New guy from Ontario

[Go Go Diablo]

The gearbox leak you describe is not common on that side of the gearbox. Presuming the bearing fits are good and the bearings are rubber sealed bearings (6205-2RS with the 2RS designating rubber seals on both sides), the oil would have to go through four seals to get out behind the brake or around the outside of the bearings.

It is common for the gearbox to have a bit of a leak behind the clutch. There is nothing there but a aluminum bushing on a shaft in a hole. When filling the gearbox, I suggest only putting 4 to 6 ounces of oil in it and do not fill it up to the side hole on the cover. If it is filled that much, the gearbox will leak no matter how good it is sealed.

Hope those answers help.

Bruce

[jayvee43]

OK, Good to know.

1- I will look into my oil leak and do a dip test at the side plug hole to see if i have it (a little too high). I will check the brake disc side of things. i may have to use break cleaner and compressed air to clean around the outside of the bearing and see if the oil is not leaking from that area. I remember reading somewhere that using "thread-lock" on the outside of the bearings would help. I did that for the engine crank, but i don't think I did that for the gear-case.

2- I will definitively change my oil mix ratio. Right now I made it 40:1 You say it needs 24:1 I have to add a lot of oil to my mixture. Yikes

3- I'll try to add a shield to the carburetor and see if it improves. I will take my "thermo" heat gun the next time I run it for a long shot, and take readings. This is crazy. Yesterday I was a little worried the first time i stopped to look at things after I arrived at my trailer.

4- To confirm your question Bruce: I did use 6205-2RS bearings in the rebuild of the gear-case. I agree, it would have to leak past 4 seals to leak there. I have some work to do.

And, I do have the carburetor cover somewhere in my shop. I bought two of them last year at the auction in Eganville, Ontario. I will look to install one.

Thanks again!

[jayvee43]

Well, I think I found the source of my leak. I had used a dremmel "cut off" wheel last year to cut the inside bearing race off of the upper drive shaft outer. I can see a pin hole between the new bearing race and the drive shaft. (after reviewing) my many pictures i took last year, I "discovered" I had hit the drive shaft with the cutting wheel, and that void is leaving a channel for some oil to make it past the outer bearing with ease. I suspect that pooling oil, now has no difficulty leaking past that point. (surprising how easy oil makes it past the first bearing in the first place)

Anyways, Lesson learned, fill in the cut. (now I will have to clean thoroughly and shoot silicone or something in the cut)
see my oversight here:


Now, onto my usual updates.
1- ski's. I have purchased some stain rather than paint for the ski's. I was wondering however, how do you normally finish your ski's? After the stain dries, do you polyuratene? sceal the ski? use wax? how do we finish the ski's? I don't I remember reading about that on the site.
Here's a picture of the ski's ready for stain. I made ski-runners. using the same location of original ski runner holes so later on I can upgrade to original runners.



In the background you may have noticed a "diamond plate" with lights, well. I tried to fit the nosecone from my 502 onto my 500 "crushed and deformed" hood a while back, and discovered it was so badly mangled, it was out 2 inches in the lower corners. So Once again I improvised.
I can't leave the opening on a piece of plywood, So I decided to pimp it up a little. I am using the latest (LED LIGHTS)
I sure hope I don't blind anybody with these!

[fap67]

I'm curious about the led lights. Do you have a rectifier to convert the AC current of the lighting coil to DC current? If not, I've wondered if they would work on the AC current that the lighting coil puts out. I'm no electrical engineer, but I was thinking that maybe they would work on one half of the AC cycle and maybe be half brightness? Please let us know how it works out. Thanks.

[Go Go Diablo]

I do have a comment on the skis.

For years, I primed and painted my skis flat black. They look nice and hold up fairly well. But I've always thought original skis were stained black and one would think that would make sense as a skuff or ding would probably not leave a chip of paint off the skis.

Just recently, I went out and bought some black stain and that seems to be working well too. Just stain and no further addition of a preservative seems to match original quite well. I am not worried about the wood of my skis rotting away as I put wear skins on the bottom of all my skis and that to me is the best long term fix for any ski. For now, I'm going to continue to use stain and see how that works.

DSC04418.JPG (158.28KiB)Viewed 11023 times

DSC04437.JPG (164.97KiB)Viewed 11023 times

I have some thoughts on the lights too, but am interested in others thoughts first.

[jayvee43]

I'm curious about the led lights. Do you have a rectifier to convert the AC current of the lighting coil to DC current? If not, I've wondered if they would work on the AC current that the lighting coil puts out. I'm no electrical engineer, but I was thinking that maybe they would work on one half of the AC cycle and maybe be half brightness? Please let us know how it works out. Thanks.

