Life expectancy for suspension spheres

[lancia58]

I know there is no definite answer but on the average how long a new sphere can be used before it should be replaced? I guess it is measured by how many miles it has been in use ?

Thanks
Zohar

[CitroJim]

I have no definitive answer but roughly a couple to three years I'd say..

I test mine yearly and replace when they fall below spec. So far on my Activa, used little, they are lasting well.

Life is Dependant on mileage certainly. An unused sphere kept relaxed will last almost for ever with very little gas leakage. I've seen ten year old NOS spheres still perfect. On a lightly used car set the suspension on low before parking up and the spheres will be fully relaxed and will last longer.

Spheres that run warm, such as the accumulator and the front suspension spheres (for being in the engine bay) have a shorter life than the cooler running ones at the rear.

[lancia58]

So if one live in a hot climate the sphere is expected to last less ?

Zohar

[lancia58]

BTW how do you test the sphere ? Only on a lightly used car the suspension should be set on low before parking ?

Zohar

[CitroJim]

BTW how do you test the sphere ?

With one of these Zohar..



Sadly they are not available commercially and have to be home made. Mine's just an old pump, an old pressure regulator a tank and a gauge. You place the sphere to test on the regulator, nip up the bleed valve and rotate to the pump by hand until the gauge stops climbing. The indicated pressure on the gauge is that of the sphere under test.

I say lower a lightly used car to the ground when parking up as it takes an anti-sink car an awful long time, relatively, to regain height from flat low and that could be tedious in a car in regular daily use but fine for one that sees use just at weekends or special occasions. On those rarely used cars it will extend sphere life.

This applies to green spheres on Xantias and earlier hydraulic Citroens. The grey 'saucers' fitted to C5s and C6s seem to last very, very much longer than the old green ones.

[CitroJim]

So if one live in a hot climate the sphere is expected to last less ?

That question may best be answered by our Aussie contingent Zohar

[lancia58]

Talking about pump , my Xantia is fitted with a power wheel , when I turn it ( right or left ) in part of the turn travel the pump becomes noisier. Is that normal or it indicates on a faulty pump ?

Zohar

[CitroJim]

Talking about pump , my Xantia is fitted with a power wheel , when I turn it ( right or left ) in part of the turn travel the pump becomes noisier. Is that normal or it indicates on a faulty pump ?

Totally normal Zohar. It's just the pump working harder to supply the demands of the power steering...

[addo]

Spheres for "pays chauds" are coated in a thermal-reactive paint that includes what is basically a powder of the diaphragm materials.

Over time, as heat from the environment and hot LHM degrades the sphere, the paint colour will also change towards a brown/black - reflecting a urethane sphere diaphragm near its life end.

This is of course, assuming the sphere is otherwise tested regularly and regassed if low on pressure. So if you test the sphere pressures every year and have the below-standard ones regassed, other degradation will be extremely slow... This will mean the spheres stay green in colour and fully functional for many years.

[Clogzz]

The front spheres are the multilayered sort with three dimples.
Mine were still good after 206 000 km in 14 years.
The rear spheres needed regassing every two years, and the accumulators three years.

[Stekelly]

BTW how do you test the sphere ?

With one of these Zohar..



Sadly they are not available commercially and have to be home made. Mine's just an old pump, an old pressure regulator a tank and a gauge. You place the sphere to test on the regulator, nip up the bleed valve and rotate to the pump by hand until the gauge stops climbing. The indicated pressure on the gauge is that of the sphere under test.

I say lower a lightly used car to the ground when parking up as it takes an anti-sink car an awful long time, relatively, to regain height from flat low and that could be tedious in a car in regular daily use but fine for one that sees use just at weekends or special occasions. On those rarely used cars it will extend sphere life.

This applies to green spheres on Xantias and earlier hydraulic Citroëns. The grey 'saucers' fitted to C5s and C6s seem to last very, very much longer than the old green ones.

Is it as simple as it looks in the pic? Would like to put one together myself. Maybe Rob might do me a good deal on the necessary bits from the next Xantia he's breaking

Have you any other pics . maybe a back view? cheers

[CitroJim]

Yep, it's that simple Ste. The only difficult bit is fabricating a gauge adapter. I turned up an adapter on the lathe and brazed it to the piece of 4.5mm pipe from the regulator outlet. The nut on the adapter is a standard 1/4" BSP nut from a compression fitting.

Here's a rear view of when it was mocked up during initial testing on the bench...



The best pump to use is a single outlet one and the best regulator to use is one from a car that had an FDV. Robert is sure to have the bits you need from an XM. Mine came from a sinker Xantia.

The pipe between the pump and regulator is a standard one coiled up to take up less space.

Using an FDV regulator means a return pipe can be put on the FDV outlet and this will flow LHM back to the reservoir when the bleed valve is opened after testing a sphere.

[waynedance]

Does this lasting a few years apply to the c5.

[CitroJim]

Does this lasting a few years apply to the c5.

I have a belief that C5 'saucers' have a very long lifespan if my experience with the centre hydractive on Rattiva II was anything to go by. Some very late Xantias had C5-type spheres fitted in some places and I'm sure the one on Rattiva was original. On test it was still fully within spec.

Shame I damaged it in removing it with a cold chisel - it was that tight!

[xmexclusive]

As I understand it the green 3 dimple spheres and the C5 spheres have the same multilayer, long life membrane.
The 3 dimple marking was only used for the early production batches while the old type membranes were also in production.
With the C5 spheres all being multilayer and having the different saucer shape grey paint was chosen as a cheaper membrane identifier method.
Now the multilayer membrane has become standard for all sphere production so the 3 dimple marking has been dropped and the spheres painted grey.

John