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Back in Jan when I built my Soul up, I fitted a 150mm Stealth Reverb, bought s/hand off here, based on having minimal trouble with (non-stealth) Reverbs over the last 6 years or so, and having all the kit to service them.
The Stealth needed a service when I got it (bit spongey) so it got that. All fine until June when I did the South Lakes 100 with an enduro collar fitted, so I could run a tailpack. Sadly that trapped grit and meant the back of the upper shaft got a bit scored (nowt too bad). So I stripped it to clean & rebuild.
Mid July it crapped out on me on a ride - BB full of oil and the post not extending by more than 3". On stripping, the lower seal head was loose and the O-ring chewed to bits. I assumed at the time that I'd just failed to reassemble it properly, so was a bit more careful.
Went out last night and noticed the frame was covered in oil where it had run down the hose and again lost travel (only 3/4" this time). Just taken it to bits, and again the lower seal head is coming unscrewed and the O-ring is bulging out. Now I KNOW that was back together properly and tight. It's not "loose-loose" - I still need a spanner to turn it, but its somewhere between 1 & 2 full turns out from tight.
I don't have crowsfoot spanners and torque wrench ala SRAM tech vid, but 240in-lb is about 20ft-lb and I'm using a 23mm combination spanner about a foot long, so I can get a passable guess at how much force to use (tight, but not b*gger tight). No mention is made of using threadlock, and as the whole thing is covered in oil when you reassemble, it probably won't work anyway.
So what's going on, and how do I stop it happening...?
Thanks,
J
I too had this on several occasions with my Reverb Stealth A2 - I was told by 2 independent service centres that it was a common issue without any long-term resolution. Not sure if the issues are sorted on the B variant. Doesn't help that the bolt flats are very small and it's alloy i.e. easily mashed. Part of the reason both of my bikes now run Fox Transfer posts.
This is could be helpful-says to use loctite but also points out to be careful tightening down as O ring can get pushed out from internal pressure and become damaged not seating properly.
From memory I think I had to press trigger to relieve pressure as I screwed the seal head in when i did it .
http://blueliquidlabs.com/repairs/the-seatpost-whisperer/
Make sure you are using the correct O ring as a couple of times I've seen a bigger one fitted that have no where to go but extruded itself out of the groove, also stops the seal head from actually tightening fully.
Whenever you re-assemble use a fresh o-ring, and as above it can snag when doing it up.
We used to use some medium strength loctite that sets in oil, cant remember the number just now. Worked pretty well and we now use it in place of blue for most things. Seems to set better and can be easily undone.
For reverb seal heads now settled on two wraps of thin thread tape from loctite. Not had any sealheads loosen since switching about a year ago.
That's useful info, thank you .
Does anyone have brands/types for either the oil resistant thread lock or the tape? Loctite website doesn't seem to do either any more. Normal blue loctite 243 seems to be 'slightly' oil resistant, but the implication is that it's not the proper thing.
Thanks, Jon.
Tape -Â https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/adhesives-and-sealants/pipe-sealants/55-pipe-sealing-cord---50m
Gloop - 577
Awesome. Thank you. 👍