divernick Posted August 4, 2011 Share So, as a newbie to hydraulic disc brakes, I was messing about and pumped the lever with no pads in the caliper.Result: piston popped out a bit and leaked oil, and let air into the system. OK, no problem, let's learn to bleed the brakes.... Visited Shimano tech docs: http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/Bleeding_SI/SI_0037A/SI_0037A_002_EN_v1_m56577569830648123.PDF Shopping list:- Shimano mineral Oil and bleed block(thanks Dangle)- 7mm spanner (thanks Builder's)- Surgical (fishtank) tubing (thanks Vet to Pet shop @ R3 per meter) Followed the instructions, bled the brakes and re-bottled the oil that came out - it was still clean as my brakes are new. What's the moral of the story? Don't be afraid to bleed your brakes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoman Posted August 4, 2011 Share For sure, I made the same error with my Tektro brakes by fiddling with the lever when the wheel was out!Just a pity the Shimano mineral oil is so expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted August 4, 2011 Share So, as a newbie to hydraulic disc brakes, I was messing about and pumped the lever with no pads in the caliper.Result: piston popped out a bit and leaked oil, and let air into the system. OK, no problem, let's learn to bleed the brakes.... Visited Shimano tech docs: http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/Bleeding_SI/SI_0037A/SI_0037A_002_EN_v1_m56577569830648123.PDF Shopping list:- Shimano mineral Oil and bleed block(thanks Dangle)- 7mm spanner (thanks Builder's)- Surgical (fishtank) tubing (thanks Vet to Pet shop @ R3 per meter) Followed the instructions, bled the brakes and re-bottled the oil that came out - it was still clean as my brakes are new. What's the moral of the story? Don't be afraid to bleed your brakes! I had to make the same bleed kit because I did the same. the only other thing I made was the little overflow bottle. Used a small milkshake bottle with 3 holes (one for hose, one much smaller one for air and one for a piece of wire) in the lid. Put a piece of coat hanger so that it could hook around the caliper to catch overflow fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crasher Posted August 4, 2011 Share What's the moral of the story? Don't be afraid to bleed your brakes.... and dont pump the lever with no pads in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divernick Posted August 4, 2011 Share For sure, I made the same error with my Tektro brakes by fiddling with the lever when the wheel was out!Just a pity the Shimano mineral oil is so expensive! I bought the 50ml bottle and bled the front brake. I think I must have "used" 5ml. So it should last almost forever if you're just bleeding and not replacing fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoman Posted August 4, 2011 Share I bought the 50ml bottle and bled the front brake. I think I must have "used" 5ml. So it should last almost forever if you're just bleeding and not replacing fluid. True, I bought the same bottle, cost me R250. Not bad for 1 minutes worth of fiddling....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted August 4, 2011 Share True, I bought the same bottle, cost me R250. Not bad for 1 minutes worth of fiddling....! Mine cost me R115 from Westdene Cycles. True Shimano oil. Cheaper then CRC. CRC have a litre for R170 and with shipping it comes to R220. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnydabutcher Posted August 4, 2011 Share the soon you learn to work on your own bike the better rider you become. Knowledge is king!!!!! DIY makes it fly!!!!! Nice one mate - happy trails Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoman Posted August 4, 2011 Share Bought from Cajees, so it was to be expected! I considered the 1lt and after bleeding the brakes am glad I didn't! A bit of overkill! Could have maybe sold the excess on the hub though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedyburf Posted August 4, 2011 Share Small bottles of brake fluid are always better as the stuff, being hygroscopic, absorbs water so shelf life is limited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreZA Posted August 4, 2011 Share Small bottles of brake fluid are always better as the stuff, being hygroscopic, absorbs water so shelf life is limited. Shimano is synthetic, it does not suffer from that. An besides, even if the big bottle costs you R300 to get in, you can get some empty bottles from the plastic shops and fill them with 50ml and sell for R50 a pop. R1000 - costs of bottles, is good profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted