Anyone know how to contact Rohm Air or who sells or has parts for them? I haven't found anything in my searches so far. Thanks, Joe

wow --
that's a toughie -- you might watch Ebay - I sold 3 sets last year, and see them listed from time to time.

Hope this helps -
Rick

Are Rhom-air still in business? I'm still of the opinion that these were about the best air retracts around.

Hi,
You might want to look at Spring Air; the site is www.retracts.com

Hope this helps a little.

Thanks for the responses guys. I bought a very nice Mistress with the Rohm Air retracts installed, which I think will work just fine, but just need to adapt a Robart pump to the Rohm fill valve, which has a different thread. Also need to know the operating pressure of the system etc. Assume it's around 100 psi. Anyone know where I can get some specs on the Rohm Systems? Thanks, Joe

My Rhom Airs have an un-threaded air input valve, so either they changed during the course of the years, (I doubt it) or someone made the change themselves along the way. Easiest way is to convert to the Robart input valve --not that hard--and go from there.

100 psi is plenty !

If the Rohm Air Retracts have not been used in some time you will need oil the o rings.
You will need to get some Refrigerant oil , do not used wd 40 or any other oil. Take the time to get the oil.
75 lbs should be enough air. As a test when at pressure the system should hold air 24 hrs. ( down to 45 or 50 lbs)
If you get the pressure to high the sevo will not be able to move the spool.
I have 1000 ' s flight on the retracts. a little care and they work great. You must oil them they were designed to work with r 12.
Would would oil my system twice a year just a few drops.
Good luck Mark

Mark, will pick up some R-12, advice well taken. I went thru a similar event when I bought a used BMW which had not been operated for awhile. Cost me $1000 to have all AC o-rings replaced, $3 worth of parts, and the balance to take the car apart! Question, when servicing the O-rings, can the oil be run thru the filler valve which should find it's way to the wing cylinders, or should it be applied directly to all the rings? Also, the gears are locked in the down position and have a bit of slop in them. When I get some pressure to them, do I assume it will release the locking device and they will become tighter or is the slop normal? Finally, know where I can get replacement rings if necessary? Thanks for all the help, Joe

Joe
Air will work just fine. But you need to oil the system. I would just put the air pump hose in the oil and suck some in and then fill the air tank tank cycle the system. You do not need to use R12.

Mark

R12 now days costs WAY TO MUCH MONEY!!!! It is illegal to release r12 into the air now anyway. Thats why new cars use R134a for air-conditioning. If I were to still use Rohm-air retracts, I would use the Robart valve instead of the original one that came with the system. It has been my experience that the valve(not the filler valve) was the weakest link for the Rohm-Air system.

P.S. If you find a virgin can of R12, put it on e-bay and see how much you can sell it for! It will make you sick (considering that it use to only cost 2 bucks per can- trust me on this one!)

I would like to throw this in. The people are not talking about using refrigerant. They are referring to using the oil for the systems. R-12 and R134a are 2 completely different refrigerants and the oils are different. They are not compatible with each other.

I would strongly advise using oil for R12/22. R134a uses PAG oil. It does not seem to have the viscosity of R12 oil and I bekieve it will not do what you want in the retracts. Also PAG oil reacts with oxegen in the air and supposedly gell up. I have never witnessed this personally. But was told so in the schooling I got on theis refrigerant. So I believe this alone would count out PAG oil. Thirdly PAG oil is an irritant. You haven't livet until you get PAG oil on your face. It itches and burns at the same time. Hard to wash off also. So if for some reason one of you fella use this oil be very careful with exposed skin. Lastly PAG oil comes in I believe 3 formulas. And is dreadfully expensive. You can buy a gallon of R12 oil for the price of a half pint of PAG oil.

Stick with the R12 refrigerant oil. It is to my knowledge still readilly available through parts stores such as NAPA. Good luck with your retracts. Oh BTW I believe Rhom-Air is out of business.

Mark Shuman

Rohm-Air Retracts were designed to use r12 freon as the propellant for there systems. You could buy the air pump as a alternative to fill the airborne tank though with the use of oil. I still have the adapter for the freon that was used for there system, with the use of a single can of r12 freon. It was a well thought out system for its time.

Joe, I just listed what appears to be a set of Rohm Air Retracts on eBay. You may want to check it out as a spare set for parts. Good luck, Richard

Retract Gear Pneumatic Tricycle RC Aircraft Item number: 3178999006

Good Fellows, Thanks for all the valueable input regarding the Rhom-Air system. I was thinking of changing everything out and going to Spring-air cylinders and Robart plumbing. Decided to replace all the plumbing first keeping the Rhom-air cylinders and it is now working great. Think the basic problem was the cheesy Rhom-air selector valve. Liked the idea of the Spring-air cylinders, except that they would always be in the extended position when disconnected, which I did not care for when transporting and storing. Also, I assume that the variable rate Robart valve would only control the retract cycle of the Spring-Air cylinders. Not sure about this. Anyway, am getting around 10 cycles on the larger tank that I installed, which has about 80% more capacity than the old Rhom-air tank. If the system keeps performing as it has I'll stay with it, if not I'll probably go with the Spring-Air Cylinders.