Angram CQ service

[Blackaddler]

I've now moved on to servicing the club's Angram CQs. We bought these new in 2012, and have 10 on the bar.

I'm on the third one, and have found a broken return spring. Has anyone else had this problem?

I noticed that on the previous two CQs, one spring detaches completely, while the other seems to be pinned firmly to the top cap. This is the one that's broken, of course.



Does anyone have an idea if this pin is removable? It seems solidly fixed. I'll try to get some mole grips on the pin tomorrow, to see if it unscrews, but being dome shaped, it's not going to be budge easily.

TIA

[Trefoyl]

No, I think they want you to replace the cylinder plates. Worth a try though.
Paul Pendyke’s prices are crazy high for Angram in the US, but his site has very useful exploded diagrams
https://www.ukbrewing.com/v/vspfiles/as ... Qassem.jpg

[Blackaddler]

Thanks, a useful diagram, that.

I'm waiting on a call from Angram technical dept. at the moment, so I'll find out what they have to say.

I do have an older, spare CQ, which I could swap the top plates over if need be, but I reckon that it should be repairable. I have noticed on the ones that I've serviced so far, that this spring is susceptible to rusting at the securing point.

[Blackaddler]

Well, Angram never called yesterday or today, so I just went ahead and fixed it.

The pin wouldn't lever out with a small screwdriver, but a pair of pincers did the job easily, with a bit of a twist. The pin is just a push fit, but has a kind of thread on it.

Pin removed, and re-bent return spring...





So in the end, it turned out to be quite an easy fix.

4 down, 6 to go...

[Blackaddler]

Update...

For those of you with the CQ model, please note the reply that I finally got from Angram this morning.

Unfortunately we do not sell cylinder seals for the water jacketed cylinders due to the risk of cross contamination.

We do however sell new cylinders, which I have provided the prices below:

CQ Cylinder Water Jacketed 1/4 Pint, £111.00, 7-10 Working Days

So be warned, if you're thinking of buying a used item or are planning to strip and clean your CQ cylinder... If you have an iffy seal, you might end up forking out for a whole new cylinder.

For the cylinders without water jacket, there is a seal kit at £23, but that's no consolation for me.