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Aqua-Cycle® Maintenance Suggestions
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A well maintained Aqua-Cycle® will last for many years. Rental operators should follow these lubrication and maintenance guidelines every week to keep their Aqua-Cycles® properly maintained for customer safety, highest profits and the least amount of down time. SAFETY - Never allow Aqua-Cycles®
to be used without the fork guard and
belt
guard properly installed for the protection of the users and equipment.
If you have a question about safety please call our office.
BEARINGS
- Maintenance
PROTECT YOUR AQUA-CYCLE® AND THE SAFETY OF YOUR RIDERS BY REPLACING THE BEARINGS AS SPECIFIED ABOVE. WEEKLY - Grease all pedal crank and rear axle bearings to keep your Aqua-Cycle® running smoothly and reduce wear to the parts. Grease fittings are on each bearing, however some are covered by the plastic belt guard. These fittings can be greased through the access holds in the belt guard or by temporarily removing the plastic belt guard for access. Never operate the Aqua-Cycle® with the belt guard removed. To grease the Aqua-Cycle®, flip it over so it is resting on the handle bar and top of the seat back. This way the wheels are free to turn and gives you easy access to the grease fittings. Use a high-quality marine grease that holds up when exposed to water. Force enough grease into the bearings so a little comes out the sides. Rotate the pedal crank and rear xle to spread the grease around the bearings before turning the Aqua-Cycle® right side up. Wipe off any excess so it does not collect dirt or grease, or get into the riders. Never operate the Aqua-Cycle® without the Belt Guard installed for the safety of your riders and protection of the Aqua-Cycle. Click here for Bearing Replacement Kit instructions - a PDF file See PEDAL CRANK and REAR AXLE for alignment instructions when replacing bearings. BELT - Maintenance
Another cause of a loose belt is that the bearings have not been replaced as specified, every 100 hours of use for AC3 and prior models and every 200 hours of use for AC4 & AC5 models. It is important to replace the bearings as recommended for the protection of your pedal crank and rear axle. CLICKING or SNAPPING SOUND - This is usually a case of very worn bearings and will be corrected with a new bearings . If not, then you might try drilling new mounting holes on the bearing brackets for the pedal crank or rear axle to that part is moved farther from the other, causing the belt to be tigher. Do not over-tighten the belt. A belt that is too tight will cause the same damage to the pedal crank and rear axle as bearings that are worn. Sometimes a frame is damaged or torqued so the pedal crank and rear axle are out of alignment. Seldom can a repair be made to a frame damaged in this way. BELT TENSIONER - We have a tensioner for AC3 and prior models and one for AC4 & AC5 models that will help keep the belt tight as the pedal crank is rotated. A tensioner is not the best fix, but can help reduce the problem of a belt snapping or jumping on the gear. Watch for loose strands of fiber extending out the sides of the belt. Keep any fiber strings trimmed so they do not get caught in the gears or bearings. Never operate the Aqua-Cycle® without the Belt Guard installed for the safety of your riders and protection of the Aqua-Cycle®. Click here for Belt Replacement Kit instructions - a PDF file BELT GUARD - Maintenance
Never allow your Aqua-Cycle® to be operated unless the belt guard is installed. Please call our office if you have any questions about the plastic belt guard or other safety related issues. FRONT FORK - Maintenance
The top and bottom of the fork pin should be lubricated with WD-40 or a good silicone lubricant. Turn the fork while spraying so the lubricant can run down the pin and be spread from side to side. Lubricating the fork pin keeps wear to a minimum and the fork from squeeking. Fork Bushings should be checked annually and replaced when wear is noticeable. Be sure there is enough shoulder on the fork bushings to keep the fork from rubbing against the neck tube, causing wear to that aluminum part. Check the welds on the fork legs at the lower brace point to be sure there are no cracks developing. Be sure the nuts and bolts are secure holding the fork pin in place. Check the neck tube and gussets to be sure that the welds are holding securely. FORK GUARD - Maintenance
Order yours today and never allow your Aqua-Cycles® to be used without a fork guard installed. Click here so see how it mounts to the frame. FRONT WHEEL - Maintenance
Check that the wheel is centered between the fork legs without risk of rubbing on one leg. If off-center possibly the wheel has "slid" on the center tube and more tube is sticking out one side than the other. If so, remove the wheel, saw off the excess tube on one side and reassemble the wheel on the fork. If spacing is needed between the wheel and fork leg, add stainless steel washers betwen the fork leg and the hex nut. The wheels are made of polyethylene plastic. This makes them impervious to most kinds of damage. However, it also makes them hard to repair if damage exists. If you need to patch or seal a crack in the front wheel, use GE Silicone II caulking. Be sure to carefully clean off all sand, oil, dirt or salt before applying the caulking. Once the repair is done, let the caulking dry and cure for 72 hours before putting the Aqua-Cycle® back into the water. FRONT WHEEL AXLE - The axle is a stainless steel rod that goes through the middle of the front wheel and connects to the fork legs. There are two bushings inserted into the aluminum tube in the center of the front wheel and the bushings go into the ends of that tube. The axle then slides through those bushings and hex nuts are tightend (carefully) against those bushings before the fork legs are attached. The mount the wheel and axle to the fork legs and put on the lock nuts onto the axle that extends through the fork legs. Be sure the bushings have not been forced into the center aluminum tube, damaging it. Be sure the outer lock nuts are holding the folk legs tightly against the inner hex huts. PEDAL CRANK - Maintenance
