[Chromagftw]

I currently own a newly bought 2010 Rock Shox Revelation Team Dual Air. I love the fork for its simplicity and function. Unfortunately, I have been experiencing some trouble with the negative air pressure leaking.

I have always had the fork set up to 105 psi (+ve air) and 110 psi (-ve air) with zero problems for the past 3 months up until a few days ago. I was sitting by the computer and I heard a pop followed by a hissing sound (bike was idle and had not been ridden or fiddled with for 48 hours). I noticed that the seal had had come free and I was able to see into the lower left stanchion as a result. I reset the seal/wiper seal and but now when I set both air pressures, the negative air chamber loses all pressure over the course of 2 hrs WITHOUT any change in positive air pressure.

I pumped up the fork and placed the lowers in a bucket of water to see of I could detect any leakage coming from where -ve air pressure where air is pumped into the schrader valve and there were no signs of leaks.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions as to what the problem might be or how I might resolve the issue?

 

[ZeiR]

Hi Chromag. I had the exact same problem with 2010 Revelation Dual Air. I could not get the fork repaired by warranty which I suggest for you if possible.

Instead I opened the the fork, cleaned it, inspected the o-rings were fine and changed the oil. After couple of rides the fork was not leaking again.

So, I suspect my fork did not have enough oil which is needed for the o-rings inside to keep the pressure in the fork. My fork has been working since with no problems.

 

[Chromagftw]

Thanks ZeiR,

Its comforting to know that another rider has had the same problem. I will do everything as you recommended over the weekend and go out for a few sessions thereafter. Will repost again with progress report.

Appreciate the prompt response mate. :thumbsup:

 

[oldskoolbiker]

I just had this same problem, did not have the "pop", but air did leak out of the negative, and the dust cap got pushed out.

What I did was took the fork apart and cleaned all the air spring parts (esp O rings). I then greased them with Rock N' Roll super slick grease. Then when I re-assembled, I put a cap full (about 5 ml) of Fox Float fluid in each chamber.

After doing this, it seems to be holding air. I went for a ride yesterday and the fork felt great. I'm going to keep monitoring it though.

 

[Chromagftw]

Oldskoolbiker thanks for that.

I went ahead and overhauled the entire fork and replaced all the seals, o-rings and wipers, topping off with the recommended 5 ml of 15wt fork oil. So far so good. Although not a difficult task, it is something I'd rather be doing all too often. I've been given ride time durations of between 50 to 100 hours before an entire servicing is needed. That works out to every 3 - 6 weeks. Seems like a little too often in my book. I am already doing weekly drive train overhauls every 5 rides or so. Whatever it takes to keep the big wheels rolling I guess.

Appreciate the feedback fellas!

 

[Chromagftw]

Back to square one, exact same problem all over again. This will be the 3rd time I am attempting to resolve the issue.

What I am going to do different however is to change the entire lower cartridge in the dual air side of the fork lower in addition to what I did initially... Ironic thing there is absolutely no indication of leaking oil in the air chamber side of the fork (upper or lower) whatsoever, visually or to the touch ......

Recommendations?

Just curious - how often do you Revelation Dual Air owners service or at least maintain the 5ml of fork oil in the lower legs (both left and right). I recall a post stating minimum every 16 - 30 hours of riding. I've never gone more than 4 - 6 hours riding before the fork starts its nonsense again.

I purchased the fork online in April this year and since its an international order the local RockShox distributor will not honor the warranty despite me having the paper work and registering the fork from the very start. Sounds like double standards. Don't get me wrong, the fork is absolutely lovely when it works - WHEN it works. I'm going to give it one last shot and then its over to FOX to see if the grass is greener.

If anyone can share their $0.02 worth as to what's possibly causing this, I'd be very grateful.

 

[keen]

Replace the air spring assembly and make sure in the inside wall of the CSU isn't damaged. I like the idea of Dual Air but after a season of use the reliability was not good enough - went back to coil.

 

[saturnine]

i just had this problem a week or so ago. i did not have the pop but the neg air would just leak instantly after i pumped it up. i basically did what everyone else here did and opened it up to inspect. turns out the top foam ring was twisted and displaced for whatever reason so i fixed it and put it back together and have not had the problem since. your issue seems to be more complicated than that, though.

 

[ban]

is this a common problem? I was about to pull the trigger on a Revelation dual air but reading your comments makes me doubt whether to buy a Revelation or a Talas 32...

 

[olijay]

Not that common from what I've read. Be sure to get it in for an oil change asap though, Rock Shox ships these forks almost dry. Mine was, anyway.

 

[saturnine]

they only require 5ml of oil in the lowers. it doesn't seem right but that's what the manual says. it's probably not a common issue, but i've lowered and raised mine several times so it's possible that i've just done some small things wrong. it's never happened on any other dual air fork i've had and like i said, it was a simple easy fix.

 

[Dion]

Hey all.

Sorry for resurrecting this old thread, but I just bought this fork used off eBay and experiencing this issue. Has anybody found the fix? What kit do I need to buy to get it to hold air? It's frustrating... I seem to always get screwed whenever I buy used. :madman: