Gas Struts for rodkicker

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ashbyg

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A replacement gas strut for my rodkicker is over £100.
I've seen on the web several firms offering to re-gas them. Has anyone done this or can offer advice.
Don't tell me to chuck the rod kicker away and rely on the topping lift- that's my wifes idea.

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You can recharge the strut if it has a needle valve on the cylinder - I think you screw the rod off to gain access. However I bought a replacement from www.industrialgassprings.com for a fraction of the quoted price from Seldon.
I believe it was £48 vs over £200. It was also a higher spec. and is re-chargable as well as being adjustible to your load requirments. It was slightly longer but I only had to shorten the spacer inside the strut. Hope this helps.

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I sell Gas Springs to the Building Industry so I have some experience.

The most delicate part of a Gas Spring is the seals around the Piston Shaft. Any damage the the Piston Shaft or the Seal will cause the Gas inside the spring to escape. For this reason the first thing you must do is to inspect the shaft to see if there is any damage, Scoring, Rust Pitting & the like. You cannot inspect the Seals as they are enclosed within the Cylinder casing. If you suspect any damage, on the shaft or seals, then re-gassing will be a waste of money.

There are two ways that a spring can be re-gassed. If the spring is fitted with a valve it should be possible to add gas that way. Alternatively gas can be blown past the seals on the piston shaft.

Many of the Gas Springs used in Rod Kickers are made of non stainless steels. Obviously the suitability of these for marine envonments must be questioned. Recently an article in PBO described how to modify a car Gas Spring for use in a Kicker. The same question regarding the suitability of the materials must be asked.

Gas Springs, which can contain 3000Psi, can be quite dangerous devices & I would not recommend attempting modification for this reason. I know of applications when catastrophic destruction of a Gas Spring, caused by the use of an inapropriate Gas Spring, has resulted in severe injury to a person nearby.

If the Gas Springs you have been offered are made of suitable material then £100 for a one off spring is around the going rate & I would suggest buy you a product that would have a reasonable life.

It is very hard to say what a reasonable life is as this will depend on how much the spring is used. The do not like to be left idle for long periods as this can cause damage to the seals & excessive use will also wear them out. For the applications that I supply to we normally quote a life expectancy of around 5 Years but his is very subjective.

Hope that helps.

Martin

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I've also used Industrial Gas Springs (for a freezer stay), and they were good value and effective. The only complexity might be establishing what spring force you want them to charge to (if in doubt go a little over, and use the widget they supply to bleed off a little gas). I dont know whether the bigger struts are suitable for a marine environment.

OTOH, I had my Lewmar hydraulic rod kicker serviced quickly and efficiently a year or so ago when it started leaking oil - new seals, new gas, all like new. The only bugbear was getting it to and fro as they are not allowed in aircraft due to the risk of catastrophic failure, so it took much longer to get it back to Hamble by ship.

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Met a guy at the weekend who had modified his strut, which is now powered by a row of vehicle valve springs. It was a very cheap mod and he says that it works well. Just one more way of skinning the same cat.

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I also had a rodkicker which when I got the boat didn't have a gas spring in it. I fitted a stainless spring which I got from Z-SPARS in Hadleigh - I was in their works getting bits for a new boom and spotted the spring in their stores and bought it - £10 if I remember. Cheaper than a gas spring and should last ages. Had to add internal spacers to get the correct strut length, but no great deal.

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I'd rather be sailing... :-) /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
 
Thanks for your reply to my posting about gas struts. I've had a lenghty correspondence with Selden to try to convince them their fitting instructions were wrong resulting in my gas strut being fitted upside down.
You said you'd bought a replacement from Industrial Gas Springs. I've e-mailed them asking what's their equivalent but they just referred me to their web site. Without knowing the strength/loading of the old one I can't order a new one from IGS. Can you help by sending me the reference number of the one you bought from them please or any other info about it.

My Rod kicker is Selden and the Boat is a 34 ft Bavaria with quite a hefty boom as it has internal single line reefing gear in it. The old gas strut had 1200N as part of it's part number and I wonder if that means 1200 Newtons.

I'd appreciate any help you can give me.

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If you can give me your E-Mail address I will update you with my info.
I also have a Bav. 34 so your problem seems a repeat of others I know.
Basically the strut fitted is too lightly rated for the weight of the boom.

Regards

Ian

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