed and better than it did when it was cracked and opening up.

I'm happy to send the fixturing I made and some filler to anyone who needs them to do a similar repair for the cost of postage, with the provision you offer it up to the next person should it be needed.

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by teletech