Sphere Pressure Testing on my CITROEN SM: Patreon members bought me a new tool!

I have many very generous and lovely supporters both on here and on Patreon. Thanks to the latter, I've been able to invest in a new tool enabling me to test the pressure in Citroen suspension spheres.
The SM has been off the road since at least 1992, if not longer, so the question is....is there any pressure left?
Want to support the channel, or the cars featured within? There are many ways to do this!
1) You could become an official UP'nDOWNer!:
/ @upndown
2) You could sign up to Patreon, where I can forget to post things as often as I should!: / upndownvids
3) You want to buy me or one of the cars a drink? How kind! Paypal now available: paypal.me/ihaveansm?country.x...
Catch me on:
Facebook: UPnDOWNvids
Instagram: upndownvids
Twitter: @UPnDOWNvids

[@MattBrownbill]

Unexpected found money is such a bonus!

[@broo0ose]

Back in about 1988 I used to live in Willesden north London, near a garage that fixed Citroens. All the cars that came out of the garage had stickers saying "I've had by balls blown up by Hypertronics". I had a vague idea what this meant being a bit of a car nut back then. Now i understand it properly, so thanks.

[@craigyllyn]

I’m so glad HubNut got your channel on my radar. Fascinating stuff every time. You’re convincing me that Citroen stuff isn’t actually worse than certain German cars. Just a little different in design philosophy. My C15 Romahome is “engaging” in its own special way. I had planned to go to Chevrons but home is making it impossible 😩

[@jayslittleprojects1431]

I'm here from Hubnut as well. about 3 months ago or something :)

[@Mancozeb100]

We’re all here (well, nearly all) from Hubnut. God help us all. We’ve been cursed by leaky balls and loose battery terminals. And other things.

[@UPnDOWN]

In my experience Citroens are easier to work on than most German cars I get in.

[@MGBetts1]

I like the new insignia/icon! 👍🏻

[@tridaks]

To be fair, this is exactly the kind of thing that I do find exciting!! 🙂

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Tonights entertainment watching a man pumping.... (His spheres) A great and informative video as always Rich.

[@grayfool]

UpnDown, the channel with spherical objects. Ooh err missus!

[@razorsz195]

Alternate title: "Forgotten Gas Spheres, How much gas do they have left after sitting for 31 years? *BARN FIND SPECIAL*

[@UPnDOWN]

This is why I don't have 100s of 1000s of subscribers.

[@aftergrowth]

The SM ❤

[@nickcollins7568]

The rumour is confirmed. You do own an SM😎👍👍

[@shaunlilley]

Pleiades will regass your spheres (& put new diaphragms in the split spheres & paint them to look new). The lilac paint band signifies front spheres. Pink for the rears.

[@JLAGAN49]

We used to have a Citroen specialist "Centreville" in Newcastle. If I took my BX in I could see all the LHD DS cars they had brought back from France for restoration. Sadly no longer there. I think the round logo was painted using LHM.

[@redlineste4283]

​@UPnDOWN Hi, love the channel and love SM's. Not sure if you are aware of 3 SM's up for sale in America on Beverly Hills Car Club. One is only $3,900 or something.

[@SeasideGarage]

I want/need/have to get one of those!

[@UPnDOWN]

I didn't realise you were in the Patreon gang mate, you didn't have to do that! I will let you know where I got it.

[@SeasideGarage]

@@UPnDOWN Yes I do!... I want to see cool stuff like that thingy! :P Thanks

[@lesklower7281]

I do like your latest tool money well spent and based on a bottle jack who would ever think of that well somebody did now you will able to test Citreon suspension spheres and for a Citreon chap a very good sphere tester an essential tool

[@dailyingxm]

I believe that those color codes are identifying what model they will fit. For example blue is for DS, yellow is for DS break rear and purple is for SM.

[@chrisperyagh]

It took me a while, but I thought the red spirit level in the background was a bassoon. I need to have a day off!

[@rimmersbryggeri]

I dont think many of your viewers are ignorant as to what a suspension sphere is. The general public is a different story.

