OP
OP
swee'pea99
Legendary Member
Ok, so it appears the answer's no! No-one knows if that's a cap I have to remove, or whether removing it will turn me instantly into the abominable snowman. Hmmm. Well, I've emailed the vendors, maybe they'll be able to tell me.
As to why bother, well, I generally like to do things myself if I can, and from my researches I see nothing very challenging about it. There's a valve on the car, to which you attach a simple clip-on fixing attached to a hose. At the other end of the hose is a can of pressurised gas. Turn a tap to puncture the can and gas flows through the hose and into the system, via a dial that tells you when you've put enough in. I think I can manage that. And when I do, it'll take five minutes and cost under a tenner. Makes sense to me.
As to fixing the leak, I'm pretty sure I know where it is, and how to fix it. The system has valves on both the high and the low pressure. When I remove the cap on the low to connect the hose, I hear a slight but distinct 'fst'. So the valve - which is after all just a bicycle tyre valve, and 12 years old - would seem to be leaking. No great surprise there. But replacing it, again, looks pretty straightforward. I may have a go at that next.
For the moment, though, I just want to charge the system and see how it goes. If it gets us through the rest of the summer, I may decide just to live with the leak and buy more cans as & when I need them. If it doesn't, I'll either replace the valves or have the garage do it. If I had to guess, I'd say I probably will start out by having a go myself. Can't see any real downside. Of course I'd do a bit more researching before I decided/did.
As to where I got the kit, ebay. Five cans of gas for £25, about a tenner for the hose. Oh, and no, it's not a left hand thread. It's regular, and looks like the right size for the fitting...just proves to be a fraction too large. Which is why I'm hoping the blue cap will prove to be just that and, once removed, will expose a thread that's just the right size! We shall see!
As to why bother, well, I generally like to do things myself if I can, and from my researches I see nothing very challenging about it. There's a valve on the car, to which you attach a simple clip-on fixing attached to a hose. At the other end of the hose is a can of pressurised gas. Turn a tap to puncture the can and gas flows through the hose and into the system, via a dial that tells you when you've put enough in. I think I can manage that. And when I do, it'll take five minutes and cost under a tenner. Makes sense to me.
As to fixing the leak, I'm pretty sure I know where it is, and how to fix it. The system has valves on both the high and the low pressure. When I remove the cap on the low to connect the hose, I hear a slight but distinct 'fst'. So the valve - which is after all just a bicycle tyre valve, and 12 years old - would seem to be leaking. No great surprise there. But replacing it, again, looks pretty straightforward. I may have a go at that next.
For the moment, though, I just want to charge the system and see how it goes. If it gets us through the rest of the summer, I may decide just to live with the leak and buy more cans as & when I need them. If it doesn't, I'll either replace the valves or have the garage do it. If I had to guess, I'd say I probably will start out by having a go myself. Can't see any real downside. Of course I'd do a bit more researching before I decided/did.
As to where I got the kit, ebay. Five cans of gas for £25, about a tenner for the hose. Oh, and no, it's not a left hand thread. It's regular, and looks like the right size for the fitting...just proves to be a fraction too large. Which is why I'm hoping the blue cap will prove to be just that and, once removed, will expose a thread that's just the right size! We shall see!
