| Author | Message | ||
     Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1915 Registered: 6-2009 |
Gentlemen, I have not yet encountered an E-Clip on a car from Crewe, but I have to believe that there have to be one or two on them somewhere.  This question is more general. When using an e-clip to secure something to a post of a given diameter, does one generally or always use an E-clip of the next size down? For example, say the post is 1/2" in diameter, would I use a 3/8" E-clip? Would the same principle apply in metric sizes as well? Or is there no convention at all? I'd have to believe there are engineering conventions related to these things, but I'd rather have that confirmed. Brian | ||
| Jeff Young Prolific User Username: jeyjey Post Number: 250 Registered: 10-2010 |
Hi Brian, The shaft will always have a groove cut in it that fits the inside diameter of the three tabs of the E-clip. The E-clip will not be under tension once clipped onto the shaft -- only when clipping or unclipping. The outside diameter of the E-clip must be larger than the shaft, as its purpose is to keep something from sliding off. Given those constraints, I suspect there's a fairly narrow range of groove depths per shaft size, but I don't know what the relationship is. Cheers, Jeff. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 507 Registered: 2-2013 |
Brian be aware that those E-clips are probably originals "Made in China" which in English means "Buggered when New". If you put the E-clip on and it buckles its too small a size and if you put the E-clip on and you can pull it off with your fingers easily it will fall off defeating the purpose of it even being there so that's too large a clip. I would suggest that there are possibly metric and imperial sized E-clips. When pulling them off sometimes they are called Jesus clips because they disappear and you spend hours or days looking for them. I would be surprise if RR/B didn't use them somewhere like in the gearbox internally, perhaps the wiper motor or somewhere where you will have to modify a screw driver to get them to off. Do have fun with your E-clip collection but remember they are addictive and often painful when swallowed. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1917 Registered: 6-2009 |
Vladimir, I actually don't have the pictured E-clip collection. I only used that photo for illustrative purposes, not knowing whether the E-clip terminology was consistent across continents and cultures. Since spring clip,C-clip, and snap ring tend to get used here quite interchangeably for what Crewe documentation always calls a circlip I figured it could be one of those "two (or more) peoples separated by a common language" things. I'm actually repairing the drive gear on my self-propelled lawn mower. Since the shaft itself is 1/2" in diameter, the next size down in E-clips is 7/16", which I now believe will be the correct fit. I'd think in general, though, since there are a set of standard sizes in these clips in both English and metric measurements that there must be standard engineering and machining conventions as well. I long ago remember Richard Treacy making the comment, with regard to O-rings and related seals, that engineers engineer around available seal sizes. Boutique engineering that requires a non-standard seal size is exceedingly rare as a result, and given what the cost is to having custom runs for anything, with good reason. Brian | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1918 Registered: 6-2009 |
Jeff, I had never thought carefully about exactly how E-clips work, but had noticed that I typically have a lot more difficulty getting one off than getting one on. This makes perfect sense given that once the upper and lower "arms" of the E are 'over the hump' they're rapidly trying to close up and when you're trying to remove one they're trying to stay closed. In the case of this particular repair the 7/16" E-clip was the perfect fit. I strongly suspect that since these are not used to hold on things where it's a fully "mission critical"/"life or death" situation that the most common practice will be using a clip that's whatever the next smaller diameter available when compared against the diameter of the post in which the groove is cut. Brian P.S. to Vladimir: Good luck on finding non-Chinese made bits like this virtually anywhere. It's not that they don't exist, but when I need a clip or two, and usually fairly quickly, I'm buying whatever is on my local shelf. The Hillman brand ones I got today were made in Taiwan. | ||
| Kelly Opfar Frequent User Username: kelly_opfar Post Number: 90 Registered: 7-2004 |
Whenever I am rebuilding something, I regularly make new shafts to accept retaining rings or E-clips instead of cotter pins. I get them from McMaster-Carr. They can be purchased using the known shaft diameter or the groove diameter. http://www.mcmaster.com/#retaining-rings/=12likd5 | ||
| John Kilkenny Prolific User Username: john_kilkenny Post Number: 237 Registered: 6-2005 |
For a full description see this http://webdev.twocentshosting.com.au/~tnn/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Circlips.pdf | ||
| Jeff Cheng New User Username: makeshift Post Number: 10 Registered: 2-2016 |
As Jeff Young mentioned, the e-clip should not be under any tension once seated in the groove. As this diagram below shows, measuring between the 'ears' will give an approximate diameter groove it should be fitted to. https://www.springmasters.com/sp/images/e-type-circlips-standard.gif Of course some applications will be more safety critical than others (clutch cable vs A/C vacuum hose), the trick is knowing where you can scrimp and where you really shouldn't. | ||
| David Balfour Experienced User Username: sidchrome Post Number: 12 Registered: 2-2009 |
While degreasing the left chassis rail of my SCII, with the chassis number on it, I hosed a lot of debris off the car and found many washers, 2 nuts, and 1 E-Clip under the car. Does anyone know where an e-clip might belong on a Cloud? The one I found was too big for the wiper motor, but obviously engine bay located. | ||
| David Towers Frequent User Username: xtriple Post Number: 58 Registered: 6-2010 |
just testing. |
