Bergen Xantia Activa CT

[CitroJim]

Here is a picture of the valve innards:

[HansNOR]

so far so good ..


thanks to my boss and his hand the darn thing came apart. Not the easiest of tasks with the brittle alloy already in a state of total disintegration


the cup with the brown goo in it is WD40 .. i let the part soak in it for some time before trying to pry it all apart .


ultrasonic cleaning underway


cleaner.

My boss have a theory that there is no real need to make another ring and press on . he is thinking more along the lines of using a different type of gasket that
will be squeezed between the valve and the hydractive block. The reasoning behind it is that if the rubber gasket (the larger green one) had been sound the corroding bits
falling off should not matter. the gasket as it is now, looks to be a bit bloated and not a good fit - which often happens with gaskets over time.
Either way the corroded bits will be milled away tomorrow and i will look into making a pressfit ring as suggested. But in the back of my mind i do ponder about my bosses thoughts ..

[CitroJim]

Excellent work and I'm delighted the valve came out of the sphere block easily

The sealing on both rings is critical and they have to cope with a very high pressure - the same as the mainline hydraulic pressure of 170 bars.

I'm not confident any other type of seal or gasket will work in this role except an O Ring. A flat gasket is likely to leak because of the pressure I'd have thought but don't let that stop an experiment as if there are any alternative ways of repairing the valve it'll be good to see them.

You had no troubles disconnecting the pipes from the sphere block then? That was lucky as sometimes they can be very difficult...

I'm looking forward to the next instalment. I'm enjoying reading this very much

[Hell Razor5543]

Next time you have to take something apart, you might want to use Plus Gas on it first (assuming you can get hold of it). Not for nothing is it also known as dismantling fluid.

[CitroJim]

Next time you have to take something apart, you might want to use Plus Gas on it first (assuming you can get hold of it). Not for nothing is it also known as dismantling fluid.

Good point James. WD40 is not a good dismantling fluid at all...

[HansNOR]

Never heard of Plus Gas . I know WD40 isn't a penetrating oil but it was all we had resembling anything remotely rustyworkylike at work

[HansNOR]

ah - Jim. Ofc - the pressure. I had forgotten all about that. It makes perfect sense to try to make it like it was.
Do you have any clue as to what sort of alloy it is made from ? The corrosion reminds me of aluminum and magnesium , and what if so would be a good alloy to make a new ring from ?

[wurlycorner]

Yep, plusgas or duck oil

[myglaren]

Doesn't diesel work fairly well, or there is the stuff Ben got in Sweden

This stuff

[Stickyfinger]

The casting are just low grade Aluminium, full of impurities which show as black craters/holes. These encourage corrosion when water/salts are added resulting in white powdery deposits (lead oxides) and then it "crumbles" as the structure breaks down.

A suitable link for you.
http://www.electrochem.org/dl/ma/201/pdfs/0305.pdf

[HansNOR]

got some time at the lathe today. Took away the corroded metal .. was pretty bad, but was left with what i think will be enough

found a piece of aluminum

pretty nice fit. And yes the washer is the size i am aiming for.

milled a 13mm hole in the piece after i had milled the alu stock down to size. then slid the piece onto the valve from the backside

slid all the way in

then i milled it in steps - i forgot to take a picture - but the inside of the piece goes from 13mm hole to a 19.4 mm hole and then a little bigger again to where the
gasket is situated. Where i milled the part down is pressfit into the middle hole in the piece. thight squeeze.

backside. This means i discard the original washer.

this is the wrong gasket btw - found a better one. I will check with the manufacturer of the gasket tomorrow if i can use it or not.

feedback is welcome . have i overlooked something, done something blatantly wrong etc ?

[CitroJim]

That's looking very excellent indeed

Well done!

[HansNOR]

thank you jim. tried to follow what you had done as close as i could. hopefully i get to install it on saturday and test if its apporved by the lady (the car that is )

[CitroJim]

Looking forward to hearing it's been a complete success

[HansNOR]

Jim - is valve innards lying in the correct order in this picture?
when i opened the valve it was turned upside down and all fell out, thus i got only gut feelings on how to reassemble it