Brake bleeder suggestions
Interested in upgrading mine, any feedback on the ones offered would be appreciated. I see they have a power bleeder and my first thought was brake fluid under air pressure around my painted vehicles.
Forum Discussion
This is a strange time in my life. Of the vehicles on the property, they are from four manufactures, five countries and three continents. I have done some work on all of them. This is just one reason I gave up on pressure bleeding brakes so long ago that I do not remember.
Now, before I go on, I must share a piece of important knowledge with all of you. If you plan (hope) to keep a hydraulic brake vehicle more than four years, read this and take it to heart. Unless you live in the desert and never leave it, your bleed screws will corrode and seize in place. This makes servicing the system a much bigger problem. To prevent this, do just two very simple things:
1 - Get and keep on the rubber covers that are now common on bleed screws. For what a package costs, this is a stupid to miss. Zero Work.
2 - When servicing brakes, remove the bleed screw, clean it and wrap the threads with teflon tape (I don't care what color). This will keep the fluid that is not actully corrosive, but is hydroscopic (it collects water and so allows corrosion) from getting into the threads. Ever after, those screws will loosen and tighten easily when required.
A second advantage to the thread tape on the threads is that if you vacuum bleed, there will be less bubbles to keep track of during the process.
If you started reading at the top, you know why I gave up pressure bleeding. First I did gravity bleeding, but I was impatient. Then, I modified the cap of the catch bottle and have been vacuum bleeding for the last four or five decades (I'm just not sure). Before your next brake job, grab something like a pickle jar (pint is nice), some brass tubing from the hobby shop and some aquarium air tubing or similar. Car vacuum hose is not clear and it needs to be.
Put two pieces of tubing though the lid, one long and one short. Connect the bleed screw to the long one.
To gravity bleed, open the bleed screw and wait for the bubbles to stop.
If you are impatient, get a vacuum pump. If you get a Mighty Vac or the Hazard Fright version, by the time you are done you might be able to get both first and third in a jack-off contest. Alternately, look for a vacuum source. Anything that sucks will do, but if you suck too hard, you may well draw air through the seals in the wheel cylinders.
This spring, I will be flushing the brakes of my coach for the forth time. My wife will keep and eye on the master cylinder because I lent my auto-filler to a "friend" that has since left town without returning it. Just to note, that system will consume two quart bottles and I think it is a great way to spend money and time.
Matt
Now, before I go on, I must share a piece of important knowledge with all of you. If you plan (hope) to keep a hydraulic brake vehicle more than four years, read this and take it to heart. Unless you live in the desert and never leave it, your bleed screws will corrode and seize in place. This makes servicing the system a much bigger problem. To prevent this, do just two very simple things:
1 - Get and keep on the rubber covers that are now common on bleed screws. For what a package costs, this is a stupid to miss. Zero Work.
2 - When servicing brakes, remove the bleed screw, clean it and wrap the threads with teflon tape (I don't care what color). This will keep the fluid that is not actully corrosive, but is hydroscopic (it collects water and so allows corrosion) from getting into the threads. Ever after, those screws will loosen and tighten easily when required.
A second advantage to the thread tape on the threads is that if you vacuum bleed, there will be less bubbles to keep track of during the process.
If you started reading at the top, you know why I gave up pressure bleeding. First I did gravity bleeding, but I was impatient. Then, I modified the cap of the catch bottle and have been vacuum bleeding for the last four or five decades (I'm just not sure). Before your next brake job, grab something like a pickle jar (pint is nice), some brass tubing from the hobby shop and some aquarium air tubing or similar. Car vacuum hose is not clear and it needs to be.
Put two pieces of tubing though the lid, one long and one short. Connect the bleed screw to the long one.
To gravity bleed, open the bleed screw and wait for the bubbles to stop.
If you are impatient, get a vacuum pump. If you get a Mighty Vac or the Hazard Fright version, by the time you are done you might be able to get both first and third in a jack-off contest. Alternately, look for a vacuum source. Anything that sucks will do, but if you suck too hard, you may well draw air through the seals in the wheel cylinders.
This spring, I will be flushing the brakes of my coach for the forth time. My wife will keep and eye on the master cylinder because I lent my auto-filler to a "friend" that has since left town without returning it. Just to note, that system will consume two quart bottles and I think it is a great way to spend money and time.
Matt
