Any difference between aftermarket spheres?

juraj · Post by **juraj** » 26 Apr 2008, 23:41

Hi all

From what I know there are a few sphere manufacturers,

Lizarte, Alko, IBFS (i could be wring here just from memory, anyway I'm thinking of a belgian firm) and no doubt more,

is there any concensus on which ones to get? of course there is always genuine citroen but i wouldnt be surprised if citroen outsource manufacture to one of the above, or all,

bye

Post by **elma** » 27 Apr 2008, 01:08

I'd say that if you can get ones that are the same shape as original ones with a date stamp to say they were filled within the last3 months you are onto a winner.

Make sure theres no LHM on them and they don't have marks where they were fitted/removed.

Lots of factors seem to be selling spheres which are used.
I reckon people replace the fronts and bring the old ones back to exchange for the rears.

deian · Post by **deian** » 27 Apr 2008, 11:55

From what I remember, I think Citroen get Alko ones you know, but don't quote me on that one.

Elma is spot on about the fact that some factors sell some refurbished ones, I bought a refurbished acc'.sphere once from C&A in bangor for what seemed a fair price, add VAT on top of that, and I had to wait for it!, only to find out it was refurbished and resprayed, needless to say it didn't last long!

Where I did get brand new ones from, was GSF, the £19 (at the time) ones.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 27 Apr 2008, 12:08

The point is that Citroen does not "make" their own spheres. Spheres are made by sub contractors on a contract base - and made by at least a couple of the makers mentioned plus a few other companies.
Just like most other parts fitted to the Citroen cars during the manufacturing process.

There is no reason why these makers should offer spheres with "lower" or "degraded" specs than the lot made on contract. If they did they would extinct themselves from the market.

Finally to remove an old assumption : the sphere production date does not have to concour with fresh apples.
The spheres will in fact loose more pressure when they are in use and loaded by the system pressure or the weight of the car.
IIRC the storage time is 2 years - still with the usual warranty.
Spheres have been found stored for a decade and still in usable condition.

You should avoid remanufactured (recon, regassed) spheres, as they always seems to be a lottery on type (purpose/model) marking and quality.

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 27 Apr 2008, 17:54

You should avoid remanufactured (recon, regassed) spheres, as they always seems to be a lottery on type (purpose/model) marking and quality.??????

Sorry Anders but I have to disagree and question that statement.

I have allways bought my spheres from Pleiades, mainly because they are local to me. Most of the spheres supplied are re-conditioned with new spheres being supplied only when they have run out of sevicable spheres to re-condition.

So for I have never had a problem although the spheres to have a 2 year unlimited milage warranty.

They tell me that all spheres are inspected inside for diaphragm damage and then either scrapped or re-conditioned depending upon the result of the inspection.

I have asked the question before, do they ever get spheres failing? and they have told me that being honest, yes there is a very rare occasion when a sphere will fail, but I bet that this can also happen with a new sphere.

I know that others have used west roen spheres and also have great reports about reliability of re-con spheres.

In this day and age, we should be all thinking about re-conditioning and repairing, rather than throwing all the old bits in the land fill sites and fitting new bits on!

Rant over!! it's just that I am all for re-con wherever possible.

Regards
Slim.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 27 Apr 2008, 19:40

Errata :

My first posting this thread last line reads :
"You should avoid remanufactured (recon, regassed) spheres, as they always seems to be a lottery on type (purpose/model) marking and quality"

Should read :
"You should avoid remanufactured (recon, regassed) spheres, as they always seems to be a lottery on type (purpose/model) marking and quality, except recon spheres from Pleiades which seems to be like new spheres"

Disclaimer :
Rule #1 : I'm always right
Rule #2 : If I'm mistaken, then rule #1 will allways apply.

Post by **CitroJim** » 27 Apr 2008, 20:19

slim123 wrote:I have allways bought my spheres from Pleiades, mainly because they are local to me. Most of the spheres supplied are re-conditioned with new spheres being supplied only when they have run out of sevicable spheres to re-condition.

Slim,

That's rather interesting and rather well-timed. Us Activa owners are learning that GSF may well be bringing to an end the supply of Activa-specific spheres.

Do Pleiades regas them in-house and will they regas your own spheres if they are in re-gassable condition? Mine are OK at the moment but the time will come when they will need replacing.

I'm all for recycling and it has always somewhat grated on me that the only apparant thing to do with worn spheres was to take them to the tip...

lexi · Post by **lexi** » 27 Apr 2008, 20:36

I`m going to recycle too. I`ll buy new ones and the old metal can go to China. They send the spheres back as cheap tools which I break then send them back and so on

I bought spheres from Eurocarparts..... £5 dearer than GSF (£25) They seemed heavier built than GSF ones and 2 yr warranty

juraj · Post by **juraj** » 27 Apr 2008, 21:43

thanks for the responses guys,

1. pelaides are a unique business, i would trust them to do the job,

2. i bought some spheres from halfords, assured they were new, when i got them they were regassed, resprayed green with runs all over the place, the bloody grren paint had run onto the sealing surface so i had to sand it all off, one had a seal with it, which was hard and misshapen ed the other had no new seal, really that was terrible, then when i gave them my old ones to get the £4 bond back on the exchange the stupid vacuous check out girl said so what do you want me to do with these? put them in the bin?

anyway i decided to try them as i had no alternative the car was in the car park with rock hard spheres, i had pre loosened them, only the fronts, and did a quick swap - surprised to find the ride really nice,

regassing is no art, our club in sydney has its own rig and does it all the time, if they had not painted them so poorly, esp on the sealing area theyd be ok really,

bye

slim123 · Post by **slim123** » 27 Apr 2008, 23:22

I had a chap (years ago) that bought a box of "new spheres" from a motor factors, when he asked me to fit them I refused as they were not new and they did not have any matching dampers. I dont know what they were from but I guess that they were re-gassed by someone who thought that all the spheres were the same, just different pressures. I guess that is what Anders is warning against??

Jim, You will have to call Pleiades and ask if they stock Activa spheres, I haven't had any dealings with an Activa for years, all my family and friends have standard cars!

Regards
Slim.

Post by **elma** » 28 Apr 2008, 02:12

Pleaides will refill your spheres if they are undamaged and pass the pressure test.
They do it while you wait as well.