Rather than basing the design on the CAD file, one could ship the gear assembly to https://www.protiq.com.

This is the approach I adopted with the guy than built my 2 stainless steel parts in the first place (I did not have any CAD file at that time and that did not prevent him to built two perfect parts, before refusing to build anyone anymore)

Unfortunately the spare mechanism I had, had never been returned by the second guy I contacted more recently to try to get a second source.

 

Hi Martin,

yes it is the final CAD I have made.

I would tend to believe printing is accurate enough. I just ordered on ebay a replacement gear set for a Parmiggiano cheese grinder and it was a perfect fit. The bad news is that it only lasted half an hour. Not sure what plastic compound they used for the printing but obviously it was less robust than the original (also plastic) gear set.

 

I‘ve just opened the dxf file. It‘s only a 2D sketch, istn‘t it? We‘ll have to add height in order to get a printable file? Even if I might send the part once I have the mirror on my work bench, they probably will require a format ghey can print directly.

 

Hi Martin,

looking at my archives, I found that I had made a 3D .igs file.

 

Here is what it looks like when opened in my local freeware igs viewer:

 

Thanks! This looks nice in FreeCAD. I'll ask whether they can use it for printing, and if I manage to re-animate my 3D printer I'll try to print a sample, just to see how it works out.

 

They can, and I've ordered a PA12 prototype.
In order to be printed (or uploaded to their WebUI), the igs file needs to be converted into stl format first. When loaded into a slicer, errors are reported (open surfaces), but the Repetier slicer, and also the Protiq WebUI, are able to fix them automatically.
If you upload the file at https://www.protiq.com/en/configurator/ , you can see the prices for different materials. After having checked the file, they told me that using 1.4404 stainless steel, one piece would cost 309 € net, 2 pieces 182,50 €/pc, 10 pieces 73,70 €/pc net. I've asked for the prices for 15, 20, 50 etc.

 

The guy just answered me sending the prices. He has made a mistake with the prices I've quoted in #87 because he had selected different printing filament. The correct prices for 1.4404 stainless steel are
plus VAT and shipping.
If the prototype works ok, and there are more cat owners interested in getting one, I could perhaps order 10 pieces for a start. Let me know!

 

I'm interested in for two. Total price for two is with vat ? + shipping to me of course.

 

VAT in Germany is 19%. The price for two depends on how many I can order, If I order 10 pieces, 2 would cost around 134,23 plus shipping, total price.

 

I am sure several members of sovejag forum in France would order. I can also reactivate some of the personnal messages I received along this 10-years-long thread, in case they would be still interested.

Also I noticed that autoreservejaguar now explicitely mention the following on his used powerfold mirror ads:

" POWERFOLDING MECHANISM NOT TESTED AND NOT UNDER WARRANTY - these are notoriously unreliable due to folding out to the wrong position. For info on rebuilding we recommend view thread number 92084 on the Jaguarforums website."

 

If the prototype works ok, I‘ll buy two for my DDS, of course. As presumably every Jaguar with Powerfold mirrors from those years will run into this problem sooner or later, I believe that there are many owners out there that might be interested, once the news of the availabilty of the spare part is spread. Perhaps I can convince Protiq to produce a number of pieces and sell them directly. Would be easier in terms of payment and shipping.
The question is whether PA12 is durable enough or we had better go for stainless right from the beginning. Well, I‘ll see how it performs…
And of course you‘ll have a firm place in the Jaguar history as the guy that has done an incredible work to save the Powerfold function for further generations - thanks a lot!

 

Hopefully you order more than 10. Count me in for two.

 

The PA12 prototype has arrived, see photos.
@Bruno: as written, I won't be able to get the mirror on my work bench until end of march/april (or later): I could send it to you, if you still have a mirror at hand to test ist. In this case, pls send PM with your address.

 

I can't also get to my car untill late April. Mirrors still works but noise is bad.

 

Unfortunately thé last Guy to whom i sent my spare mirror parts kept them forever.

I definitely need a spare mecanism together wirh this new ring to bé able to test.

 

ok, in this case the test run will have to wait...

 

Hi Martin, I have been working on my Jag for years now - the cat never sleeps. My mirrors have the described problem, and I've dismantled one to verify the cause; indeed part nr 21.

Are you still making progress on developing these? I am searching for someone who can supply me a newly cut set of part 21. Can you help me out?

 

I just read this!

So sorry to hear this, I hope the universe makes it right. Thank you so much for trying. Again, so sorry about what happened

 

Hello everyone,

Testing took a little longer than planned due to a second joint operation. Here is my report:

I removed and disassembled the (right) wing mirror. As expected, the gear wheel was defective, see photo. I replaced it with the 3D-printed gear and reassembled the mirror. I found it quite difficult to press the large ring back on because of the strong spring Bruno mentions. In the end I used a large socket and a vice...

I then applied 12 volts and the mirror moved, albeit with strange noises. I took it apart again and found that the lower friction washer had broken - so I must have done something wrong, possibly put too much pressure on the spring washer.

I then searched ebay for a while for an old mirror to get the friction disk as a spare part. After I was first sent the wrong model (without the powerfold), I was lucky and found a mirror (without glass and cap) for 50 euros!

It was totally dirty and didn't move at first. I took it apart and cleaned it. The original gear wheel was still undamaged. After cleaning and various failed attempts to reassemble it, it worked and Powerfold worked. I then disassembled it again (excluding the friction disk part) to test the 3D plastic gearwheel.

And now the news that half the world is waiting for: it fits perfectly, and after assembly it worked just as well as the original gear. I moved it back and forth about 10 times, but of course I can say absolutely nothing about whether the 3D gear would last „for ever“. The gentleman from Protiq had said that it was quite conceivable.

However, I have installed the original gearwheel for my DDS for the time being and will wait and see how long it lasts. So I won't be ordering any gears for the time being. But as the print from A12 only cost 29.75 euros including shipping and VAT, you can try it out without any great risk.

To summarize, I found it all relatively challenging, despite having quite a lot of DIY experience. For example, the twelve cable sleeves on my original mirror were a pain to remove from the connector housing, but it worked in the end. On the ebay mirror, on the other hand, I couldn't get a single one out and therefore cut the cable off. You also have to be careful with the black, L-shaped plastic cover. Mine broke apart at the folded edge. I can only advise you to take lots of photos. I also assume that the individual parts (such as the microswitch part) have to be installed in the correct position. BBTW: the cable colors were different from those in Bruno's documentation - take photos and more photos ;-)

Best regards

Martin


Big socket for pressing back on the washer

New gear

Old gear

Broken washer