Broken piece that I cannot identify

[aharmer]

Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to post a photo of the broken piece. Yesterday while erging, all of a sudden there is a round piece broken in half, sitting in my lap. I assume it had to come from the handle somewhere, but cannot figure out where. It is a bronze or copper color, about 3/4" in diameter. One side is smooth and flush, the other has a groove cut from each of the four sides. The erg still works fine. The only place I could imagine it coming from would have a partner piece, and I don't see one. Help! Any thoughts?

[hjs]

Happens often, its from the handle, right in the middle, it filles a hole, it breaks very easily, it won,t hinder that erg though, aleays gives a scare when it happens have had it three times.

[Carl Watts]

its the part on the handle and it breaks into 2 halves.

I started making them in a stronger material as I got sick of them going PING in the middle of a row.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/exercis ... 302055.htm

They last less than a year if your doing high milage or row at pace.

[Ergmeister]

That is an intentionally consumable brass (*I think??*) bushing that takes the rub of the U-bolt at the handle. Brass is the softer material so it does not rub the u-bolt of the connection which would potentially allow you to get hurt if suddenly the handle separated.

That should be maintained by inspecting it for wear and then when the U-bolt reaches the metal swivel cylinder inside the hole, you take a pair of pliers and rotate the bushing 90 degrees to then line up a new wear surface. Nobody really ever does this so that happens is the bushing wears all the way to a point that it first cracks, then then it will shatter in use. These are sold separately (or at least they used to be) for about $4 or so and you have to remove the chain to replace them when they shatter. Better to watch them and maintain them by spinning to a new wear surface.

I have stopped replacing them since once you go that far, for the $30 cost of a whole new chain, swivel, and bushing assembly it's worth it. Also, I noticed the new chains are much more corrosion resistant (plated or chromated?) so that is another reason to replace the chains once you go that far into the rower.

To avoid this, inspect your bushing for wear and spin it by using two pair of pliers; one to hold the swivel canister stationary and the other to spin the bushing 90 degrees.

[Ergmeister]

I took a photo of old two chains that I was about to toss in the trash. These were not very worn, but may help explain the issue.

The one on the top I've spun 90 degrees to expose the new untouched portion to the u-bolt hole in the swivel, and the one on the bottom is as it came off showing some wear. The wear on the bottom is minimal, however if not inspected and maintained, eventually a crack will appear at the top of the arc of the cutout and it is a short time until this bushing separates and shatters. Even a cracked bushing can be saved as long as you spin it to put the new wear point on the u-bolt before it breaks in half.


Once the bushing is heavily worn, they are almost impossible to turn 90 degrees because the backside of the brass will deform into the hole of the swivel and prevent spinning to the new section because it locks it.

Again, since you have to remove the chain to replace this bushing, I advocate replacing the chain assembly entirely. To inspect your Erg for wear, sit on it and pull the handle out and chain our, then flip the handle sideways and "push" the chain with the U-bolt so that the u-bolt is off the bushing and you can quickly and easily see if it's hanging by a thread or has enough wear to warrant a twist to the newer surface.

[Carl Watts]

Mine never last long enough to wear out. If your doing all your rowing at sub 2 pace and reasonable milage the factory one cannot handle it.

The last one I had on a brand new Model D lasted a matter of months before it fell in half. As mentioned they deform as they are sintered material that has good self lubrication properties as a bearing surface but is not strong enough for some users.It's partly luck of the draw how long they last as well due to the way they are constructed.

The design of the factory one also doesn't permit easy rotation to the next indexed position as its too long ( I would file a bit off the peaks of the "Crown")and it also deforms into the hole as it is quite soft. The one I made can be rotated to the next position by turning the handle 90 degrees to the flat on the U bolt.It does require a drop of chain oil now and again but it will last the life of the Erg.

These are a pain to replace as you need to remove the chain from the Erg to slip it over the end on the chain and slide it all the way to the handle end.

[c2jonw]

This has been a nuisance issue for a while now and we are in the process of redesigning the part. One revelation we had was that cutting a 1/4" wide slot in the part does nothing to compromise its functionality but it enables replacement without taking the chain off. So the new part (which is not yet available) will have this feature and be quite a bit thicker where it interfaces with the u-bolt, which should reduce premature breaking. C2JonW

[JoeEasy]

If you have to remove the chain to replace this part, how difficult a job it that? I have just ordered a Model E rower and would not want to have any major maintenance on it the first year of ownership.

[Carl Watts]

If you have to remove the chain to replace this part, how difficult a job it that? I have just ordered a Model E rower and would not want to have any major maintenance on it the first year of ownership.

Its not that difficult you need a Phillips screwdriver and a small adjustable spanner or the correct size spanner.

The Erg is best separarated into two halves and then you stand the front section on its nose to work on it.

There is a .PDF from Concept 2 on how to do it, however these seldom get replaced by the owners or Gym's when they break.

[C2Trevor]

There's been an update to the swivel bushing which eliminates the need to remove the chain from the machine.

Starting 2/10/2013, all swivel bushings (PN1314) shipped will have a slot that allows the user to slide the bushing over the chain and then pass down onto the swivel body.

BushingAlone.JPG (34.67 KiB) Viewed 12222 times

We're working on a longer-term redesign of the part to help prevent the failure from happening in the first place, but in the meantime, the slot should make the part much easier to replace. Here is a link to the new instructions:
http://www.concept2.com/files/pdf/us/in ... cement.pdf

[Dimitar Ivanov]

Looks good. Where i can order those?

[Atorrante]

I think I was very lucky with my 8 years old D model, since it never broke, neither was replaced or rotated. I did a lot of rowing over the years at paces well bellow 2:00/500, so was very lucky because was never aware of this problem.

[Dimitar Ivanov]

Yesterday i rotate my swivel bushing because i notice that it starts to wear out after more than 500k meters. As Ergmeister - after long time of use the part starts to deform and get harder and harder to turn it. Fortunately i saw this topic before my part wear off to much.

[nysaag]

I too was lucky. After reading this thread I checked my erg and saw that after 12 years and 25M meters, the brushing was deformed. I was doubly lucky because I was able to turn the piece and continue on....perhaps for another 25M ??

[Carl Watts]

You guys must be lucky although I admit it lasted years on my Model C, however it only lasted a matter of months on my Model D.

I am assuming that being a type of oil impregnated sintered material that is fomed by compression or crushing rather than casting the material together it has very random bonding and therfore the strength varies widely.

It also appears that once it has "Worn in" without breaking the load on it is better spread, however when it is new it has point contact and it can quickly fail if you get a weak one.

Essentially it pays to rotate it before it breaks and this doubles the life of it.

The version that I made had been going for months now on 6Km a day average at sub 2 pace without a problem and I expect it to last for years if rotated.