Okay I brought this up in the other section. But have been pondering about it for a long time. Obviously the spring and blades work just fine for the 1st and 2nd gen, as far as longevity is concerned. But, why couldn't Mazda impliment a roller type seal. I don't see anyreason they couldn't. I think it would be more effective than the current apex seals, but more specifically in the FD, since the current apex seals seem to be more vulnerable.

 

Weight, Complexity and size. Trying to seal a "rotating" seal on the side, etc...Trying to seal the rotating seal on it's face would require spring pressure, additional wear surfaces, blah blah blah.

 

it makes sense to me, but I'm no engineer...do you think carbon buildup would be a larger
problem with those type of seals?

 

I don't know if the carbon would affect it or not. I mean as it is carbon is an issue with the current seals. I know its pure imagination. The biggest hurdle would be the sealing like rx7tt95 mentioned. I know the sides would probably be impossible, but I think maybe the face seals could be a possibility.

 

It seems to perhaps partially solve one problem at the expense of introducing a worse problem. The roller has the potential to reduce friction, as compared to a traditional apex seal, as it rolls across the rotor housing surface. But then you would also need something to seal against the roller to seal the combustion chamber. That seems like a more difficult problem than just having an apex seal slide along the (large, and for that reason relatively long-wearing) rotor housing surface.

-Max

 

I'd like to hear how this roller seal will give better isolation from rotor faces?


-Ted

 

repost
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ball+point+pen

 

bad idea. if it had to spin, it would wear out from the inside in a very short amount of time. even if you put a little bearing inside, it would kill the bearings, and add a lot of unnecessary complexity.

pat

 

yea, it would need to somehow be oiled. I'd imagine it would be difficult to find a bearing that would hold up to the heat caused by the combustion in addition to its own generated heat from having to spin so fast.

Why dont you try to make this your personal mission in life so you can make us a better product. lol

 

A roller could be made to live up to the heat. The problem would lie in the weight factor. Rotational weight has a much greater effect than non moving weight. At one time I calculated that........on a 20" bicycle wheel an ounce of weight out on the rim/tire was equal in resistance to a pound on the axle (or fork or frame wherever you want that is non rotational) To decrease the weight on the outside of the rim/tire mad it much easier for your 1/4 BHP (max) legs to get the bicycle moving.

All this means that if Mazda put a heavy roller bearing out on the edge of the rotors, everybody would be modifiying their rotors with this new thing called an Apex seal that is supposed to increase horse.......... You get the picture. But very good question