[@johnbaulkwill2166]

Great. Can you do more on the DS SM😊

[@inajiffy5435]

When I replaced the spheres on my Xantia, I was conscious not to just throw the old ones out in the bin. I took them to the recycling depot and made sure they understood what they were taking.

[@UPnDOWN]

Where's the fun in that, though?!

[@mtttony]

In theory with the refillable spheres you could put pipes and fittings on and have a small nitrogen regulator and tank and at the press of a button you could refill and or just rebalance your pressures.

[@citroenfan8930]

Bit more complicated than that - have made a few recharging units over the years and have been rebuilding and re-charging spheres for some 20 years. The unit has to be able to open and close the spheres filling port, have a balancing piston to keep neutral pressure on the fill port cap and allow a bit of torque to be applied to the welded sphere's fill cap. While the two part units all used the exact same sealing cap design, the welded or single part units had two different sealing cap designs - most likely to try and discourage refilling the units. OTOH with the welded spheres, at least in Europe, can be had for around 40 euro each from IHFS. Same company that made spheres for Cit for years. The two part or rebuldable spheres were last used on the SM.

[@jeremytoms5163]

Need a paint pen so you can mark pressure settings etc on your spheres. Let’s be honest there’s probably a few kicking around the workshop that can be tested. Is it worth getting the nitrogen tanks to refill them ? Regarding the SM, I nearly bought one in the 80s that had ‘wiring issues’ . Sounded lovely when running but bought a 3.5 SD1auto. Got 4yrs out of it before it succumbed to rust,the death of many 70/80s cars .

[@peteredwards7872]

I consider myself riveted. Cracking video as always 👏👍

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

That is a cool tool.

[@overwatch1774]

I need one of these testing thingys.

[@mclouj]

Nice! Its the internet equivalent of finding 50 bucks in your pocket when you put a pair of pants on that you haven't worn in ages...

[@MattBrownbill]

I had a hydragas displacer explode on my Maxi. That was a tad trouser-browning. Had to do the drive of shame home on the bump stops...

[@erik69528]

the driaphragm on the orginal SM spheres can, and should, be replaced, the two halves can be screwed apart.

[@UPnDOWN]

And it will be.

[@richardhunt809]

Pretty nifty

[@kimmohietala5359]

12.5 bar gives you that “spordy” suspension everyone seems to like these days 😂

[@TassieLorenzo]

How stiff is the (steel?) suspension on a DS3 "Spord" hot hatchback? Much softer than on a Renault Clio RS 197 Cup? (Sorry about mentioning the "R" word around these parts!) There's definitely a handling benefit (in terms of faster transient response time) from the Cup suspension over the (already quite stiff) standard RenaultSpord suspension, if you can live with the ride. I fully agree though that middle-of-the-road cars like (non-sport version) saloons and SUVs don't need to be as stiff as they sometimes are, and it might be better if they concentrated on being comfortable instead of being in no man's land: not soft enough to be truly comfortable, not stiff enough to be truly "spordy".

[@kimmohietala5359]

@@TassieLorenzo with the speeds I'm going about the spooordiness is completely wasted. DS3 Sport surely feels stiff but I'm comparing to BX or C5 😂

[@Sid3300]

Wait you own an SM? 😯

[@UPnDOWN]

Time to reveal it!

[@MattBrownbill]

I know, right?

[@GryphLane]

I had no idea!

[@jesper.schmidt]

Would be interesting to see if it measure new spheres pressure correctly... have you tried that yet? :)

[@UPnDOWN]

I've got some NOS ones.

[@SterkeYerke5555]

Many new spheres tend to be overfilled slightly though. My regulator sphere was about 70 bars, even though it's supposed to be 62.

[@philsladen9918]

you should have save this for the next live 24 hour session

[@huwdavies6650]

I didn't know you had an SM? When did you get that?😂

[@UPnDOWN]

Well, I've been keeping quiet about it, you see...

[@lukemallory7832]

I have that exact bottle jacks sans sphere pressure tester. Also sans SM..

[@UPnDOWN]

Sad face.

[@PaddyWV]

"Do anything last night?" "Yeah! I watched a man pumping his spheres......" 😶 Hmm. I'm keeping that one to myself maybe. 🙂

[@UPnDOWN]

First rule about UPnDOWN club...