The rest of the pedal crank maintenance is relatively simple as long as the bearings are replaced on schedule. For AC3 Aqua-Cycles® the bearings should be replaced every 100 hours of use and for AC4 & AC5 models every 200 hours of use. My pedal crank broke. Why? Click here. Check that there is one locking collar at each end of the pedal crank. These keep the pedal crank from sliding sideways, causing it to be out of alignment with the rear axle gear. Never operate the Aqua-Cycle® without the Belt Guard installed for the safety of your riders and protection of the Aqua-Cycle. Click here for AC3 Pedal Crank Replacement Kit instructions - a PDF file Click here for AC4 & AC5 Pedal Crank Replacement Kit instructions - a PDF file PEDALS - Maintenance
The pedals were specially designed for the Aqua-Cycle® since so many of our riders have bare feet when riding. These large pedals are more comfortable to the feet than the typical paddle boat pedals, but because of their larger size they need to be checked from time to time. REAR AXLE - Maintenance
The rest of the rear axle maintenance is relatively simple as long as the bearings are replaced on schedule. As with the pedal crank bearings, for AC3 Aqua-Cycles® the rear axle bearings should be replaced every 100 hours of use and for AC4 & AC5 models every 200 hours of use. My Rear Axle broke. Why? Click here. Check that the axle collars are tight against the inside edge of the side axle bearings to keep the axle in alignment with the pedal crank gear. If misaligned, the belt can be severely damaged. Never operate the Aqua-Cycle® without the Belt Guard installed for the safety of your riders and protection of the Aqua-Cycle. REAR WHEELS - Maintenance
If you are getting water in the wheels, most often it is coming in through small, almost invisible cracks in the center hub area of the wheel. Remove the week from the rear axle, then remove the wheel hubs and inspect the inner parts of the wheel. Look for hairline cracks or damage around the bolt mounting holds. If damage is found or suspected, clean off all sand, salt, dirt and oil and remove any loose plastic. Scuff and scar the common surfaces of the wheel and hub that touch when assembled. Put clear GE Silicone II caulking around each bolt hole, over the small cracks and into the center axle hole. Apply the caulking like tooth paste. Don't spread it around. When the hub is inserted into the wheel the caulking will spread out to cover the surfaces. After the wheel is reinstalled on the Aqua-Cycle®, let the caulking dry or cure for at least 72 hours before putting it back into the water. Cracks in the center hub area of the wheel are usually a result of over tighening the bolts when first assembling the Aqua-Cycle which squeezes the plastic together and crushes the wheel center area. The nuts should be snug, but not tight. If a crack develops along the center seam of the wheel, also use GE Silicone caulking, forcing it into the crack and letting it cure before putting it back into service. Be sure to carefully clean away any dirt, salt, oil or sand from the crack before applying the caulking. SEAT & STRAPS - Maintenance
Click here for Seat & Straps Replacement instructions - a PDF file BROKEN PEDAL CRANK OR REAR AXLE
- Why?
1) It can be a result of people trying to pedal the Aqua-Cycle® while on land (on the beach or just barely in the water) rather than when it is free-floating in the water, or when it is setting on a sand-bar and the people need to pedal off of the sand bar. Even if a rider pedals while being pushed into the water, irreversable damage can occur to the pedal crank, rear axle, frame and belt. Fatigue of the parts occurs and it accumulates until the part(s) finally break. The Aqua-Cycle® is not designed to be a land vehicle. It is specifically a water vehicle and should be treated as such. 2) Another and more common cause is if the Aqua-Cycle® has been used more than 200 hours for AC4 and AC5 models (100 hours for AC3 model) and the bearings have not been replaced. Some rental locations can accumulate 200 hours in just 25 days if used an average of 8 hours per day. Many locations accumulate 200 hours of use in just 2 months of rentals. OIthers do it in 3-4 months. In the Assembly Instructions and on a red CAUTION plate mounted on the Aqua-Cycle® we make clear that there is a need to replace the bearings every 200 hours (or 100 hours for AC3) of use. How often that limit is reached is based upon your usage. Only you can determine how often the bearings should be changed. The bearing replacement kit only costs $62, which is much less than a replacement pedal crank costing $235 or rear axle costing $445. Keep in perspective that if you are charging $10 per hour, most all locations charge at least $15 per hour, you are bringing in $2,000 in 200 hours of rental. You can afford to replace the bearings as needed to keep their Aqua-Cycles® profitable and in good working condition. Here is a more detailed explanation of what causes these parts to break: The bearings keep the pedal crank and rear axle in a straight line from side to side as well as up and down. If there is too much wear, about 1/16th of an inch or more, the pedal crank and rear axle bow ever so slightly toward each other as the Aqua-Cycle® is pedaled. In addition, an up and down bow can happen with people on the Aqua-Cycle®. As the pedal crank and axle rotate in that bowed position, reverse stress occurs and the metal begins to fatigue - just like twisting a paperclip around and around until it breaks. The stress accumulates in the center where the gear plate is welded to the bar. Eventually enough fatigue accumulates to break the metal. The limit in bearing wear, when there is enough wear to permit a significant bow, occurs around 200 hours of use for AC4 & AC5 models (100 hours for AC3 models). From that point on the metal responds to the reverse stress and unnecessary fatigue in the metal accumulates. Replacing the bearings later (250, 300, 400, etc. hours) will not "heal" the damage that has begun to accumulate. Eventually a pedal crank and rear axle damaged by excessive bearing wear will break, but if you replace the worn out bearings at some point the life of the damaged part(s) will be extended a while longer.
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