350X Rear Shock Reservoir....How To Refill w/ Nitrogen??

[patblkwell]

I was checking the rear shock reservoir on my 350X and was wondering if any of you had ever re-filled yours with Nitrogen as recommended on the sticker on it or have you just used regular air for it? I'm not sure if mine leaks, but there was still some nitrogen/air left in there before I took it off. thanks

[edog]

If you now someone in refridgeration then you mite be all set.

[sblt500r]

i've never done a 350x shock but i've done alot of other dirt bike and atv shocks.
first don't use regular air. it won't stand up to the heat, plus it could have water in it which is not good.
any local atv, dirt bike shop should be able to do it for you. but if you want to do it yourself, go to a welding supply shop. they sell nitrogen. its cheap. and ask them if they cap fill it for you. they just need a regulator that goes up to 300 psi, and a hose with a tire chuck on the end. you need up to a 300psi to handle the pressure, don't fill it to 300psi!! fill it to the recomended pressure.

[patblkwell]

Hey, yeah I was thinking that or go to a paintball shop since they use Nitrogen tanks too for air supply. I'd have to have the reservoir line connected to the shock before filling it right? I can't just bring the reservoir without the line and get it charged right? thanks

[sblt500r]

thats right. bring the whole shock filled with oil and everything.

if you fill it without oil in the resivoir you'll blow up the diaphram. so make sure theres enough oil and no air. put the diaphram in and screw on the end cap. bring it to the shop and have them fill it and you'll be all set.

[patblkwell]

Ok, sounds easy enough...just have to make sure they fill it up to the right level and all.

[phil53]

flag down a a/c or refrigeration mechanic.
paintball shops usually don't have the proper regulator. the ones i've seen here are an accident waiting to happen. A cylinder of nitrogen when full is gonna have about 2500 psi in it. be careful.

[hoser]

The service manual should tell you what the pressure is, in my experience its 200-300 psi, you cant fill it using anything but the right tools, the volume of nitrogen in the reservoir is small the pressure is high by time you remove what ever your using to fill it you have lost too much pressure, for example if you remove the cap and use a regular tire pressure gauge to check it, when you hear the pssts noise it makes when you couple and uncouple the gauge you just went from 300 psi to less than 100, they make a special fitting that allows you to pressurize the reservoir by depressing the valve core, filling then releasing the valve core so no pressure is lost, if the gauge says 300 when you unhook the hose from the reservoir thats whats inside the shock.

I bought mine form FOX think it was 75 bux, looks like the one in the attacked pic
http://www.carverperformance.com/tools.htm

Their is a lot of pressure involved when working with nitrogen the learning curve could easily be deadly when trying to cobble together something home made, I suggest you take your shock to a dealer and have them top off the nitrogen for you the cost should be minimal.