SHOCK ABSORBER SERVICE LIFE SENSOR

1 . A system for monitoring the health of a damping device, the damping device having a tube assembly containing at least one fluid, the system comprising:

a sensor assembly mounted on an outer surface of said tube assembly, the sensor assembly comprising:

a thermometer;

a transmitter configured for transmitting data, comprising temperature values gathered by said thermometer;

a receiver configured for receiving said first data set;

a processor, configured to perform an analysis of said first data set, sending an alarm signal, when values from said data set are outside pre-programmed values of an alarm threshold.

2 . The system of claim 2 , further including an accelerometer included in said sensor assembly, and said analysis by said processor comprising comparing corresponding values generated by said accelerometer with pre-programmed values.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first transmitter is a wireless transmitter and said first receiver is a wireless receiver.

4 . The system of claim 1 , further including a display connected to said processor for displaying said alarm signal.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further including a switch connected to said processor, for disabling said system periodically for power conservation.

6 . A damping device, comprising:

a fixed outer tube;

an inner tube reciprocating relative to said outer tube and having an outer surface;

a sensor assembly affixed to said outer surface of said inner tube.

7 . The device of claim 6 , wherein said sensor assembly includes a temperature sensor, an accelerometer and a transmitter.

8 . The device of claim 6 , wherein said sensor assembly is affixed to said inner tube by a band.