Fork left wiper seal popped out!

Plyphon
Plyphon Posts: 433
edited March 2013 in MTB workshop & tech
Riding last night and the left seal popped out!

The sponge came with it but the seal below the sponge seems alright. The fork seemed to be quite soft/running 50% sag after which leads me to think it's lost air...

The forks are RS Revelation 2010's.

What could of caused this? And what can I do to remedy the fork? Will I die?

Cheers.

Comments

  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    That seal doesn't retain air, and wouldn't normally blow out if you have an air leak either.

    Strip, service, rebuild with new seal I think.....once they pop out they never quite grip as well as they did before!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Plyphon
    Plyphon Posts: 433
    Alright well thats reassuring... I'll commence a service and hope for the best!
  • sensi10
    sensi10 Posts: 68
    Thats correct that the lower does not hold air , as the air spring is inside the left upper part of the fork , but if the air spring is leaking air it could leak into the lower leg and this could cause the seal to pop out ?
  • Plyphon
    Plyphon Posts: 433
    In that case I might try and tap it back in, inflate the forks again and see if its pops out again.


    If it does, I guess air is leaking.

    If it doesn't, I guess it just needs a service.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    sensi10 wrote:
    Thats correct that the lower does not hold air , as the air spring is inside the left upper part of the fork , but if the air spring is leaking air it could leak into the lower leg and this could cause the seal to pop out ?
    I've seen a few air units fail and none ever cause this, the wiper seal works the wrong way round for starters, I think it fairly unlikley to be honest.
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Plyphon
    Plyphon Posts: 433
    So you think the wiper seal is just a bit old/without lube and got pulled out?

    trying to save myself 85 quid sending it to LoCo if I can as I'd happily do a lower service at home, but a full service/seal change is a bit more involved...
  • The Northern Monkey
    The Northern Monkey Posts: 19,174
    Plyphon wrote:
    So you think the wiper seal is just a bit old/without lube and got pulled out?

    trying to save myself 85 quid sending it to LoCo if I can as I'd happily do a lower service at home, but a full service/seal change is a bit more involved...

    Not really.. RS forks are all home serviceable as far as I know.

    Just buy the kit from TF Tuned and follow the service guide from RS.

    http://www.tftunedshox.com/Catalogue/Sh ... tion-Parts

    http://cdn.sram.com/cdn/farfuture/Iyagq ... _my102.pdf
    Santa Cruz Butcher
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    The Beginner wrote:
    sensi10 wrote:
    Thats correct that the lower does not hold air , as the air spring is inside the left upper part of the fork , but if the air spring is leaking air it could leak into the lower leg and this could cause the seal to pop out ?
    I've seen a few air units fail and none ever cause this, the wiper seal works the wrong way round for starters, I think it fairly unlikley to be honest.
    Mine did exactly this a couple of weeks ago, Northern Monkey will vouch for it!

    I lost all pressure from the -ve chamber on my Revs, started pumping air back in, it took lots of pumps compared to normal and when it reached 60psi it popped (with a real "POP") the grey seal out of the lower tube.

    I guess a seal at the bottom of the upper tube must have gone, so -ve air was getting out of the -ve chamber and into the fork leg.
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • Plyphon
    Plyphon Posts: 433
    So I had a quick inspection last night.


    I tapped the seal back in flush and put my normal air in.

    Not only does the fork feel pretty horrible and not very linear, once I put my normal +10 psi extra in the -neg side the fork gets sucked down a good 20/30mm or so.

    So I think that's pretty conclusive that some rubber o-ring somewhere has gone.

    My forks are the 2011 version, and I've read through the manual - glad I did as the RS video shoes the guy putting oil in the uppers on the air spring side... manual says just grease!

    I'm fairly confident I can do an air spring service at home - it's just replacing o-rings and cleaning. £50 quid for all the oil, seals, etc is better than £85 + shipping for a service.
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    What model of Rev is it? Teams certainly will blow out the leg seal if the air spring goes (had this happen myself) There's a fair bit of internal variation on Revelations.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • Plyphon
    Plyphon Posts: 433
    It's a RLT 2011, 140mm :)

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