ATKOMATIC SOLENOID VALVES

#322/322/365
Replaced the leaking supa-dupa-lightweight Bees airspring/oildamper with a slightly used German A (for Answer) LRS light air+coilspring/oildamper unit.
The setup is not yet perfect, but at least I do not have to worry about packing the shock airpump every time...
(The coilspring is too strong for me and my airpump does not work with the valve of the airspring...)
The Faunus LSD is rather special because it needs a 320mm long shock with ~80mm travel, which makes finding "cheap" parts difficult.

Edit after one month:
I am sure the German:A LRS damper is a great thing, but probably not so much on the Bergwerk Faunus LSD with the "old" 1:1 lever system. It seems underdamped for the rebound, hitting the travel limit often. Reducing the air pressure further makes the bike sag too much. I had to remove the steel coil spring completely: The bike did not sag at all (I weigh 75kg). I assume that the geometry of the Merida/Centurion LRS is just different enough that the damper cannot be switched easily. For the time I can live with that, though.
Edit after 6 months:
As it turned out, the used LRS damper had a defective damping stage. I sent it in for repair and when I received it back, the ride was much improved. In fact, it was great.

After a few weeks, I heard a squeaky sound. I could not detect it at first. But during a stop, I investigated again in the good daylight. Well, shock my horror, the lever moving the damper (Anlenkwippe) had developed a fracture. Of course, it was there where someone felt the need to mill away a few grams of aluminium, thereby creating a "nice" stress concentration point and thereby basically a"predetermined breaking point". Dear bike manufacturers, stop messing with your customers' lives to save a few grams. This is unacceptable. These frames cost an arm and a leg, they should not fail like that. This is really poor engineering and not worthy of a premium brand. Not worthy of an engineer. You could have saved weight at other places at almost no risk. #meh#

I was able to source a replacement part (same design) and a new design milled from aluminium with worse finish and slightly different kinematics. These different kinematics should lessen the problems. The new part has pockets milled, too, but the damper force is transmitted into the revolute axis directly.

Very little is known about this radio manufacturer except they produced three different models, and apparently several versions of the "Angelina" as well. Won this one as the sole paddle at the opening bid of $9.99. Shipping was only $30 via FedEx from three thousand miles away; and this is one heavy full-seize behemoth with very thick slabs of heartwood alder. Usually I suggest UPS Ground for heavyweights, and they're getting close to $85 total for a coast-to-coast shipment these days, when they only were $55-$60 last spring. One tube needs to be replaced, and the caps and resistors up to the EL80 were swollen and fried. Other than that, where most era German superhets had piano key pushbuttons, this unit is pretty much uneventful from the front except for the basic dial glass layout and the magic eye. The volume and tuning are left and right as usual, but the band selector knob is on the right side. There are two speakers, but no bass/treble adjustment. The cabinetry is beautiful and near mint, but raw alder rubbed over with oak stain just doesn't look natural at all to me. Alder is a bit porous and mottles when merely stained with a rag soaked in stain. I'd like to do a very light blonde treatment if the stain isn't soaked in too deep.