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Converted my Cannondale Lefty elo to a mechanical lockout (mlo)

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Henky's

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My Cannondale lefty type elo was not clocking out anymore so I decided to take it apart. Not an easy job but it worked. Thinking of how to put new life in the lockout system I decided to make it mechanical. I did some measuring, some thinking and 3D printing and Voilà! My electric lockout is now a mechanical lockout. It locks by rotating the handle 90 degree. The test ride is coming up as soon as possible:)
 
Discussion starter · #2 ·
I made several test rides and it works almost perfect. I give it a beating every weekend now in the dutch woods. The lockout works fine. The turn handle rotates light but stays in position. No oil leaking out. Air pressure is also OK (did not change it, so it should work any way) There is one thing that could be better and that is the fitting of the white part is a little bit to wide. I had to use some sealant to keep it in from turning. It should not turn because also works as a turn stopper.
Groetjes, Henky's
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
I have placed the parts on shapeways. You can find them under Henky's 3D prints. You will need these 4 parts, but also you need to make a rod (plastic or metal) to mount the parts on.
And you need the tools (or make them your self) to disassemble the lefty damper.
So it is a challenge to convert it. The main thing to know is that the electric driven bushing is replaced by a hand driven mechanism. The helical parts are made to convert the up/down movement to a rotating ( 60 degrees) movement.
 
#13 ·
This is a great idea and I would seriously consider buying the 3d printed parts. However there are a few open ends that I have questions about:

1) What are the unexplained metal parts in img 3480 and 3483? I understand the rod well enough, but the other metal parts are nowhere to be found in the ELO manual or in your write-up. Are they stock parts from out of the old ELO? It looks like they are fresh machined though and that you made them.

2) On the rod, what OD should the grooves be for the O-rings and how wide should they be. Also, what size o-rings?

3) As far as the screw end goes, did you make that too or did that come from the stock ELO? It looks like you made it. What scale are the windings?

4) Your handwriting is also pretty hard to decipher. Is that Dutch? Stange ist auch Deutsch für Rod. Darum frage ich. :)

Great write up though and awesome possibilities for you selling these parts. Just need a more thorough explanation. I am excited to go take apart me ELO (again) that has for years not worked.

For anyone else, here's a link to the parts:

Henky's 3D prints by Leuktemaken - Shapeways Shops
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
pressed001 said:
This is a great idea and I would seriously consider buying the 3d printed parts. However there are a few open ends that I have questions about:

1) What are the unexplained metal parts in img 3480 and 3483? I understand the rod well enough, but the other metal parts are nowhere to be found in the ELO manual or in your write-up. Are they stock parts from out of the old ELO? It looks like they are fresh machined though and that you made them.

2) On the rod, what OD should the grooves be for the O-rings and how wide should they be. Also, what size o-rings?

3) As far as the screw end goes, did you make that too or did that come from the stock ELO? It looks like you made it. What scale are the windings?

4) Your handwriting is also pretty hard to decipher. Is that Dutch? Stange ist auch Deutsch für Rod. Darum frage ich. :)

Great write up though and awesome possibilities for you selling these parts. Just need a more thorough explanation. I am excited to go take apart me ELO (again) that has for years not worked.

For anyone else, here's a link to the parts:

Henky's 3D prints by Leuktemaken - Shapeways Shops
Click to expand...
answer fore
1:img 3480 is the gearbox cut in two. you need the threaded part for the conversion.
2:img 3483 is the brass bushing that opens/closes the oil channel. You need to reuse it.
3:This is the threaded part of the gearbox. (see pic 3360)

4:Here is some extra info about the conversion.

For the hole conversion the following parts are needed (see shapeways)
3D print parts needed :
1 Helix inside spoed 8 two groves
2 Helix outside spoed 8 two groves
3 Lockout handle
4 Outer cap for stopper

5 One shaft round 8mm (max) and 245mm long with a thin part of round 7.5mm and 28mm long of plastic or alluminium shall be made by your self. Two grove are made in it to fit the 2 O-rings. This way oil can not escape to the outside. See picture. (If you want, I can make this part in Shapeways (solidworks) as well, but it will take some time.)

-You will have to make M4 thread in the Helix inside and the Lockout handle.(no pic of lockout)

-In the end you will need to cut the shaft of round 8mm to the correct length.

Also you will need:

M4 adjusting screw L=approx. 10mmDIN916 (2x)
Reuse the two anti theft screws (inner hexagon with a pin in the middle)(2x) (you need a special screwdriver/bit) pic 3120

O-rings outside 8mm 2 mm thick( approx) (2x)
O-ring inside 8mm 2 mm thick(aprox)(2x)

If you can disassemble your lefty than you can do this also.

Good Luck,
Henky's
 
#15 ·
Henky's,

I received the parts from shapeways today. The threaded pieces are a little rough. I'm assuming they screw into each other? If so are they a moving part once installed? The reason I ask is since the parts are a little rough it is very hard to thread them together. I could probably force them together, but it would be difficult, and once together they would not unscrew very easily.

Obviously I'm doing this to fix my forks, but part of my attempting this is to really test the viability of the whole 3D printed parts to order.

Thanks,
W
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
BMXbomber said:
Henky's,

I received the parts from shapeways today. The threaded pieces are a little rough. I'm assuming they screw into each other? If so are they a moving part once installed? The reason I ask is since the parts are a little rough it is very hard to thread them together. I could probably force them together, but it would be difficult, and once together they would not unscrew very easily.

Obviously I'm doing this to fix my forks, but part of my attempting this is to really test the viability of the whole 3D printed parts to order.

Thanks,
W
Click to expand...
I am very happy that you bought my conversion parts. Dit not know this.
The two threaded pieses are rough I know. I used some sandpaper and grease/oil to make them rotate in each other. sand off the outside thread (look where you see the parts touching each other) and try it every time untill you can rotate them by hand. But not to easy. You do not want the handel to rotate by itself, but stay in place.
-
The outer piece with the 6 holes shall be mounted to the lefty inner housing using the two anti theft screws. The inner ring shall be fixed to the shaft using a M4 adjusting screw L=approx. 10mmDIN916.
The final position of the inner ring must be made during re-assembly.
(do not tighten to much, it is plastic afteral)

The outer cap for stopper shall be placed in the aluminium cap. It shall replace the green glas part.(it can be slided out using some penetrating oil)

Good Luck,
Hanky's
 
#17 ·
Lefty Scalpel: ELO not working

Hi,
I live in the Netherlands (Maastricht) and own a Canondale single fork Scalpel that I stored for several years. I took it out of storage and put a new 9V battery in the ELO lockout but no response. I am not very technical but would like to be able to use it again with the lockout, manual or otherwise. Any help would be appreciated.
Eli

Henky's said:
I am very happy that you bought my conversion parts. Dit not know this.
The two threaded pieses are rough I know. I used some sandpaper and grease/oil to make them rotate in each other. sand off the outside thread (look where you see the parts touching each other) and try it every time untill you can rotate them by hand. But not to easy. You do not want the handel to rotate by itself, but stay in place.
-
The outer piece with the 6 holes shall be mounted to the lefty inner housing using the two anti theft screws. The inner ring shall be fixed to the shaft using a M4 adjusting screw L=approx. 10mmDIN916.
The final position of the inner ring must be made during re-assembly.
(do not tighten to much, it is plastic afteral)

The outer cap for stopper shall be placed in the aluminium cap. It shall replace the green glas part.(it can be slided out using some penetrating oil)
Image


Good Luck,
Hanky's
Click to expand...
 
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