I found some LED driving lights at Wallyworld for a few bucks and they fit the looks I'm after pretty well.They will run off a small rechargable battery and a switch on the dash. I don't think you can run it off of a "DIODE" in line and hope for the best. These LED's are designed to run on 12 volts, I happen to know, our engines develops a lot more voltage (AC) than 12 volts. I am keeping it simple. With a very little 12 volts batteries, It can run all night long. So No need to complicate my life.

What's your take on this Bruce?

Also: Thanks for the heads up on the ski's. I was thinking to wax the bottom. Would that work?

[fap67]

Thanks, now I see what you are doing.

What' your thoughts Bruce, I'm only guessing.

[Go Go Diablo]

I've got a couple of thoughts.

The first ones are about ski bottoms. My opinion is it does not matter what you put on the bottom of a wooden ski, it will wear off. The abrasiveness of the snow and ice tears away at the wood. So you guys that put on a lot of miles, my question to you is how do you keep from wearing your skis away. Do you varnish or polyurethane every year or what is your technique to preserve.

These are what the bottoms of the skis look like with the wear skins on them.

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Regarding the voltage in a typical lighting coil circuit, I go back in time to my technical college days and think of alternating current versus direct current.

The lighting coils generate an AC current as the magnets of the flywheel approach and leave the coil of wire creating a voltage above zero and then below zero. The faster the RPM of the motor, the more waves and thus the brighter the light. Now Bolens must have been concerned about this un-regulated current in the 500 and 502, so they installed a diode in the lighting wire between the engine and the switch (normally found right at the top motor mount of the motor). Installing a diode in the circuit eliminates 1/2 of the wave thus cutting the power in half (a half wave rectification). Eliminating 1/2 of the wave also makes it a DC circuit.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=ht ... 4Q9QEIITAA

Light bulbs don't care if current is AC or DC, so incandescent lamps can be used in either

So when I work on these 500's and 502's, I remove the diode as the newer lights being used seem to handle the current and voltage. The result is back to a full wave of AC and thus brighter lights.

If we were talking about the electric start 503 model, the lighting coil is tapped off both ends and these two lighting leads with AC on them go into the voltage rectifier and go through two individual diodes. The difference here is the two waves of 1/2 current make a full wave rectification above zero volts and thus twice the current. There is no worry about too much voltage because the battery takes the spike of the high voltage by accepting the current and keeps the voltage under control.

Sorry to be so windy. And if somebody knows differently, please chime in.

[jayvee43]

I've got a couple of thoughts.
These are what the bottoms of the skis look like with the wear skins on them.

DSC04371.JPG

Light bulbs don't care if current is AC or DC, so incandescent lamps can be used in either

Thanks Bruce, that is the answer I was looking for. What type of glue are you using to attach the plastic to the wood part of the ski?

And: (I didn't know the lights can handle above 12 volts) on a 500 or a 502. That's good to know for my 502 when the time comes to fix the nose of that one to original. I assumed they were 12 volts, since on a 503 everything is 12 volts.
For my 500 however, the use of the LED lighting is simply like adding a pair of flashlights to the nose. I will be able to come out of the trails in the darkness if needed. plus it looks cool and adds a finish to a rather deformed section of the sled. I don't know if LED lights will run on AC current without the use of "bridge rectifier and the likes" So to keep things simple, I opted for direct current from a little battery to lights. I like simple.

[jayvee43]

Alright, today was a productive day as well.

I managed to pull apart my brake and clean and try and seal the cuts on the shaft. I used red lock-tight and silicone on a small screwdriver to fill in the hole. (keep fingers crossed it will work and stop the leak)

OK, as usual here is a couple of pics to explain the completed work on my deformed nose area of my hood. I installed the "diamond" plate and wired the lights. I purchased a very small cranking battery. (cranking batteries hold the most Amperage and therefore will last a lot longer on LED lights, between re-charging.)

OK, Here goes. The finished Nose area. (I like it)




Here is a picture at night. I think it will work just fine down the dark trails.


And this one is a picture showing the size of the battery I am using. It is the smallest cranking battery I have ever seen. Maybe there is smaller, but this one works perfectly in the corner. Notice, i also built a small battery tray to secure. There is a 10 Amps mini fuse at the source. It works off of my light switch in the dash.
( I think I'm gonna see my way properly with this set up)


So there you have it. I managed to make a rather deformed and crushed and badly dented hood look half descent. I hope.
Notice, I have used tubing as grommets for the light wires, since they are very small. And I secured everything with tie-wraps.
OK, Now I have to start the wood of the seater. More to follow.

Jesse