Old spheres - p****d off!

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rob-81
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Old spheres - p****d off!

Post by rob-81 »

I ordered 4 new spheres from AEP earlier this week (IFHS spheres). They arrived yesterday and three of the four are pretty old. One is march 2008 and two are 2003! The other is September 2009. I guess the 2003's (both fronts are too old to even bother fitting to check they still have pressure and I'm reluctant to go to the effort of fitting the rears when one is nearly 2 years old. Has anybody else got old spheres when ordering from AEP? [/img]
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Post by BX Bandit »

No! Can't remember the date on them but they were/are fine. Use Plaeides, as they gas them just before they send them to you, What could be better?
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Post by rob-81 »

I used plaides for my estate in August. They were great. God knows why I didn't do the same again. Oh well, I'll give AEP a ring tomorrow and try and get a refund or exchange.
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Post by MULLEY »

Oh dear, when i contacted my local gsf branch for some spheres, they confirmed that they had a couple in stock, i asked them to check the dates. One was approx 6yrs old, the other about 2, i said no way, i wanted brand new spheres. They said they'd order them in & then contact me once recieved & would let me know the stamp dates on them, which they did, nice new ones that were about a month old.

Did you contact AEP 1st of all, or did you just do mailorder without asking? either way i'd send them back asking for some replacement new one's....Sept 2009 would be fine, the others no way....
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Post by BX Bandit »

This is always a tricky 'area' of spheres, unless you can have them pressure tested and prove them flat. I'd be pissed off as well mind, although in the past AEP have been pretty good service wise.
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Post by MULLEY »

I'd be surprised if they didnt take them back as its a well known fact that spheres even unused lose pressure, quite how much depends on various factors, but they clearly are ancient so i dont see how they could argue that they are new? Hope you get them sorted....
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Post by kiwi »

One was approx 6yrs old, the other about 2, i said no way, i wanted brand new spheres
Yet another myth! We drive cars that went out of production nearly 20 years ago and we still want brand new. :lol:

Just because a sphere has been sitting on a dusty shelf for 6 years does not mean to say it will be better of worse than ones just a month old.

You can be sure that if after 6 years on a shelf and the pressure has not leaked away it may well last longer than your brand new untested (timewise) one.

I recently got my spheres recharged, the front drivers had to be replaced it was beyond saving and has now got a second hand one thats 10 years old on it for the fraction of the price of a new one.

Was interesting to see the pressure test results on a couple of spheres I had lying around the garage unused the last couple of years. They will certainly be kept as replacements when needed.
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Post by rob-81 »

I'll have a word with them tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be decent. If not, I guess I'll go to plaides and write it off as an expensive lesson!
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Post by rob-81 »

Kiwi, I'm interested to heat that you don't worry too much about old spheres. Certainly some people do share your view that some spheres last well on the shelf - I wonder if it's certain types that last better.
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Post by MULLEY »

Seeing as they still make spheres, i personally prefer new one's rather than dusty old one's sat on a shelf. Spheres seem to be a lottery, as there are quite a few different makes available, all at different levels of quality.

Some members have purchased brand new one's which were as flat as pancakes, so that in itself is no guarantee. If the old one's were just a few quid, then yeah i'd take the gamble, but not at full price i'm not, just my thoughts of course :wink:
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Post by rob-81 »

Mulley, I think I tend to agree with you. Also, not being particularly technically competent, I can't just chuck them on and see. I'd rather maximise my chances of only having to only change them once. Anyway, my new sphere removal tool hasn't arrived yet. I've always managed fronts with a very chunky strap wrench but don't fancy tackling the rears with it.

Thanks for all the responses.
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Post by kiwi »

rob-81 wrote:Kiwi, I'm interested to heat that you don't worry too much about old spheres. Certainly some people do share your view that some spheres last well on the shelf - I wonder if it's certain types that last better.
Not so much I dont worry it is more of a case of making do with what you can afford and get hold of easily.
I suppose you could say I dont like waste, if it anit broke or is fixable then why throw it away because its simply old?

Bit like a cellphone I got recently less than 6 months old and its totally unreliable so I am back to using one several years old that happend to have been sitting on the shelf of the shop all that time. Works fine unlike the "new one"

Even though I have owned a BX since I learned to drive way back in the late 80s I did not realise you could recharge the spheres until a couple of years ago when I got the TRS with those valves on them. Makes a lot of sense to me now to recharge rather than fluff around with new spheres which may not actually be new but reconditioned anyways.

The last time I brought "new spheres" one packed up within a a couple of days was one of the most uncomfortable rides of my life when it failed.

To me it makes reasonable sense to buy something that has a reliable history even if it is an used sphere thats been sitting on a shelf for years. If it does pack up then if it was sold as new it would be covered as being sold as new. Bit like my cellphone story :wink:
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Post by mat_fenwick »

Interesting, I don't like waste either but it was my (untested) belief that sphere gradually lost pressure over time, regardless of whether they were actually used.
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Post by kiwi »

True Mat but some lose pressure faster than others. Which like you said is untested until that sphere has a pressure test before fitting.

You would hope that the retailer who is selling any sphere would check the pressures before selling the product. I guess if you ask for this first you will feel more comfotable with buying it.
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Post by MULLEY »

A retailer testing a sphere :lol: :lol: Erm, computer says NO :lol:

Retailers dont test anything, they presume like the purchaser that its fit for purpose, a bit like oem brake discs for my mini which warped big style :x

I agree totally with re-charging them Kiwi, why chuck away a perfectly good sphere if its just low on pressure. Trouble is its not exactly convenient to find anyone who can do this & they'll probably charge nearly as much as buying a new sphere anyway, unless you bought a citroen one which are normally £60+ each :shock:

It'd be handy to have a sphere recharging service map of the uk & other countries our non uk members live in also.

I've purchased spheres from Westroen, they only sell re-charged spheres, yet they dont actually offer a re-charging service as they can't offer the same warantee because they actually inspect the internal condition of the sphere by popping up medical type probe with a camera, to inspect the condition of the parts inside the sphere. If the sphere gets too flat, they are normally damaged & a re-charge wont last that long, shame really as i'd probably get mine re-done every couple of years if the price was right rather than waiting for them to go bouncy & then replacing them....

Anybody know of anywhere in Yorkshire/Derbyshire who offers a re-charging service?

Rob, you might find that once you fit those old spheres that everthing seems fine, but they might go flat in less than 12mths, they could last for years, who knows, but i'll bet its sooner rather than later tbh. Like i said, if you paid a fiver for an old sphere its worth the gamble especially if you could re-charge it locallyish, otherwise i'd get brand spanking new everytime, less chance for something to go wrong.
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1992 TZD Turbo - Bluebell - My daily
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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

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