Servicing a Autobrite H/D foam lance - A 20 step quick guide!

[Neil_M]

Cheers for that, very useful!

[mazda3_daveg]

Cheers, bookmarked in case the hard water in my area ever gets to my AB lance.

[WEIR_SJ]

looks good but has the design been changed for long as i got my lance a while back and was only able to use it once before it broke (the end came off like a missile) just lucky it didnt hit my car (was gutted too as it cost a few quid, and just never had the time to get back to autobright about it), so had to go back to using a halfrauds one :S

i still have mine tho but the end differs from that one, mine just had 2 not so good brass like rivets in it...heance the reason the end fired off...

[Wheelie_Clean]

Originally Posted by WEIR_SJ

looks good but has the design been changed for long as i got my lance a while back and was only able to use it once before it broke (the end came off like a missile) just lucky it didnt hit my car (was gutted too as it cost a few quid, and just never had the time to get back to autobright about it), so had to go back to using a halfrauds one :S

i still have mine tho but the end differs from that one, mine just had 2 not so good brass like rivets in it...heance the reason the end fired off...

Contact Mark @ Autobrite and I am sure he will send you a pair of replacement pins along with fitting instructions.

There was a bad batch of lances with the pins wrongly fitted at the factory iirc. There are several threads in the archives here - somewhere!

[WEIR_SJ]

ah right thanks i mght just do that, tho might wait a while and see if he see my post, as i feel a bit too much time has past and i really should have made time to sort it when it first happened, but i just didnt get time to get back on here as often as i wish i could due to being made redundant twice in the last 12 months and now working stupid hours....

[andy monty]

Would this not make a good guide to sticky in the Detailing guides section?

[parish]

Just a couple of observations from an engineering point of view.

This doesn't look like a good way to hold it in the vice. Vice jaws hardened steel, body soft brass. It looks like the vice is partially gripping the knurled ring - you can see the marks in the second pic - and it won't take much force to distort that and make it impossible to get it back on the bottle. If the threads have threadlock on then it may take quite a bit of force to break the bond.

Originally Posted by autobrite-direct

Step 7 In a vice unscrew the foam end body (use a suitable spanner or adjustable spanner)



You are now left with this

Better removing the adjustment knob and holding it in the vice like this

Originally Posted by autobrite-direct

Step 11 Back in the vice with a adjustable spanner to remove the main part of the body

Also, I'd re-assemble it with PTFE tape, not threadlock. There will be no vibration to loosen the screwed parts so no need to bond them. PTFE tape will provide the necessary seal and prevent the two parts corroding together so making taking it apart again easier.

[G220]

Good stuff parish

[autobrite-direct]

Originally Posted by parish

Just a couple of observations from an engineering point of view.

This doesn't look like a good way to hold it in the vice. Vice jaws hardened steel, body soft brass. It looks like the vice is partially gripping the knurled ring - you can see the marks in the second pic - and it won't take much force to distort that and make it impossible to get it back on the bottle. If the threads have threadlock on then it may take quite a bit of force to break the bond.



Better removing the adjustment knob and holding it in the vice like this



Also, I'd re-assemble it with PTFE tape, not threadlock. There will be no vibration to loosen the screwed parts so no need to bond them. PTFE tape will provide the necessary seal and prevent the two parts corroding together so making taking it apart again easier.

This is just a rough guide on what to do when servicing the lance, of course you can do it anyway you want to. As long as you get a idea of stripping it.

[Slick 77]

I only got upto step 6 as I didnt have all the tools with me but has made a massive difference to my lance and works a lot better, thanks for this