Concept2 Forum

Hi All,
So....my clutch slips. I want to try to clean it well with mineral spirits and re-oil. It seems pretty gummy in there. However (always a however), I don't want to get any mineral spirts in the two bearings that are also in the flywheel/fan hub cause they are good and re-oiling a so-called sealed bearing is shoveling stuff against the tide. I don't want to remove the clutch part because I hear that's hard to do. Are those bearings also pressed in? They seem to be in there pretty good. I was hoping they'd come right on out and away I'd go.

Thanks in advance for any tips!
RJ

I wouldn't worry too much about the bearings if you just go easy on the amount of solvent you use. If you haven't remover the flywheel from the machine yet I would just put the machine on it's side- sprocket side up- and puddle some light oil on the circular space between the axle and flywheel while slowly rotating the flywheel. Give it some time to work its way down into the clutch. If you already have the flywheel off and the axle out then apply the solvent to the clutch and wipe off gently, being careful not to dislodge any of the needles. Apply light oil to the clutch and reassemble. Good luck!

Fast forward....I was able to buy new bearings and a new clutch from Concept 2. I did not have a press so I was able to use a vast assortment of sockets(for spacers and exact surface area) and long bolt. Use a strong grade bolt and nut such as Grade 8, 2H nut. My bolt was about 5" long. You
essentially pull out the bearings first and then pull out the clutch. It's hard to not damage the bearings when removing so make sure you have new ones. The clutch I was already going to replace so I did not care. The key here is that you have to remove the bearings to remove the clutch. I use the same method to pull in the bearings and the clutch with a long bolt and nut. This was tedious but actually worked well if you have the correct sockets and large washers so nothing is damaged. Just take your time and make sure you have a good working space to minimize damage to anything. It's important to get the sockets just the right size to sit on the outer most bearing surface/clutch surface and also the metal sleeve that was pressed into the the fan wheel. It's all back together and works amazing now! I'm posting this for any future information that someone might stumble on. Concept II also has instruction on how to do this but assumes you have an arbor press or some other press. Take note there are two different hub configurations with the Model B, at one point they changed the bearing and clutch position. This will make a difference on the parts you need. Concept II can help you and their support staff have the passion of the product.

I happy that all worked out for you - and congratulations for putting in the effort to keep a Model B up and rowing.