bleeding air breaks

Are you wanting to make shure there is no water in the air lines. Usually to bleed the brakes you are trying to get air out of the lines and on air brakes well you get the idea.

No but you should pull the lanyards on the tanks to purge the water out of them and have the air dryer filter replaced.

They are brakes, not breaks. You don't bleed air brakes. You do drain the moisture from the wet tank. Lord have mercy...

I got a Giggle out of that! So sorry. Just drain the tanks once a day, only until no moisture comes out. If they feel mushy, take a (/16 wrench and a balpeen hammer and get under there and adjust them. There are 691,000 articles on the net on how to adjust. I go down til they are tight and backoff 1/2 turn. You use the balpeen to tap the lock nut down by tapping on the wrench while holding it over the adjusting jut. It will slide downward and when you get done should slide back up (It's spring loaded) and lock the adjusting screw.

Any Questions?
The boss is always right.
Payday is every other Friday.
Crap rolls downhill.
Don't chew your fingernails.
Any Questions?

Passin Thru wrote:
I got a Giggle out of that! So sorry. Just drain the tanks once a day, only until no moisture comes out. If they feel mushy, take a (/16 wrench and a balpeen hammer and get under there and adjust them. There are 691,000 articles on the net on how to adjust. I go down til they are tight and backoff 1/2 turn. You use the balpeen to tap the lock nut down by tapping on the wrench while holding it over the adjusting jut. It will slide downward and when you get done should slide back up (It's spring loaded) and lock the adjusting screw.

Any Questions?
The boss is always right.
Payday is every other Friday.
Crap rolls downhill.
Don't chew your fingernails.
Any Questions?

Sure glad you are not setting the brakes adjuster's on my rig??? best go to school??

"If they feel mushy, take a (/16 wrench and a balpeen hammer and get under there and adjust them."

I don't know what jurisdiction your air brake endorsement is certified in but in Ontario, Canada you cannot adjust your air brakes unless you are certified to do so. This means either being an air brake mechanic or MTO certified air brake adjuster. It not only is very dangerous to do so it's also illegal.

Are they true "air brakes"? My brother in law's National Sea Breeze diesel bus had air over hydraulic brakes. He had to bleed them.

Passin Thru wrote:
/snip/If they feel mushy, take a (/16 wrench and a balpeen hammer and get under there and adjust them.

If you use a ballpeen hammer to adjust your brakes you just might break something....:B:B...just sayin....Dennis

TO the OP....PLEASE PLEASE watch the video below. You said you wanted to learn. This video, while dated 1967 will provide you with valuable information about your system. Even though systems have improved over the years, the basic operation has not....Dennis

Air Systems

Dutchstar02 wrote:
"If they feel mushy, take a (/16 wrench and a balpeen hammer and get under there and adjust them."

I don't know what jurisdiction your air brake endorsement is certified in but in Ontario, Canada you cannot adjust your air brakes unless you are certified to do so. This means either being an air brake mechanic or MTO certified air brake adjuster. It not only is very dangerous to do so it's also illegal.

Can you provide the statute from any jurisdiction that says it is illegal to adjust your own non-commercial air brake slack adjusters?
I once crawled under a semi and adjusted the slack adjusters at a Caloifornia Port Of Entry Weigh Station after it failed the safety inspection. None of the Officers present said a word about "You can't do that!" After the adjustment, it passed the inspection and we were allowed to get on down the road.
At the time, I was a licensed A&P mechanic, but in a previous job I had encountered the same type of slack adjusters.
Actually, the recommended procedure given by Dutchstar is pretty much correct. I used a 9/16 deep socket, and if the lock sleeve is stuck (very common), a shot of PB blaster penetrating oil and a few careful taps with a ball peen hammer on the socket frees it up nicely. The inspectors want the air can rod to move about 3/4 to 1 inch. Backing the adjuster off 1/2 to 3/4 turn from snug will give you that.