Disk break bleeding

[Melch]

Hey guys. I need to bleed my disk breaks. I have Magura Julie breaks on my bike. I am facing two problems, getting hold of mineral break fluid and sourcing an additional bleeding nipple that needs to be inserted into the break caliper during bleeding.

 

I am based in the western cape and I have shopped around for mineral break fluid. The best I can find is R160 for 50ml of the shimano mineral oil. I think this is ridiculousness as I can import one 250ml bottle of magura oil from from chain reaction cycles in the Uk for under R300.  I will probably end up doing this.

 

I have looked at a bunch of bleed kits and it seems you are buying a bunch or syringes  and a bit of piping which I can easily get hold of. The one think I need that I cant get hold of is the aditional bleeding nipple I need to screw into the caliper, this attaches to a pipe and then the syringe containing break fluid.  Does anyone know if the nipples attached to the end of the break hosing are specific to the different disk break manufacturers or if they are standard.

 

If anyone can help that would be great.

 

From

Melch

 

[Reghard111]

I'm probably gonna get vloeked for this...but here goes. I used a thin two stroke oil to bled my brakes just before a race as it was all I could find hoping that the seals would last the race at least. It is now more than a year later and still all I have used in a Shimano and Magura setup and no problems!....Touch wood!

oh .... and about R8.95 for 250ml.....

[Johan Bornman]

If you break your brakes you wont be able to brake and probably break something when you come to a halt against a wall. Your medical aid may give you a break and pay up or put a brake on it all and refuse to cover the cost. That could break the bank. It shouldn't brake your enthusiasm though, just learn to brake properly.

Just about any thin mineral (real, not synthetic) oil will work and the only danger is a low boiling point or gumming up of parts. Good quality sewing machine oil works. I'm going to get shot for this but OPC will be first.

The price of the oil is ridiculous. The oil used in Magura and Shimano is the same as used in some fancy BMW and Audi power steerings (note that most cars use automatic gearbox fluid in the power steering so don't just go zik some oil from your power steering reservoir).

 

The bicycle version of the same stuff is hideously expensive.

 

For the bleeding nipple, contat cbrunson here. He's made some for us before.

 

You are right, the bleeding kit is just a syringe and some fish tank pipe.  Buy the syringes at Discem and the pipe at your pet shop.

 

I have not compared these accessory nipples so can't tell you if the Avid ones and Magura ones differ. I like the Shimano approach where the valve is the nipple and the nipple is the valve. Maybe that'll fit.

 

Experiment. It is fun.

 

 

 

[Mutt]

i was offered 100ml for R100 from LBS.  By chance I found 100ml for 35 bucks at Solomons (Whilst buying 29" tyres cheaper than I could find elsewhere)

[Mutt]

That was at  Solomons in Woodmead - not sure about Solomons on the other side of the borewors curtain.

[Reghard111]

Jissie oukie....I thought Johan was gonna vloek me and now he backs me up...

I have noticed that it discoloures quicker though.....heat buildup from trying to stop my fat ass on the fast downhills??!!

[Trapper]

"Just about any thin mineral (real, not synthetic) oil will work and the only danger is a low boiling point or gumming up of parts. Good quality sewing machine oil works. I'm going to get shot for this but OPC will be first."

Hi Johan, You lost me with the OPC? What is OPC? ALso, if the parts will gum up, how to Ungum? 

 

I have Magura Louise and fortuantely only had to bleed one once (when I swapped the pipes between the front and rear from left- to righthanded positions).  I used syringe, pipe (from the fishtank) and a nipple that was a bit too small but with an O-Ring Seal. Worked fine.  Bit of a struggle to get the reservoir to not continue 'breathing' oil afterwards, but that was because it wants to have some air in the top section of the reservoir.

 

Magura has some good documentation on their website on how to bleed the unit, as well as the professional bleed kit.

Tx

Trapper2010-01-08 05:40:13

[Melch]

Hey guys.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will look into it more.

 

And Trapper Opc is the name of the first person to reply to this thread who used two stroke oil.

 

 

 

 

 

[Trapper]