DS spheres for Xantia?

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deian
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DS spheres for Xantia?

Post by deian »

I understand the older DS speheres could be split up so you can replace the membrane inside them, as well as topping up the nitrogen. This may save money in the long term if one buys a batch of membranes to replace old ones with and of course a gassing kit....

So is it possible to use DS spehere's on a Xantia if they had/have the same specification.... volume, gas pressure and hole diameter, are the thread the same?

Thanks.
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Post by 406 V6 »

The problem is DS spheres are huge regarding Xantia ones, having larger much volume and softer dampening orifices/rings.
To get those spheres you need ones from early DSes, as (i don't recall correctly) MKII DS had soldered spheres. I believe Citroën uses the same thread pattern for all HP units...
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Deian -

Its not just a sphere with membrane - and a certain volume and pressure of gas you need. The most important part is what you cant see : the damper valve.
The damper valve has an initial "lowspeed" damping set by the center orifice bore. The hidden valve consist of several circular steel plates which will bend and open on high amplitude suspension excursions - to allow the rushing LHM flow in/out of the sphere - bypassing the center bore. Its the number & thickness of these plates that calibrates the damping for each axle - on each model - ensuring you dont get rock hard suspension or dangerous leaning - on a wrong sphere setup.

Honestly - the price of a brand new sphere has come down considerably since the Citroen sphere was born - even as a genuine part. Really its not worth having spheres regassed these days - unless you live in a remote part of the world with no regular supply of Citroen parts.
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Post by Mandrake »

AndersDK wrote:Really its not worth having spheres regassed these days - unless you live in a remote part of the world with no regular supply of Citroen parts.
Like New Zealand. :cry:

Still,

I would not be putting DS spheres on a Xantia for all the reasons listed above, and the additional reason that they are simply too fat for some of the positions, such as the front hydractive centre sphere...

Regards,
Simon
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Post by andmcit »

AndersDK wrote:Really its not worth having spheres regassed these days - unless you live in a remote part of the world with no regular supply of Citroen parts.
Unless of course you have your own recharge kit and the gas handy \:D/ where it's just like blowing up the tyres on them all

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Post by BonceChops »

andmcit wrote:Unless of course you have your own recharge kit and the gas handy
Where is the recharge valve? I guess it is under the round cover at the end of the sphere. How do you get this off and what is under it please? Does anyone have a photo of the valve please? I regass hydraulic accumulators at work so there cant be much to it. Maybe the valve might be unusual and hard to find.
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Post by AndersDK »

No - its not that simple -

When you get a sphere recharged 1.st time - you also have to pay for the cap screw replaced by a filling valve. Which sort of looks like an oversize tyre valve. The harness used for regassing is not just some hoses and pipes - as it has to withstand filling pressures up to 85bar plus a safety margin.

The valves and filler harness for standard industri gas flasks are still avaliable from the Italian manufacturer Valprex - but not easy to find around because of the very low turn-over.
http://www.buromeca.fr/index_anglais.htm

Finally you have to calculate with the initial charge of a gasflask to start your own refill service. This is way more than the cost of the N-gas contents :wink:
No doubt - if you get started now - and have at least 2 running hydro Citroens which you plan to keep or renew - you will have a payback time of some 5 years or so.
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Post by Clogzz »

Regassing is very common here because of the extortionate cost of new spheres; opening special: about £60. :evil:
Some members of Froggy Forum have made home regassers, but I can’t find a relevant topic now:

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/forumd ... ysprune=30

Seen talk of regassers made from old car parts on BX Club too:

http://www.bxclub.co.uk/forum/viewforum ... 368d7ee257
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Post by alan s »

BonceChops wrote:
andmcit wrote:Unless of course you have your own recharge kit and the gas handy
Where is the recharge valve? I guess it is under the round cover at the end of the sphere. How do you get this off and what is under it please? Does anyone have a photo of the valve please? I regass hydraulic accumulators at work so there cant be much to it. Maybe the valve might be unusual and hard to find.
I have a mate who has his own regasser.
It consists of a large steel dush with a large "O" ring and a hole through the centre and a hole that the plug at the top hangs through so the plug can be slackened and tightened. The nitro is fed via a regulator between the "O" ring and the hole through the bottom that has a gland on the shaft to stop leaking. A HP gauge is fitted to the other side. Another round plate is fitted around the other end to hold the sphere into position. The cap on the top is gently released prior regassing t release all pressure and a new "O" ring fitted to the charging nipple. (Usually the sphere is put on a sphere tested first to check how much pressure is left in it; anything less than 50% of that specified usually means it's a waste of time.)
Nitro is then fed in bursts to the sphere until the gauge shows the pressure around that specified. At that point, the nipple is retightened, gas between the bottle and the recharger released and the sphere removed from the recharger, taken to a vice and retightened. A drop of LHM is then dribbled around the charge nipple to test for any signs of bubbles and hence leaks. Sphere is then put back on the tester to check the retained pressure.
Whole process takes 5 to 10 minutes so it's not a major job.


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