How often to change the spheres

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kiwi
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How often to change the spheres

Post by kiwi »

In the 20 years of BX ownership this is one question I keep wanting to get a better understanding of.

Two options really new Ones or the second option which I had not known of was to get the recharged in the Car. Didnt know you could do that until we got the latest addition to the family which has this weird valve attachment to all the spheres.

Would you say timewise or mileage before getting them sorted? Reason I though of asking was after reading of the failures some have had and noticing the differance in ride between our BXs.

An interesting one for those who have had Bxs a long time and those new to the Cars.
1991 BX19 TZS 04/01/91 (Deceased)
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
ellevie
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Post by ellevie »

I would say that spheres in regular use depressurise much faster than those which are seldom used, the reason being that the diaphragm is pressed up against the inner sphere surface when not in use and seals itself like a tyre, assuming the diaphragm suffers a certain amount of leakage.
David

BX19TRS 118K E Reg 1992-2008
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mountainmanUK

Post by mountainmanUK »

I guess it would also be fair to assume that the road conditions over which the car normally drives, would also affect the "shelf-life" of spheres.
A car which does a reasonable annual mileage over nice smooth tarmac roads (say, in a rural, but well-maintained area such as NW Scotland where the roads are mostly in superb condition), would get longer use from its spheres than one which is continually driven in a modern town environment, with all the bloody potholes and "sleeping policemen" that asre common to most towns these days.
kiwi
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Post by kiwi »

ellevie wrote:I would say that spheres in regular use depressurise much faster than those which are seldom used
Thats the Mileage v Age I refered to so what is the answer there? How many years how many Miles?
mountainmanUK wrote:I guess it would also be fair to assume that the road conditions over which the car normally drives, would also affect the "shelf-life" of spheres.
A car which does a reasonable annual mileage over nice smooth tarmac roads (say, in a rural, but well-maintained area such as NW Scotland where the roads are mostly in superb condition), would get longer use from its spheres than one which is continually driven in a modern town environment, with all the bloody potholes and "sleeping policemen" that asre common to most towns these days.
Well this is what I am trying to establish. Same thing can be said over here in NZ to a certain extent but then you seen the state of our roads you might think twice about complaining about UK roads.

Surely there is someone who has experianced and knowledge of a few sphere changes to answer this mystery of the BX?
1991 BX19 TZS 04/01/91 (Deceased)
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
paul001
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Sphere Change

Post by paul001 »

I have been told by several Citroen people that 18months to 2 years is a general time scale to change spheres

I need to do the GTi's soon its starting to get bouncy on Setting 2 and lumpy as hell on Setting 3 that I use to slow slug down the farm track
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MULLEY
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Post by MULLEY »

2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
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DavidRutherford
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Re: Sphere Change

Post by DavidRutherford »

paul001 wrote:its starting to get bouncy on Setting 2 and lumpy as hell on Setting 3
What are you calling setting 2 and setting 3? The generally accepted terms are Low, Normal, Intermediate and High.

Bear in mind that the car will ONLY ride correctly in Normal. In Low or High there is no suspension travel at all (all you have is the rubber bump stops) and in intermediate the lever is now affecting the height corrector's ability to measure the suspension height, and so it will never be as smooth as in Normal.
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Post by ellevie »

kiwi wrote:That's the Mileage v Age I referred to so what is the answer there? How many years how many Miles?
If my speculation that time is insignificant is true, and there is some evidence for this, then that answers half your question. In the extreme, if the car is not used at all then the spheres would effectively be "on the shelf" and the question remains what is the shelf life of spheres. I'm in the practically indefinite shelf life school of thinking.

By "shelf life" I mean the time it takes for spheres literally sitting on the shelf to lose significant pressure.

I can't help with the mileage guide but as mountainmanUK suggests that may well be affected by driving conditions.
David

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kiwi
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Post by kiwi »

MULLEY wrote:This is what they think:

http://www.westroen-spheres.co.uk/BX.htm
Thank you

That answers it for me

:)
1991 BX19 TZS 04/01/91 (Deceased)
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
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MULLEY
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2002 C5 2.0 HDI (110) Estate - Jasmine - SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
x 8

Post by MULLEY »

Glad to be of assistance.

