Quote:
Originally Posted by Redd
Wow Ajolives. Thanks for that!
Based on your pics, I can see that:
1. The plastic cover is just clipped onto the gear assembly? There's no washer holding it in place.
2. The spring is held in place purely by spring tension, there's no other retainers/pins? The only thing preventing the spring from 'walking' off the gear is the plastic cover, which is held on by its own clips.
If the above observations are correct, it doesn't seem like a very secure fitment to me. If for any reason the spring loosens and walks forward, I doubt the flimsy plastic cover can stop it. This may be why some of the covers are coming loose - cos the spring is pushing it out. Which also warns us that the spring is already loose and failure is imminent.
If that's indeed the case, a bolted in retainer like the metal Carbahn washers will definitely be a much better long term solution to prevent the spring from loosening. Next question is, how thick/strong does that washer need to be? Does it need to be as thick as Carbahn have made it (which requires us to grind down the surrounding metal for clearance). Does it also need to be that large diameter? Or will a regular large washer be sufficient to secure the spring just by holding it in at the inner portion.
Also, if the spring is just loose, can it just be pushed back in? Or do you need to replace the gear+spring assembly with a good unit?
Just thinking out loud.
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Thanks! Yeah my thoughts exactly on the CarBahn washers - why so thick? I thought maybe they just over-engineered to be safe. Pretty sure steel is safe at whatever our internal temps get to at an extreme, so no warping or material fatigue. I also like to think out loud
Yup, the cover is literally just snapped on.
The spring is just held on by those 4 pins in the picture, and yeah you nailed it. It's basically 'free floating' in one direction only being held tight by the friction of the spring. I will say the spring is pretty taught; I haven't tried resetting the disassembled unit yet because it looks like a PIA.
Edit: Forgot about the washer, and I agree those are all solid questions. People have run them without covers with just the washer (assuming) and bolt, which doesn't keep the spring in. I guess a washer big enough to grab like one or two revolutions of the spring would do, not sure if there be any flex at all. Hell, can probably grab one at Ace Hardware.
Either way, there's a crap ton of tension on that spring, I would imagine it's enough in normal operation to keep things steady.