Topic: Thou Shalt Maintain Your C5

[Umpa]

Symptom - Gearbox Noisy Lack of power - motor load lights on pod reading high.

On stripping the motor I found that the bearings on the motor armature had sheered off inside the gearbox.

I had to drill a 3.5mm hole in the end of the motor main gear so I could insert a punch and knock them out.

I had to replace the armature - I was going to see if I could weld the shaft back on, but an engineer at work said the welding would be hard and could not guarantee a vibration free repair (these are jet engine people) - so I bought another - cheers Karl.

So I took a look at the gearbox next - and found the gearbox had sustained light damage.  The planetary gear ends had started to melt, and one of the pins that hold the gears in place had its hole widened and so dropped out.

I cleaned the Armature and the gearbox in an industrial degreaser and cleaned out the gear rod hole with acetone.  I Araldite the pin back in place and left the glue to set. When this Nylon starts to melt it goes brittle so I scraped away the bad and made it good again.





I cleaned the armatures slip rings with ScotchBite and made it look good.  Greased it up and put it back together and hoped all was well.

BEFORE





AFTER



BEFORE FITTING




After a few tests and  a trip out with Mark and can safely say its performing as should , I was lucky to get away with this. 

The only thing I can think of is an over tight drive belt caused this - So my advice is to only have it just tight enough to prevent slip - don’t ever give it a bit more to be on the safe side - this in a bad idea !

[radiomarty]

Top repair Umpa ! I was talking to a turner at work only the other day about repairing the shaft which he thought is a possibility but tricky - we hadn't thought about the vibration issue. Thanks for the info and photo's - sharing knowledge like this forum a wealth info for the new and old C5 head a like.

[Retro Andy]

I've had my motor and gearbox apart twice now, and when you are removing the gearbox you can't
help feel what sort of condition it will be inside and if it will come apart alright, but when it comes apart ok and you've cleaned it all up, re-greased and re-assembled its great when you power up the motor and all is good.

Retro Andy   

[Umpa]

Its not been my week - lol

Going on a mini run with Markie my lad, were were testing a Lead Gel battery and so was going on a LONG run.  See here for info...

http://c5alive.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=560.0

I got about 10 miles in to a 'run till it stops' run and came across a huge hill (down hill) - I pedaled as fast as I could and ducked behind the pod (as best as a fat guy can) - Mark on the other hand safely and oftenly applied his brake - I screemed down the hill reaching nearly 40mph - and then applied the brakes - bugger all happened - the left handle felt a little resistace before going limp.

As the bowel began to operate - I just managed to make it around the corner. When we got home I found this :-



I dont know how or why it broke - but I'll soon be  back on the road

Regards

ian

[Karl]

Scary stuff - now you know what the drain holes are for in the base of the seat 

[Umpa]

All fixed and better performance - must have been catching for a while

On another note - the pinion end - should there be a circlip fitted - as mine has not got one.

[Karl]

All fixed and better performance - must have been catching for a while

On another note - the pinion end - should there be a circlip fitted - as mine has not got one.

yep - it should have a circlip

[Umpa]

Bugger! It's never had one while I have owned it. I don't suppose you know the size of it by any chance ?

[Retro Andy]

I reckon this is why we are'nt allowed down thw hill at Brookland's, if your brakes fail it could be nasty with a pile of broken C5's crashed into the fence and a bunch of middle aged men looking for the first aid van  Anyway Umpa, its good to see its back on the road already and even better you or your C5 were'nt hurt.

Retro Andy

[Karl]

Bugger! It's never had one while I have owned it. I don't suppose you know the size of it by any chance ?

It's this big  ;

[Umpa]

It was a daft question I suppose. I'll take it off marks c5 and pop in to halfrauds.

[automino]

Hi guys, is there really any need to clean up the armature commutator?  Most people recommend it but is there a noticeable difference? On my two restorations I didn't bother and ther seems to be no problems, albeit that one of the C5's "Sylar" goes like a dream compared to the other.  Both commuators look the same, so can't explain when one goes well.

[Karl]

I'd have thought that cleaning the contacts up would have to be a good thing , all helps the elektrikery to flow 

 

[Umpa]

I cleaned mine because I figured a lower resitance at the brush would mean better performance both in power and battery performance.  If nothing else when you clean them you know the motors getting what it's supposed to. Might even help with heat issues. 

[Umpa]

I had forgotten about this thread - lol

just to let everyone know -Marks C5 also had the clip missing.