I purchased a full set from them for my Gti a couple of years back, the gti has never ridden better & is the most comfy car out of the lot. There are probably some other factors involved in the above statement. They do come with a 3yr guarantee which i dont believe even citroen offer.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
kiwi
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Post by kiwi »

Not so fast guys in wrapping this answer up :lol:

Anyone heard of Sphere recharging and how it compares in price to replacing said spheres?

Image
1991 BX19 TZS 04/01/91 (Deceased)
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
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MULLEY
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My Cars: 1999 Xsara LX 2.0HDI (90) Hatch - Fern
2002 C5 2.0 HDI (110) Estate - Jasmine - SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
x 8

Post by MULLEY »

Kiwi, thats what Westroen do. They refurb spheres, check them out internally to ensure they are ok, re-gass them & then slap a 3yr warranty on them.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
kiwi
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Post by kiwi »

Thanks Mulley I thought they just provided refurbished spheres to replace the ones you had not recharged thenm in car as the photo shows?

Anyways I dug up the history of my two beastie BXs and from what I can gather its nearly 2 years and 10k kms since the spheres were done on the BX in the picture and likely to be over 3 years probably more like 10 and 90k kms according to the receipt and length time I have owned it on the Other BX. Which guess could explain why she feels a bit bouncy considering the problems of the last 6 months shes endured.

Got to say though since repairing the FDV and putting Hydra wotsit in the system she rises smoother and quicker. Maybe try a sphere swap soon!
1991 BX19 TZS 04/01/91 (Deceased)
1990 BX19 TRS 27/10/89 (Reborn)
1992 BX19 TXD (Ex UK - K 744 SDF) 15/06/92
1990 BX19 TZS Auto 06/11/1989
1992 BX TZD Turbo Estate (Ex UK) 1/07/91
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nige!
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Post by nige! »

mountainmanUK wrote:I guess it would also be fair to assume that the road conditions over which the car normally drives, would also affect the "shelf-life" of spheres.
A car which does a reasonable annual mileage over nice smooth tarmac roads (say, in a rural, but well-maintained area such as NW Scotland where the roads are mostly in superb condition), would get longer use from its spheres than one which is continually driven in a modern town environment, with all the bloody potholes and "sleeping policemen" that asre common to most towns these days.
i spend alot of time driving in NW rural Scotland and totaly agree with the above, the roads are a petrol heads dream.

As for the spheres i bought some 're-gassed' ones they were shite - only got a few months out of them. I bought proper Citroen ones direct from Citroen with a bit of haggling i got them for about £50 i think.. am hoping not replac them for at least a couple of years - do about 20k a year
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MULLEY
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My Cars: 1999 Xsara LX 2.0HDI (90) Hatch - Fern
2002 C5 2.0 HDI (110) Estate - Jasmine - SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - SORN
1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired - SORN
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN
x 8

Post by MULLEY »

Sorry Kiwi, i got the wrong end of the stick. They dont re-charge the one's already on the car. The reason why they dont, is that they have to carefully check each sphere to make sure they arent damaged so can actually hold a re-charge, thats why they are confident they can give a 3yr warranty on them. They also re-paint them as well, so they look like brand new spheres.

This is why Nige's one's were rubbish & only lasted a few months.
2002 C5 2.0 HDI Estate - Jasmine - Now SORN
2011 Mini Cooper D Clubman - SOLD
2016 Mercedes A180D Sport - Auto refinement
1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
1991 Gti 16V - Blaze - crash damaged, will get repaired.
1990 Gti 8Valve SOLD - looks like it's been scrapped
2002 Mini Cooper S - SOLD - i miss this car
1992 TXD - Scrapped in March 2014
1988 CX 25 GTI Turbo2 - SORN
1996 - AX Memphis 1.5D - Dream - SORN

I'm not just a username, i'm also called Matthew.
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