05 RXP 215 Supercharger Questions

[captjanes]

Is there a s/c that I can buy that is maintenance free like the newer models? What makes the new s/c maintenance free? Is it cooled differently?

 

[MacSeaDoo]

There is no maintenance free supercharger for our machines just a newer part with a longer intervals.

If you let it go for too long, the plastic cage in the bearings become brittle and fail.

Not worth the risk.

 

[captjanes]

So that is the only reason why it fails, because of plastic cages in the bearings? So your telling me if I use a regular 6200 bearing or brass cage then it would not need to be O/H every 100hrs/2years? That's hard to believe for sure a simple fix.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

I would say it is not the only reason they fail but it would be the most common.

I don't know why they use a plastic cage but to date they still do so I am assuming they have tested or have a reason. I do know that I can't think of another mass production engine that utilizes a gear driven centrifugal supercharger and I am guessing this would be the reason for it.

There are tradeoffs in every design, and I would suspect they went with this formula because of space constraints with the tradeoff being longevity.

In the end, I suspect if Rotax could have a SC that would be zero maintenance for the life of the engine, they would be running it.

 

[captjanes]

I would say it is not the only reason they fail but it would be the most common.

I don't know why they use a plastic cage but to date they still do so I am assuming they have tested or have a reason. I do know that I can't think of another mass production engine that utilizes a gear driven centrifugal supercharger and I am guessing this would be the reason for it.

There are tradeoffs in every design, and I would suspect they went with this formula because of space constraints with the tradeoff being longevity.

In the end, I suspect if Rotax could have a SC that would be zero maintenance for the life of the engine, they would be running it.

I understand and I agree with you. It is just disappointing that there is so much engineering put into these machines and something so simple as a poorly designed S/C is the weak link in the chain. We pay good money for these machines and then it is a gamble every 100hrs/2 years if you should overhaul your S/C costing $500+ or take the chance of destroying your engine if the S/C gear drops inside. I think 2018+ they are maintenance free. So why not recall it and fix the problem. Or at the very least, design it to last 5 years or so.

 

[Poormanracing]

It's a give and take.if they make it last any longer then the internals of the motor will be a weak link.they designed it to be the fail point.could they of changed the design probably but who knows how long the motor would last.i have a few customers that have money to burn and they asked to just replace the clutches and so far there 185 have clise to 800 hours on the stock bearings and gear just clutches every other season.

 

[ski-d00]

The 300 superchargers are marketed as maintenance free and there is no rebuild parts for them. However, I see lots of 2016 and 2017s failing which requires the complete supercharger to be replaced.

There is no cooling on the supercharger. There is an oil jet for added lubrication.