Centramatic. Whats the point?

[ZoominC6]

Couldn't imagine running without our Hensley, Centramatics or Insurance of any kind for that matter.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by eubank

Ah, now, is that with or without the contents of the hanky?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!


Lynn

As promised, we weighed a perfectly clean, mens white hanky, absolutely dry, AND no solids, at 12.8 grams which is .42 ounces.

A ST 225/75 R15 load range "D" tire weighs 30 pounds, the steel wheel weighs 25 pounds and the hub and drum weighs 40 pounds, for a total of 95 pounds.

Placing the "clean" mens hanky, slightly off center of that assembly, that's mounted in our Snap-on balancer, will make the assembly rotate since it's now been off balanced with less than 1/2 ounce of weight.

It's unfortuante that Snap-on tools, decided years ago to discountinue the manufacture of that balancer. It has worked for me, personally for over 40 years.

It's also very sad, that in spite of our "space age" accomplishments, that it's very rare to find a shop, that can balance a tire, wheel and hub and drum, as an assembly.

Anything that spins, must have some form of balancing, and the greater the weight as well as the greater the speed, makes that balancing even more important.

I wonder what would happen to a jet engine, revved up to flight RPM, if it was not very finely balanced? I would guess, that it would explode.

Andy

[boatdoc]

Originally Posted by eubank

Ah, now, is that with or without the contents of the hanky?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist!


Lynn

I do not blame you Lynn. Lets get serious here. How much difference can a quarter ounce make at five inches radius from center of rotation when 2000 lbs is sitting on a tire? What about out of round tires even if they are perfectly balanced? Thanks, "Boatdoc"

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by boatdoc

I do not blame you Lynn. Lets get serious here. How much difference can a quarter ounce make at five inches radius from center of rotation when 2000 lbs is sitting on a tire? Thanks, "Boatdoc"

All the difference in the world, as stated by several owners in their above posts.

Andy

[eubank]

Good test, Andy! I've been a believer for some time now with our old rims and bias-ply tires from China. Basically, I have the tires roughly balanced at the shop and then rely on the Centramatics to take care of the details, including the hubs and drums.

Lynn

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by boatdoc

I do not blame you Lynn. Lets get serious here. How much difference can a quarter ounce make at five inches radius from center of rotation when 2000 lbs is sitting on a tire? What about out of round tires even if they are perfectly balanced? Thanks, "Boatdoc"

That's one of the components or possibilities of load force balancing, along with construction inconsistencies within the sidewall, not being seated exactly properly on the rim, etc.

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

It's unfortuante that Snap-on tools, decided years ago to discountinue the manufacture of that balancer. It has worked for me, personally for over 40 years.

I was a Snap-on dealer from 1977 until 1993. I agree with you Andy regarding those balancers. I used one to balance the flywheel in my VW powered dune buggy. They are a great tool.

The problem arose when the "automatic" balancers hit the market. They are far easier to use in that the operator doesn't have to do much thinking. They just mount the wheel, hit the green button and in a few seconds the machine tells them where to place weight and how much to place. For the most part, most of them work OK, and do save some time.

However, if you want to balance something other than a wheel and tire, they are useless. The old Snap-on balancer can be used to balance just about anything that can be mounted on it.

Hang on to yours.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Jim Foster

I was a Snap-on dealer from 1977 until 1993. I agree with you Andy regarding those balancers. I used one to balance the flywheel in my VW powered dune buggy. They are a great tool.

The problem arose when the "automatic" balancers hit the market. They are far easier to use in that the operator doesn't have to do much thinking. They just mount the wheel, hit the green button and in a few seconds the machine tells them where to place weight and how much to place. For the most part, most of them work OK, and do save some time.

However, if you want to balance something other than a wheel and tire, they are useless. The old Snap-on balancer can be used to balance just about anything that can be mounted on it.

Hang on to yours.

I have 2 of them, you know "spares".

Andy

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

I have 2 of them, you know "spares".

Andy

Speaking of spares, when I was a dealer Snap-on had a very good parts department, and a very extensive list of replacement parts. It might be fun to get on a Snap-on truck and have a look in the parts book and see if parts are still available for those balancers. If so, one could build a new one. There can't be more that tow dozen parts in one of those things, plus the cones. The bearings are probably the same as in an alternator. Pretty simple devices.

The cones and shaft would be the most important parts as they must be as close to perfect as they can be.

[Aviator]

Handyman,

Centramatics are dynamic balancing devices which fit between the wheel and drum. There is a video of them on the Inland RV website.

[tslanier]

Originally Posted by mhilley

I can't comment about Centramatics vs Dynabeads but I will tell you that the Centramatics do work! My cabinet drawers were coming open during travel. I had the tires balanced which didn't help (probably hubs out of balance?). I installed the Centramatics and haven't had a drawer come open since. To me that is proof, and all for only 0.3% of the cost of the trailer!

Ditto!!