Model D seat noise

bob.lehardy · Post by **bob.lehardy** » July 27th, 2007, 4:31 pm

I have a Model D, purchased new in Jan 2005. My wife and I have put about 4 million meters on it so far and love it.

Recently, we have noticed noise from the seat as it slides from the front of the rail to the back and also on the forward (return) stroke. The noise only occurs when the seat is occupied (and I don't think it is an overweight issue - I weigh 140 and my wife is 125). The noise is definitely related to the seat because it occurs if we are seated and the handle is stowed. (of course it also occurs during normal use - my point being that it happens when we are not using the handle, just moving the seat back and forth.)

The rails are clean of dust and dirt. I removed the top rollers (front and rear) and cleaned the rollers themselves, and eyeballed the bearings and made sure there was no dirt etc visible there. After reassembling, the noise is still present. The bottom rollers also appear clean.

The seat top appears to be securely fastened to the seat carriage.

The noise is best described as a clicking noise - as the seat moves there will be a series of clicks (but the ride is smooth, not bumpy as if there were dirt on the roller or rails).

Any ideas of how to "cure" this. It's just aggravating - the only noise up to this point has been the normal flywheel/air noise plus our hard breathing.

johnlvs2run · Post by **johnlvs2run** » July 27th, 2007, 9:12 pm

I've rowed more than 36 million meters and always keep the seat bolt connected through the last set of the 3 sets of holes underneath. If the connection of yours is through either of the other 2 sets then I'd move it to the back.

Make sure to put a few drops of mineral oil onto and in between every part of the rollers.

Additionally, I keep a couple drops of oil on the railing every, and use a paper towel to wipe off any spots of dust or dirt that appear.

Post by **Slothful1** » July 29th, 2007, 7:01 am

bob.lehardy wrote:The noise is best described as a clicking noise - as the seat moves there will be a series of clicks (but the ride is smooth, not bumpy as if there were dirt on the roller or rails).

Any ideas of how to "cure" this. It's just aggravating - the only noise up to this point has been the normal flywheel/air noise plus our hard breathing.

Hi Bob

This sounds exactly like the problem I had a while back, but after only about 2.5 million metres. I followed a similar process to try and narrow down the problem. My local agent didn't think it could be the seat rollers after such low usage.

After a while I couldn't take it any longer, and ordered new seat rollers. It was easy enough to fit, and the problem disappeared instantly. Have added another 1.5 million since, and so far no further problems.

Cheers
Dave

bob.lehardy · Post by **bob.lehardy** » July 31st, 2007, 3:26 pm

thanks for the replies. I emailed a .wav file of the sound to C2 and the consensus is that I need new top rollers, which I have ordered and are on the way. Hope this fixes it.

Bob

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