So i just got a beater bike that has a strumey archer SRF3. It keeps slipping especially when it is in the third gear, the that the little chain going into the hub is kind of slack. But what has me concerned is when it slips the indicator rod gets pushed out a bit. Any suggestions? I plan on taking it apart to clean it and inspect everything inside when i get a chance.

Thanks!

before disassembling it, replace the shifter cable, and make sure the sheaths are all in good condition with no kinks or angles at entry/exits, the indicator rod and chain are in good condition, and carefully adjust it. if its STILL misbehaving, THEN consider a teardown.

That sounds like a cable adjustment issue - the explanation of exactly what's happening requires that you know how the internals of the hub work. Do you?

The good news is that Sturmey-Archer hubs, especiallt the 3-speeds, are very easy to tear down and rebuild if it's necessary.

Edit: I somehow didn't see that you'd said the cable was slack. The issue may be more serious.

How may miles does the hub have on it, and how cold is it where you are? The traditional SA hubs are oil-lubricated, the modern ones use grease which can go stiff and gum up the mechanism in cold weather. I solved this issue by using oil in mine.

The cable should be slack in third (high) gear - that's the default for this hub.

If the cable is slack as it should be when all this is going on, I seriously doubt it's a cable adjustment issue.

Here's the factory manual for the SRF3. Fault diagnosis chart is on page three. Right hand cone adjustment is covered in 1.3 Assembly Figure 3 Paragraph 2.

You may have one or more problems occurring if the slippage is in more than just high gear. The high gear should work properly with the cable totally disengaged. The fact that the indicator moves means that the clutch that engages the different parts of the hub to produce the different gears is moving outward, probably due to wear on the pinion pins or the clutch, or due to a weak/broken spring. In high gear the clutch is pushed down by the spring so that is sits on the surface of the planet cage and the clutch pushes against the ends of the pinion pins. If the pins ends are badly rounded off or the clutch is damaged you can get slippage, especially with the higher pressure in 3rd gear. But the pinion pins are not a factor in other gears and one is not depending on the clutch in the same way in other gears. Because of that I think the most likely cause is the spring, which if weak or broken (or if the cap is missing) could cause insufficient pressure in 3rd gear and misalignment in other gears.

I would replace the spring no matter what, as you can't tell for sure from inspection if it is weak. In fact if you happen to have a source nearby it can be replaced by merely removing the right cone, without the need to disassemble the entire hub, so that you can see if that cures the problem.

Try to disconnect the cable and ride it. Does it slip?

If not, then it is a cable/indicator chain/shifter issue.

Otherwise, follow the excellent advice by cny-bikeman.

The spring can be bought for less than $1 from Niagra.

Since you just got the bike, you may not know if the hub had been messed by others. I have bought several bikes and the hubs had been taken apart but was not put back together properly (parts out of order).

On the top of the spring, there should be a spring cap to even up the spring force against the thruster washer on one end the the right cone on the other. Some model does not use the washer but the thruster is of different design.

Of course, the NIG clutch (HSA536) in the SRF3 doesn't really have 'arms'.

Part number HSA128. Same part, old design and NIG, BTW.

Back in the day, your LBS would have one of these in the 'Sturmey parts drawer'. Thanks to the internet, you can still get most any part you need for Sturmey.

True - was thinking of the classic AW, even though I had looked a the link.

So the problem might be worse than i originally thought, the hub wont seem to shift into the first gear. I took apart the hub and one of the pawls was broken and all gnawed up! I believe the part is HSA119. Any ideas as to why this part could break like that, has anybody seen this before. But i haven't taken the hub apart completely yet, the ball ring is giving me a lot of trouble coming off. So far a have been using a hammer and screwdriver and hitting the notch counter clockwise but its not budging, any advise or tips on getting that thing off?

Either buy the Sturmey-Archer tool for the job if you can get hold of it (it's a big hook spanner) or just hammer it harder. The drive force in first and second gears is transferred to the shell through the threads on the ball ring, so obviously it'll be damn tight.

That makes sense now, the area that i live in is pretty hilly too so that probably doesn't help.

Almost correct. It's the drive torque from 2nd and third that is transmitted to the ball ring. The ring gear pawls are retracted in 1st.
I've found the best tool for driving out the ball ring in the newer model hubs with the scalloped notches is a large brass drift punch and a hammer. the tip of the punch deforms just enough to get a really good purchase on it.
Maybe the specific spanner would work too, but I don't expect to buy one as my method serves me well.

Oops, brain fart. I've stripped SA hubs down often enough that I should know that...

https://draco.nac.uci.edu/rbfaq/FAQ/8f.18.html

Does not apply to the redesigned NIG hub. If the clutch loses drive on the planet carrier in 3rd, the pawls on the driver will drive the ring gear. it will not freewheel, but momentarily revert to 2nd gear.

You betcha, here's Dan opening Sturmey's big Kahuna, the XRF8(W), with his brass punch: @35 sec.

$.02.. FWIW, [3/4;1;4/3] just the low gear is 25% reduced, the high is 33% over,
so for hills lower the external sprocket ratio.

It should be noted however that the ball ring on the 8 speed is one of the easier ones to remove as there is no torque transmitted through it in any gear. My method still works on the more recalcitrant rings though.

Thanks guys ill try that out