August 4, 2011 Share Shimano is synthetic, it does not suffer from that. An besides, even if the big bottle costs you R300 to get in, you can get some empty bottles from the plastic shops and fill them with 50ml and sell for R50 a pop. R1000 - costs of bottles, is good profit. Nope, the stuff is 100% natural - hence the mineral in the name. God made it and the Arabs pump it out for you. Being oil though, it is hydrophyllic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 4, 2011 Share sewing machine also uses mineral oil, same thingbled many brakes using this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Bornman Posted August 4, 2011 Share sewing machine also uses mineral oil, same thingbled many brakes using this And so does bulldozers, cars, motorbikes, speedboats, ocean liners, tankers and engineering machinery. Mineral merely refers to the fact that it is not synthetic but made from long-chain fossil deposits. Mineral oil can be thick or thin. 90W or 5W. The fact that a sewing machine can be lubricated with mineral oil (also wityh synthetic oil, for that matter, is neither here nor there. It is the viscocity that matters. Lubricating mineral oil is not the same as hydraulic mineral oil. Futher, at the chemist you can buy something called mineral oil. This is a laxative and of no use to Shimano brakes. Fortunataly the system is very forgiving and yu can use anyting from ATF automatic transmission fluid) to fork oil. But if it is too thick, I'd imagine you'll pick up some sort of problem. During the recent Freedom Challenge I played remote support consultant to several of my customers. One phoned me one evening and said: "Johan, I don't want a lecture or a hypotheses or a debate. Just tell me, I have a choice between cooking oil and water. Which one?" I suggested cooking oil. The caller finished the race with brakes still operational after 1 000 kms. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inusc Posted August 4, 2011 Share And so does bulldozers, cars, motorbikes, speedboats, ocean liners, tankers and engineering machinery. Mineral merely refers to the fact that it is not synthetic but made from long-chain fossil deposits. Mineral oil can be thick or thin. 90W or 5W. The fact that a sewing machine can be lubricated with mineral oil (also wityh synthetic oil, for that matter, is neither here nor there. It is the viscocity that matters. Lubricating mineral oil is not the same as hydraulic mineral oil. Futher, at the chemist you can buy something called mineral oil. This is a laxative and of no use to Shimano brakes. Fortunataly the system is very forgiving and yu can use anyting from ATF automatic transmission fluid) to fork oil. But if it is too thick, I'd imagine you'll pick up some sort of problem. During the recent Freedom Challenge I played remote support consultant to several of my customers. One phoned me one evening and said: "Johan, I don't want a lecture or a hypotheses or a debate. Just tell me, I have a choice between cooking oil and water. Which one?" I suggested cooking oil. The caller finished the race with brakes still operational after 1 000 kms. Go figure.cooking oil? blinde Bliksem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robrider Posted August 5, 2011 Share And so does bulldozers, cars, motorbikes, speedboats, ocean liners, tankers and engineering machinery. Mineral merely refers to the fact that it is not synthetic but made from long-chain fossil deposits. Mineral oil can be thick or thin. 90W or 5W. The fact that a sewing machine can be lubricated with mineral oil (also wityh synthetic oil, for that matter, is neither here nor there. It is the viscocity that matters. Lubricating mineral oil is not the same as hydraulic mineral oil. Futher, at the chemist you can buy something called mineral oil. This is a laxative and of no use to Shimano brakes. Fortunataly the system is very forgiving and yu can use anyting from ATF automatic transmission fluid) to fork oil. But if it is too thick, I'd imagine you'll pick up some sort of problem. During the recent Freedom Challenge I played remote support consultant to several of my customers. One phoned me one evening and said: "Johan, I don't want a lecture or a hypotheses or a debate. Just tell me, I have a choice between cooking oil and water. Which one?" I suggested cooking oil. The caller finished the race with brakes still operational after 1 000 kms. Go figure. Some say he uses cooking oil in hydraulic brakes...All I know is, he's called JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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