Caille silent sphinx help needed

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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby marsonion » Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:21 am

Regecon wrote:I am attaching two photographs. The first one is a picture of the front of the machine. The second one is of the pump. The pump lever resistance is inconsistent. When I pull it rearward (as if I was pulling it towards the rear of the machine), there is some resistance at times and then no resistance. There is no resistance when I push it forward (toward the front of the machine). The rather large endcap has been buggered a little bit. It is as if someone tried to put a set of visegrips on it. I believe that I have a socket that large enough to take it off. But is the endcap to be removed to refill the pump? Second, what does the adjustment screw do? Should I first try and adjust the pump by turning the adjustment screw one way or the other?


Yes, that certainly looks like a Cadet! Your mech has some later features (such as reel stop adjustment screws) which I usually only see on later models.

The small resistance on the crank which you detect is a good sign; the pump should offer little or no resistance in the counterclockwise direction, but plenty of resistance in the clockwise direction. That's the way it works. The adjustment screw varies this CW resistance, such that tightening it will close down a fluid gallery along the cylinder and make the CW resistance stiffer; in other words, it's a needle valve. Try tightening it all the way down, if it isn't already, to see if you get a better cycle out of it. Otherwise, go to the thread I posted above for instructions on a method to quickly refill the pump without having to remove the end-cap... as you see, it looks like somebody probably already tried and failed to do just that. It's not the easiest thing in the world to do.
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby Regecon » Mon Feb 20, 2017 10:53 am

I tightened the needle valve as much as I could and nothing happened. I will follow your June 12, 2011 post where you wrote the following. Is there anything more that I should know?

"I've done about a dozen refurbs on these by now. First thing: is the dashpot completely drained dry, i.e. does it provide any resistance at all and do you hear any fluid sloshing around inside when you shake it? If it's obviously leaked you'll see greenish stains running down the sides of the crankcase. If it's not completely dry, you may get it working again with a quick refill:

1) Unscrew and remove the timing screw which sticks out sideways near the rear.
2) With the screw-hole pointing upwards, insert a small plastic funnel into the hole.
3) Add Dot 3 brake fluid (which is a reasonably close match to the original stuff) in small amounts while turning the crank arm back and forth, until bubbles no longer rise into the funnel.
4) Replace the timing screw, and try pushing the crank arm back and forth-- it should offer resistance in one direction depending upon the setting of the screw.

You will also now be able to find the leak(s) more easily by doing this. Typically, fluid will percolate up through the top brass hexnut around the crankshaft. I can help you fix that, but also watch the seals at top and back, and around the timing screw. I've had a few that leaked from every place they possibly could, and required total dismantling and resealing at all points... most didn't."
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby briank » Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:32 pm

Try more fluid
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby marsonion » Mon Feb 20, 2017 3:07 pm

Regecon wrote:I tightened the needle valve as much as I could and nothing happened. I will follow your June 12, 2011 post where you wrote the following. Is there anything more that I should know?


Can't say whether there's more you should know, but if adding fluid to the pump as I indicate doesn't provide more clockwise resistance to the crank, you'll know that you've got a pump that's effed-up in some other way. I've dealt with one that had the pin to the piston sheared off, and another that had somehow unthreaded its own shoulder screw, the one that holds the cap to the top of the piston. Then again, your pump might not be the primary or only problem with your machine... I can't possibly be certain of anything more from such a distance.
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby Regecon » Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:30 am

I am going to figure out how to disassemble the hydraulic regulator that we have been discussing. I have already learned that the brake fluid in my regulator (after taking off the needle valve) is a bit cloudy. Upon reassembling it (assuming that I can disassemble it) will probably require some grease, lubricant, etc. I saw the photos in an earlier blog but I could not tell what if any grease, etc is needed Second, should I be looking for any pitting, etc. in the metal when I take the thing apart?
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby marsonion » Tue Feb 21, 2017 12:46 pm

Regecon wrote:I am going to figure out how to disassemble the hydraulic regulator that we have been discussing. I have already learned that the brake fluid in my regulator (after taking off the needle valve) is a bit cloudy. Upon reassembling it (assuming that I can disassemble it) will probably require some grease, lubricant, etc. I saw the photos in an earlier blog but I could not tell what if any grease, etc is needed Second, should I be looking for any pitting, etc. in the metal when I take the thing apart?


Yes, the original fluid I've collected has always been a greenish, silty/cloudy and strongly ether-smelling mess. I don't believe that has ever interfered with its functionality, though... in my experience, the only problem with the liquid has been not having enough of it in the cylinder. Also, it appears people have substituted other sorts of fluids to no really bad effect. Even motor oils have reportedly been used. No grease is required on these anywhere that I know of. And no, I haven't ever seen any noticeable corrosion inside one of these guys, only a few obvious mechanical problems such as I mentioned above... but watch it as you remove those brass end-caps, because they are practically cold-worked into the casting and very difficult to budge, and it would be easy to break the casting in the process of torqueing them off (though that hasn't happened to me-- yet). In one very stubborn case, I made some shallow relief cuts with a hacksaw at the join, partially removing a copper gasket seal, which then finally allowed me to twist the caps off with my very long pipe wrench. I'm convinced that I would've broken the casting if I hadn't provided those relief cuts.
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby SLOT DYNASTY » Tue Feb 21, 2017 1:44 pm

Regecon:
Two other things you may want to focus on, with the disassembly, and reassembly of
your hydraulic regulator, is the use of Penetrating Oil soaking into the thread seams,
before trying to undo. The next step would be to apply Anti-Cease to the treads before
reassembly, so the next time you may want to tackle the job, it will be much easier to
get apart.
Bill
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby marsonion » Tue Feb 21, 2017 2:15 pm

SLOT DYNASTY wrote:Regecon:
Two other things you may want to focus on, with the disassembly, and reassembly of
your hydraulic regulator, is the use of Penetrating Oil soaking into the thread seams,
before trying to undo. The next step would be to apply Anti-Cease to the treads before
reassembly, so the next time you may want to tackle the job, it will be much easier to
get apart.
Bill


As Bill indicates, penetrating oil helps, and some combination of heat and solvents plus lots of brute force has worked for me in nearly every case. You'll notice, however, that the front hex cap is hammered down on its corners to bite into the casting, which doesn't help matters at all. It's an evil thing.
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Caille Pump Info.jpg
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby SLOT DYNASTY » Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:25 pm

Well, that's helpful! Forget about what I said earlier.

The above Governor instructions specifically says "DO NOT TAKE APART", and also
"Under no circumstances, attempt to put oil or other fluid into the Governor, as it
was properly filled at the factory, with a non-freezing solution, that will last indefinitely".
So put your wrenches down, and do what it says: "write or wire for a replacement". :roll:
I would post their phone number here, but it has since been disconnected. Sorry.
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Re: Caille silent sphinx help needed

Postby Regecon » Tue Feb 21, 2017 5:03 pm

Thank you for the very interesting comments. I have a 16 inch wrench which you will see in the picture. It fit perfectly around the end nut and with about three wacks, I was able to loosen the nut. Upon loosening the nut, I poured out the fluid into a white container. You can see how dirty the fluid is as there is only about 1/2 inch of fluid. I tilted the white container so you could see the difference. It does not smell. I am now ready to take the arm off the top but it appears that a long pin is holding it in. It does not have a head on it and so I cannot attach a wrench to it. In other words, it is a pin. Is there anything that I should do except hit it with a hammer?
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0221171833.jpg
Fluid that came from inside the cylinder. It is quite dirty.
0221171836.jpg
Wrench, nut, and cylinder screwed to a large block of wood.
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