bleeding air breaks

Even though the manual does seem complicated when you take the air brake test( not the written test) you will be applying for a single vehicle endorsement and will not be asked to perform the same test as a tractor trailer. You do not need to show that you can do a slack adjustment. I do agree that they could have a separate manual for Motorhomes . In Canada most community colleges offer a one day( or is it 2 days?) course. They have an airbrake board that explains the whole system. I know some senior women( and men) who passed the test easily. Once you understand the system you would not post that you smoked the brakes. That poster has ruined his rear drums! They are now warped and not performing as designed.

Moisheh

moisheh wrote:
I would ask all of our American friends if they know what "performing a 6 pack" means?

Bud or Coors...:h:h:h.......:B:B:B.....Dennis

Given, but how do the front brakes work? I smoked the rears pretty hard down the grade today nothing from the fronts how come?
Thanks jw

prstlk wrote:
Let's muddy this up even more, in reality these systems are not "air brakes" they are in fact spring brakes. Massive springs force the brake shoes to the drums at all times. the air pressure keeps the shoes from the drums. This changes when the brakes are applied and eases the shoes to the drums, or when park is pulled or pushed the brakes shoes fully engage the drums.

The reason for this system comes from big trucks and safety. Any loss of air will result in brake lock up. (That's were those big black marks come from on the freeway)
When you park and pull the big button the sound you hear is the braking system in action letting those shoes inpact the drums.

All that said I work on all my own stuff, classics, track cars and the like. I never mess with brakes on my rig other than dryer filters and the like.
I came down a 9% grade TODAY out of death valley. Thank God it wasn't Uncle Bob who last worked on my brakes.
IMHO

If you were to look at your air brake system you would realize that like the above poster said the front brakes are not controlled by a big spring.
Your rear brake chambers are a dual chamber. One side has a spring in it that will apply when the air is released and is called your parking brake. The other side of it is your service brake that works the same as your front brake. The only spring in your service brakes is a return spring to bring the brake shoes away from the drum.

prstlk wrote:
Let's muddy this up even more, in reality these systems are not "air brakes" they are in fact spring brakes. Massive springs force the brake shoes to the drums at all times. the air pressure keeps the shoes from the drums. This changes when the brakes are applied and eases the shoes to the drums, or when park is pulled or pushed the brakes shoes fully engage the drums.

The reason for this system comes from big trucks and safety. Any loss of air will result in brake lock up. (That's were those big black marks come from on the freeway)
When you park and pull the big button the sound you hear is the braking system in action letting those shoes inpact the drums.

All that said I work on all my own stuff, classics, track cars and the like. I never mess with brakes on my rig other than dryer filters and the like.
I came down a 9% grade TODAY out of death valley. Thank God it wasn't Uncle Bob who last worked on my brakes.
IMHO

you are partly(mostly) wrong the spring brake part is only on the rear as that's the e brake system.the front brake does not dynamite on if air pressure is lost only the rear do that

Let's muddy this up even more, in reality these systems are not "air brakes" they are in fact spring brakes. Massive springs force the brake shoes to the drums at all times. the air pressure keeps the shoes from the drums. This changes when the brakes are applied and eases the shoes to the drums, or when park is pulled or pushed the brakes shoes fully engage the drums.

The reason for this system comes from big trucks and safety. Any loss of air will result in brake lock up. (That's were those big black marks come from on the freeway)
When you park and pull the big button the sound you hear is the braking system in action letting those shoes inpact the drums.

All that said I work on all my own stuff, classics, track cars and the like. I never mess with brakes on my rig other than dryer filters and the like.
I came down a 9% grade TODAY out of death valley. Thank God it wasn't Uncle Bob who last worked on my brakes.
IMHO

We see posts like this all the time. People simply do not know what they are driving, how to drive it, or even if it is safe to drive.

However, you Canadians best be careful on here when you recommend testing. People south of the border get kind of offended when you imply they should have to take a test, or that any other commercial law should apply to them.

They would rather have people "bleeding air breaks", as long as they themselves do NOT have to do anything special to drive whatever it is they want to without a TEST.

Funny part is....the ones that object the most, would probably pass the test with ease. The ones that couldn't, would benefit from the instructional material.

As I said earlier people should either take an air brake course or at least read up on how the air system works.
The thing that I find scary is people asking questions about air leaks and other anomaly's and they are still driving the thing down the road. They have no idea of the repercussions of their lack of knowledge.
Some say the air brake manuals have too much info for the RVer. I agree they do.I have personally seen some folks out there on the road that are just plain dangerous and it is due to not knowing what they are driving. I try not to be critical but rather helpful when offering advice.

moisheh wrote:
gfs: Your sarcasms ignores the point of this discussion. There is a reason why truckers have to have air brake knowledge. That same reasoning applies to RV'rs as well. Canada,like any US state, accepts your DL as equal to one issued in Canada. We are not California!!!!! Can you answer the question I posted without using Google? BTW: Mountain driving is one of the reasons why RV'rs should have air brake knowledge. Even if you do not do a test one should read portions of the manual I posted. Or go online for more Info!


Moisheh

Moisheh, like you, I believe in knowing about the equipment you're operating. I spent some time in the bus business, as a maintenance trainer, and in that position I learned a lot about air systems as well as other bus systems. That was in the days before automatic slack adjusters, so I know how to adjust the manual slack adjusters. I know the air system components, where they're located, and how to take care of them. I know how to perform the pre-trip brake inspection. I don't claim to know everything, but if I don't know it I can figure out how to find the answer. Seems that you may have thought that, because I was somewhat sarcastic, you tagged me as some ya-hoo who didn't want to learn about coach systems. I assure you that's not the case. Not saying it won't happen, but to this point in my RVing life, I've not had a problem that I couldn't fix myself. But, as I get older, it does get harder to bend into places that a man just ain't made to go!

I did not, however, see anything in the manual that covered the OP's question about bleeding air brake lines.

good point and the OP never clarified back neither
SO was it water he was talking about or brake fluid