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new spheres or recharging? |
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abrli
 
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  Member No: #1899
Location: London |
hello everyone, my car has done nearly 80k miles and the front is getting quite stiff. so i'm considering getting the spheres done. for the age and mileage i think i'll get all 7 done at the same time along with lds fluid change. however there seems to be 2 options - to replace with new spheres or to recharge them. i have read about Pleiades' recharging service on several threads here and the feedback seems pretty positive. but having spoken to Westroen in Manchester i was told the c6 spheres are not designed to be reconditioned and the guy recommended replacing them. the price difference between the 2 options seems to be around £200, but i'm slightly concerned about the durability of recharged spheres. has anyone got any long term experience with Pleiades on a c6? and any thoughts? cheers, andy |
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Dan595
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 Member No: #299
Location: Wiltshire |
I'd suggest buying new from http://www.sphere-shop.co.uk Spheres are brand new ex-factory - I've just paid 193 euro including shipping for the 3 front spheres for 2.2. |
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gmerry
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   Member No: #21
Location: Scotland |
Hi all, I've fitted two off IFHS front spheres and 2-1/2 year on, the ride is still OK. I had to discard two centre rear spheres because of extreme external corrosion, so these would not have been candidates for recharging. I also had a front sphere fail and the membrane punctured by the internal spikes. There is also a bit of a logistics problem in having a car off the road awaiting spheres to be recharged, as opposed to unscrewing the old sphere and replacing with a new. As opposed to this, the Citroen OEM spheres might possibly have a lower permeability (the membranes) but this is just speculation. Regards G |
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Rog
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Hi all Is it critical to do all 7 at once or can I do fronts followed by rear a few months later? |
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Jarecki
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  Member No: #2069
Location: Poznan |
Hi, As a experienced user and mechacic, I advice to go to the garage where it is possible to check what is current satus of the spheres. Probably only one or two is need to be replaced or recharged. Fitting new one is of course the best solution, but IMO even new one should be tested before fitting. The checking/replacing operation shouldnt be very expencive. My own service is very cheap  I dont know why in GB the pices are so horrible! |
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chillmax
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 Member No: #1648
Location: Mayo |
Hi Andy Just did this job 3 weeks ago! All 7 new IFHS, with fit & LDS change about £700 privately; from Cit quoted price for the same job £1,400. They'd only done 60k miles, but they're 10 years old, so that was time for me. You could recharge, but surely you want her to be floating at maximal hovercraft pneumatic loveliness  Good luck JJ |
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abrli
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Member No: #1899
Location: London |
Thanks guys for your reply. Contacted Pleiades this afternoon and found out a little more about recharging. Was told they offer 1 year warranty on recharged spheres and the guy on the phone said they haven't had a single C6 sphere that they didn't manage to recharge. But considering the cost difference of around £250, I think I'll go with all new IFHS spheres together with a fluid change. I agree that it may not be necessary to replace all 7, but for the possible hassle and given the vehicle's age I'll simply have them all replaced. Finally FYI Citroen quoted around £800 for parts and another £700 for labour. The labour rate they're quoting seems to be completely disproportionate to the actual work.. Westroen from Manchester said he can get all 7 done and fluid changed in about a couple of hours. Will keep you posted after they're done.. |
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C6Dave
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  Member No: #1
Location: Northumberland |
I.F.H.S spheres from the Sphere Shop are manufactured NEW when ordered and will be date stamped as such and will not have ben sitting around on some stock room shelf for a year or more My DS ones were dated for March 2015 |
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David K
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 Member No: #42
Location: Scania |
I don't really see the reason why to change all spheres just because of age or similar. FYI, I have tested almost 15 years old spheres with 200K miles on the road and they had only lost 3-6 psi. One of them was punctured, but the rest was more or less like new. Even if they are rusty on the outside or are old they can still be as new on the inside. It's though a difference with the green LHM spheres, they loose the pressure more quickly, but age is no problem. For example, we tested a 12 year old unused sphere that still had the exact correct pressure. I suggest you first check the pressure of all spheres, and then change the sphere that needs to be changed, instead of just buying new spheres for maybe no reason at all. I think it's very unnecessarily money to spend. |
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Jarecki
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Member No: #2069
Location: Poznan |
Well.. DavidK - I 100% agree with your opinion. And my 15 y.o. experience totaly confirms what you wrote. |
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abrli
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Member No: #1899
Location: London |
Thanks a lot Jarecki and DavidK. I totally understand what you're saying. For me personally I don't usually have a lot of time to either mend the car myself or to send it into good independent garages, and I can't really live without a car, even if it's for a few days. Even though some spheres may happily last 15 years+ without any problem, I simply don't have the time to take them off one by one and then have them sent away for testing before ordering in replacements. And I certainly don't want to take the risk of having more sphere failures one after another. So logistically it's far easier for me to have all of them replaced together. And the second reason is really the third world road condition in the UK, many potholes are larger than a dust bin lid and deeper than crater. It's wet most part of the year causing rusting issues especially if the car's parked outside and pretty much all cars I've had with similar age/condition have required shock changes or suspension work. BTW I've ordered spheres direct from sphere-shop.co.uk costing €430 excluding LDS fluid, and I've found a garage near CALAIS that can do the work in 3 hours quoting €120 total labour! The cheap labour rate (many garages are quoting €30-40 per hour labour) in France offers some serious appeal to people like myself who live only 1 hour away from Dover.. Time to learn some French!! |
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Rog
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Wow. Supply and fit for 400 quid. Impressive. I have relatives in France and am only an hour from the shuttle. Was the garage recommended to you or pot luck? Rog |
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chillmax
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Member No: #1648
Location: Mayo |
Abbey Cit in Surrey quoted me £900ish spheres & £400 labour, so £700 sounds a bit naughty to me, maybe they don't like doing it, but challenge them on that!! JJ |
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abrli
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Member No: #1899
Location: London |
The garage is listed as one of the partner garages for sphere-discount.com. - Click Here - It's actually around 90 minutes south from Calais. Just received email from sphere-shop.co.uk that the IFHS sphere has been made and shipped. Hoping to have it done within the next couple of week. |
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Rog
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7 spheres for 323Eu on that site.....this is making a visit to relatives all the more appealing! | ||
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