Charger 2.1 leaking

[RustyMTB]

I noticed last night my charger damper is leaking around the compression adjusters. I've had a look around & found this is quite common on charger 2 dampers & comes down to a design flaw where the bladder doesn't generate enough pressure to energise the compression seal.

Rockshox's standard response is to replace the damper. Having watched a couple of repair videos, I can see why they say that. It is a very involved disassembly to replace a single o ring, so I'm on the horns of a dilemma. I can replace or repair but I'm interested in other people's experiences to work out the best way forward. For example, I don't really want to spend £250-£300 on a damper if the same fault is likely to recur in a couple of years time.

Open to suggestions.

 

[Zimmerframe]

New bike day ?

 

[RustyMTB]

New bike day ?

Gimme your Jam. I like the colour.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I'll be over next week but I don't think I'll get it on the plane..

 

[RustyMTB]

OK, so on reflection & watching this guy, the calculation is I either replace the damper for £££'s or spend £3 on o-rings & repair it. Going to be a long job & no guarantee of success but it's already broken, so might as well go for it.

 

[John_likes_bikes]

Buy a 3 or 3.1 if it's available for your model fork.

 

[RustyMTB]

It is not, unfortunately. £16 has been invested in Maxima & a pack of o-rings & we go from here.

 

[RustyMTB]

Repaired it. Stuck it in the what did you do to your bike thread, but adding it here to show the crux of it. This picture shows the compression cup (brown anodised part), the internal low speed compression adjuster shaft (black part) which connects to your LSC knob on the top cap, the external sleeve with two holes in it & the failed seal.

The external sleeve has brass pins pressed into it. These pass through the slot in the cup & run into the adjuster shaft, so when you turn the knob, the sleeve moves up & down on the cup & alters pressure on the compression shim stack.

In short, getting to this is a monumental ball ache but it is considerably cheaper than replacing the damper. If you're thinking of doing it, beware that the pins are hard to get out. In the end, I pressed them out in my vice but I have seen people drill them out & have to fabricate new ones from spokes.

 

[Zimmerframe]

The external sleeve has brass pins pressed into it. These pass through the slot in the cup & run into the adjuster shaft, so when you turn the knob, the sleeve moves up & down on the cup & alters pressure on the compression shim stack.

Have you ever considered authoring a none pictorial version of the Karma Sutra ?

 

[RustyMTB]

Can you imagine what a passion killer that would be? First you take off your shoes, then your socks, then...

 

[Zimmerframe]

Can you imagine what a passion killer that would be? First you take off your shoes, then your socks, then...

I'm learning lots already

Maybe you could include some of those bits in a prologue to avoid unnecessary depassionating ! (making words up). Likewise avoiding a photo of the Author on the back for the same reasons

 

[John_likes_bikes]

I pretty much do all the work on my bike but when it comes to breaking down/rebuilding/tuning dampers, that I'll pay an expert to do. It's often a lot of time, specialty tools and potential to F up.