Sektor service

tedtheshed
tedtheshed Posts: 21
edited April 2017 in MTB workshop & tech
Hoping someone can help with this. I bought a bike last year with 140mm Sektor Silver TK Solo Air forks (2015). I don't know the history so I'm going to give them a full service.

I've read through the documents and come up against a problem : the SRAM tech docs for the fork specify 6ml of oil for both lower legs. This contradicts the 2015 oil volumes chart, which specifies 6ml for the drive side and 12 for the non-drive side.

Has anyone serviced this fork before? Which volume did you go with? Because the volumes are so precise, I imagine it's important to get it right, so I don't want to put double (or half) the fluid in by mistake.

Many thanks in advance for any advice

Comments

  • ade555
    ade555 Posts: 216
    Hi I have the older model of 130mm version and went for 6ml in spring side, I can see what you mean by 2015 oil chart but I didn't know what to choose my self, and after speaking with well know shop on suspension servicing they advise to go with 6ml, but also add 2ml inside your solo air assembly.

    Don't be surprised if you develop clunking noise after servicing, keep your old o-rings handy, have a look on my thread you will see what I mean.

    viewtopic.php?f=10004&t=13078341

    I am a bit interested what is your spring side looks like when you open forks, because mine was the same like recons and XC32 , air shaft assembly on page 15

    https://www.sram.com/sites/default/file ... n_xc32.pdf
  • tedtheshed
    tedtheshed Posts: 21
    Cheers for that, that's just what I needed. will go with 6 and 6 then if that's what you were advised.

    It seems strange that you had to fit an extra o ring to the spring when you hadn't had it open. Will see if I get the same issue.

    I'm starting to think I might just do the lowers now, then the damper and spring at the end of summer, but when I do them I'll get a picture for you. Mine are only the Silver Sektors, but the internals look different to the recons in the manual.

    Did your forks come on a bike or did you buy them separately? I've seen it said before sometimes manufacturers get lower (or higher) specced forks made to a budget for their bikes, so it could be that they use a different type of spring to what you'd get on a fork if you bought seperately.

    Thanks again
  • ade555
    ade555 Posts: 216
    What I mean by same as Recon is air spring assembly have the same internals but longer shaft on 2014 model which can be seen on page 15 of Sektor 2014 service manual, on Gold version you have snap clip to secure air assembly on bottom where Silver version is just sort of push in fitting with O-ring.

    My fork come with bike, but I did read somewhere that Sektor Silver was only available with bikes or if for sale on auction sites was removed from bikes, oh I found it on sram website:

    https://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/ ... fm3sqg4sma

    "This product is installed on bicycles as original equipment only, it is not sold separately. See your dealer for details."


    If yours are Sektor Silver then they most likely have the same spring assembly as mine and start on Page 15, sram manual starts with how to remove lowers on both models then goes to Sektor/Recon Gold assembly, further down from page 15 shows Silver version

    https://www.sram.com/sites/default/file ... n_xc32.pdf
  • tedtheshed
    tedtheshed Posts: 21
    Ah ok, I'm with you now. In that case I'll definitely let you know when I've got it open. All the manuals I looked at (for different years) had the circlips, so I'd be surprised too.
  • ade555
    ade555 Posts: 216
    edited April 2017
    Gold vs Silver is illustrated lot better in the 2016 manual version where they actually nameing air shaft assembly for Sektor Gold and Sektor Silver with pictures

    Gold have a look on page 11

    Silver have a look on page 20

    https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign.net ... nglish.pdf

    Hope this helps, just on off chance when you take lowers off take a picture at end of you spring side stanchion and post it on here
  • tedtheshed
    tedtheshed Posts: 21
    Cheers, think we replied at the same time. Will do
  • tedtheshed
    tedtheshed Posts: 21
    Struggling to upload a photo from mobile but mine is identical to yours on the air side. Edit: https://imgur.com/FfPQSed

    As you predicted, I've also got the same annoying clunk that you had now that I've finished, even though it was only a lower service and seals that I did . it's right at the top of the compression and it doesn't do it when there's no air in, only when it's pressurised. Not had chance to ride it yet to see what it's like when moving.