[@theleftyboater]

I was expecting the new tool to be Ian 🤷‍♀️ not sure why….

[@UPnDOWN]

Haha

[@MrValleyman77]

That's a brilliant gizmo ! Can you tell us where to get one please (I have a bunch of hydrau-citroens so this would be really useful) Thanks in advance :)

[@UPnDOWN]

Activaclub.fr

[@MrValleyman77]

@@UPnDOWN thanks, sadly the link seems to not work...

[@tomwinch9107]

Apart from the handle, this is almost as clever and elegant as Citroën's suspension system Now what to replace the handle with ... my first thought was a linear actuator, but that would need electronics, which is not elegant in an SM utopia! How long is the height adjust lever on an SM?

[@flowsetter]

I'm used to pressure testing stuff (retired now) and the various methods & testers used in a range of applications. I can't quite figure out how this works. If you do find out more I'd be interested to hear. Great video as usual.

[@niallsommerville9813]

Interesting but I'm not entirely convinced either. I don't know what valves are inside any of those spheres to enter into a discussion. Like "Flowsetter", having used a lot of hydraulic tools in the past, once you've used up all the oil volume in the pump unit, you cannot generate an increase in pressure, there isn't a lot of volume in those little jacks.

[@Idylla-le-schnouck]

It's quite simple. The pressure will build up quickly when the membrane is still pushed against the opening. The gas pressure is then higher then the oild pressure measure by the gage. As soon as the oil pressure is as high as of larger than the gas pressure, the membrane will start to move and oil may flow into the space under the membrane. At that point the change of pressure is much smaller vs the small amount of oil you push into it, resulting in the pressure needle only going up very slighlty at each pump. You then know what that initial gas pressure was, because the needle only moves very slightly from there. It is alle physiscs. ;-)

[@niallsommerville9813]

@@Idylla-le-schnouck I know how Boyle's law works, that's not the point I am questioning.

[@Idylla-le-schnouck]

@niallsommerville9813 I believe I responded to Flowsetters reaction.....

[@Idylla-le-schnouck]

@@niallsommerville9813 Regarding your point: there is basically an obstruction (with some aditional directional en velocity related response) in the path, as in a narrow passage. At a low flow rate or static situation this will not influence the measurement .

[@BobSmith-ui4qu]

Off the road since 1992! Fix the car!

[@UPnDOWN]

You sound like somebody who's never restored an SM.

[@redlineste4283]

​@UPnDOWN Hi, love the channel and love SM's. Not sure if you are aware of 3 SM's up for sale in America on Beverly Hills Car Club. One is only $3,900 or something.

[@BigPaul62]

Have you got the tools to unscrew the green tit on the top of the sphere and then screw in a one way valve through which you can top up the nitrogen gas.

[@dimitriskanellopoulos5448]

Do you have a tool to add air into the spheres? Or when they are out of air they need replacing straight up? If you have a tool that adds air to them I would love to see a video of how it works!

[@UPnDOWN]

I don't sadly. There are places that offer a regassing service, but obviously there's a risk the rubber diaphragm is shot and they'll go flat again.

[@kuutti121]

Grey spheres have nylon membrane and you are supposed to use long life orange fluid in them. Orange fluid LDS PSA S71 2710 for hydractive 3 equipped cars is synthetic and doesn't mix with lhm.

[@UPnDOWN]

You're thinking of the bigger spheres used on C5 and C6. These are not those.

[@kuutti121]

@@UPnDOWN the multi layer membrane spheres are said to have three dimples near the top as an identifier. Should be durable.

[@kuutti121]

Would make sense to move away from mineral oil based hd liquid to synthetic here where I live because it gets cold.

[@HowardLeVert]

03:27 - SERIOUSLY?! 😱

[@UPnDOWN]

Yeah, it was in the paper & everything

[@uwekall6281]

I think DS has 45...

[@UPnDOWN]

Quite possibly, it was just an example.

[@ebutuoyYT]

If you need supporting, I can hold your hand while you sleep, too creepy?

[@bappybumbam]

Or you could just cradle his head in your lap......