Demon drive - seized footplate hinges, other issues

[DavidPartay]

Hi Pearl Staff,

This isn't a whinge or anything, just a comedy of errors that has led to this day.

I play bare foot, which is half the problem. The other half of the problem is I've been lazy when it comes to maintenance.

Probably within 6 months of owning the pedal (which I acquired in very late 2009, not long after it first came out and one of the first to be bought in Australia), the bolts that hold the hinge in place had seized up. No real big deal, because I prefer the longboard configuration anyway.

But the real issue has come through over time, my hinges have become packed with crud, and it has caused one of them to almost completely seize up. It's still playable, but in desperate need of replacement.

So I contacted Newcastle Drum Shop who have been incredibly helpful, but their supplier has stated that they've never had to get the hinges into Australia before and it could be months before they arrive.

So I am just wondering if it is possible to source them direct from Pearl, and if so what sort of cost am I looking at?

Everything else on the pedal is still in good working order, although the drive shaft has developed a teensy amount of noise and I have worn the chrome off the foot 'pads'.

I will have to drill out the bolts as they are impossible to get out now. I'm fairly sure that the loctite that came pre-installed on the bolts has just completely fused solid.

Anyway, if you could please let me know what could be done, that would be great! I really urgently need to get the hinges replaced.

[DavidPartay]

I should also state before anyone else does, that everything is seized beyond the help of heating the loctite or applying copious amounts of WD-40 or RP-7.

[Gord The Drummer]

Soak them in oil for a day or two.

[Cheez_Whiz]

The pedals, or his feet?

[DavidPartay]

Hahaha.

Soaking in oil (which I've tried) won't work as they need to be cleaned - not oiled. I'm going to be looking for an aluminium-safe degreaser and soaking them in THAT for a bit. Then I should be able to flush them out with boiling water, hit them with some WD-40, and then oil them again. I think this is the only way I can clean them without disassembling them - which I can't do anyway because the allen bolts that hold the end caps on are seized completely on one, and I can't even get the end caps off on the other, even by hammering a screwdriver into the side .

[DavidPartay]

Ok, so I did what I said I would - hit them with some degreaser, boiling water, and WD-40. Surprisingly, the slave pedal actually came good after a few lateral thumps with a hammer, so it didn't get boiled. The slave pedal is actually just about as good as new.

The master pedal improved not nearly as much, but at least now the beater will oscillate a lot more instead of just grinding to a stop very quickly.

But all that being said, past experience with small moving parts (such as skateboard bearings) suggests that they're beyond repair, and I doubt that the improvements will last long. And I don't really want to have to go through all this every couple of weeks/months just to keep it usable

[Drobac]

the drive shaft has developed a teensy amount of noise

I've been lazy when it comes to maintenance.

Case closed.

But all that being said, past experience with small moving parts (such as skateboard bearings) suggests that they're beyond repair, and I doubt that the improvements will last long. And I don't really want to have to go through all this every couple of weeks/months just to keep it usable

DDs have spherical bearings in hinges, not ball bearings which to me is a flaw in the pedal. Spherical bearings are good in situations where axles are not parallel to each other. Since both bearings are on the same axle, there's no point putting spherical bearings in there. Spherical bearings need to be 100% clean in order to work properly. Any dirt or dust in them will make them slower and eventually stiff.

I changed my pedals hinges to ball bearings and never looked back. They function great and (unlike with spherical bearings) there's no play in them or side-to-side motions.

[DavidPartay]

Thanks for the tip, Drobac, the only problem is I can't disassemble the hinges to replace the bearings

And I'm fully aware my lack of maintenance is primarily responsible... but the hinges were always difficult to take apart, maintenance was quite difficult to begin with. And it doesn't help that the bolts holding them in place got locked in within only a few months - I'm going to have to drill them out anyway.

[Rocking_Again]

Have you tried heating the set screws with the tip of a hot soldering iron? Heat 'em up and unscrew them while still hot, probably spin right out.

[DavidPartay]

Yep, I already said that in my second post

[Gord The Drummer]

Hahaha.

Soaking in oil (which I've tried) won't work as they need to be cleaned - not oiled. I'm going to be looking for an aluminium-safe degreaser and soaking them in THAT for a bit. Then I should be able to flush them out with boiling water, hit them with some WD-40, and then oil them again. I think this is the only way I can clean them without disassembling them - which I can't do anyway because the allen bolts that hold the end caps on are seized completely on one, and I can't even get the end caps off on the other, even by hammering a screwdriver into the side .

I don't think you have tried what I suggested. An oil soak (probably SAE30 should be what you would look at) is where you literally throw the hinge in a tub of oil for a few days. Oil tends to soak into and ruin just about anything, but in this case it can't ruin the metal, only soak into and loosen up/break down all of the crap in the hinge. It will also likely move into the seized threads (capillary action) and may help loosen that up... but you are talking about a few days in oil, not just one application. This is how automotive parts that are in bad gummed up shape are often loosened up. Oil is messy, but it works if you give it time. Once you have the parts freed up, you wipe away the excess and because you used oil to loosen it up shouldn't need to lubricate the internal parts (it already would be). But you'd also want to make sure you've drained out all of the excess oil from the hinge too.

[DavidPartay]

I did actually soak it in oil overnight before you had even suggested it. Unfortunately I can't do it for a few days because I need to be able to practise in that time.

But the other issue is that the heads of the allen bolts are stuffed. They need to be drilled out no matter what.

I am a little concerned that Pearl haven't replied yet though? I thought they were a bit quicker than this...

[playinpearls]

. I am a little concerned that Pearl haven't replied yet though? I thought they were a bit quicker than this...

Send Al a PM.

It's getting close to the holidays and he's probably getting a little busier over at hq.

[DavidPartay]

Yep, will do. Fortunately the pedals are behaving for now after what I have done to them so there's much less urgency than there was.

[Raymond Massey]

Sounds like you're on the right track to loosen the allen screws and caps heat and PB7 helps if soaked over time. I would keep trying this. If it turns out that you are unable to free the axle/bearing, you might want to consider just replacing the hinge with part number DC-720FA.

Unfortunately we do not offer the bearings, caps or axle separately. If you need to drill it out the thread for bearing cap (2mm allen head is M4 - 0.7)
The 2.5 allen screw that holds down the axle is M5-0.8

Loctite is blue

Keep us posted