    Where exactly did you put the extra o ring to stop it clunking ? Wish I'd gone the whole hog now and serviced the air shaft.
  • ade555
    ade555 Posts: 216
    tedtheshed wrote:
    Struggling to upload a photo from mobile but mine is identical to yours on the air side. Edit: https://imgur.com/FfPQSed

    As you predicted, I've also got the same annoying clunk that you had now that I've finished, even though it was only a lower service and seals that I did . it's right at the top of the compression and it doesn't do it when there's no air in, only when it's pressurised. Not had chance to ride it yet to see what it's like when moving.

    Where exactly did you put the extra o ring to stop it clunking ? Wish I'd gone the whole hog now and serviced the air shaft.


    what you need to do is :

    1)Remove top cap 24mm socket,
    2) pull air side assembly out the stanchion
    3) that plastic white part that you see on bottom of your stanchion is called air shaft guide, when you pull assembly out you will see that have 1 O-ring
    4) add another o-ring in same place and reinsert assembly back in to stanchion

    Once you reinsert air assembly back in to stanchion you can test for clunk with out putting lowers back on,

    20170405_101044_zpsyrjcbhfi.jpg
  • tedtheshed
    tedtheshed Posts: 21
    Cheers buddy, that's great. Will have to order an o ring kit as I didn't get one before.

    Will post back when I've sorted it. Seems like it's a bad design without the snap ring, you wouldnt get any movement if it had one.
  • ade555
    ade555 Posts: 216
    tedtheshed wrote:
    Cheers buddy, that's great. Will have to order an o ring kit as I didn't get one before.

    Will post back when I've sorted it. Seems like it's a bad design without the snap ring, you wouldnt get any movement if it had one.


    I just wonder if you don't put o-ring on it and ride it for a bit would it make it stop, that clunking annoyed me so much that I just added 1 to sort it there and then, as when you pull them apart there is nothing and no where shows to add one. To add o-ring to the same place where I did just pick one from pluming center or something like that.
  • tedtheshed
    tedtheshed Posts: 21
    OK, 40p o ring fitted and it's stopped the rattling straight away. It was obvious where the noise was coming from when I opened the air tube up and had a look at it, but I wouldn't have figured out that an extra o ring would fix it as quickly as you did.

    I measured the one that was on there and it was 18mm ID x 23mm OD but only 2.2mm thick measuring it "top to bottom" . I reckon (they don't specify a size on the parts list) that the O ring starts off at 4 or 5mm thick, and over time with the pressure from the spring it compresses down to 2mm and ovals out. That would explain why it rattles and why it seemed 1mm too short to you. It would also explain why servicing the lowers (and taking all the pressure off the seal allowing it to deform ) brings on the problem.

    Anyway, thanks for all your help, saved me a visit to the bike shop which would have been expensive!
  • ade555
    ade555 Posts: 216
    tedtheshed wrote:
    OK, 40p o ring fitted and it's stopped the rattling straight away. It was obvious where the noise was coming from when I opened the air tube up and had a look at it, but I wouldn't have figured out that an extra o ring would fix it as quickly as you did.

    I measured the one that was on there and it was 18mm ID x 23mm OD but only 2.2mm thick measuring it "top to bottom" . I reckon (they don't specify a size on the parts list) that the O ring starts off at 4 or 5mm thick, and over time with the pressure from the spring it compresses down to 2mm and ovals out. That would explain why it rattles and why it seemed 1mm too short to you. It would also explain why servicing the lowers (and taking all the pressure off the seal allowing it to deform ) brings on the problem.

    Anyway, thanks for all your help, saved me a visit to the bike shop which would have been expensive!


    Thanks for update and glad it did work for you.

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