Tom and listers in general,
Maybe I'm missing something here. I use a "tool" I acquired twenty
some odd years ago ... has never failed me to date. I'm not sure the
manufacturer or it's trade name, but it consists of:
A short (3") length of rubber tubing, which slips over the bleed nipple and
connects to -
A longish piece of harder clear plastic (@ 12")
The other end of this length of hose/tubing has a one way valve built into a
larger clear rubber bulb.
I slip the rubber end of this contraption over whatever bleed nipple I am
attempting to bleed, lowering valve end into clear glass jar, loosen nipple and
pump merrily away at affected system pedal. Valve opens and lets out fluid and
air bubbles, rapidly closing upon release of pedal. Three to 4 vigorous pumps
at the pedal and that section of line is free and clear of air. One must
remember to check and fill reservoirs often, but I have always had success with
this.
I recall this setup was nominally priced, i.e. under $15. Just can't see what
all those other tools have over this. Any obvious thing I'm overlooking?
Mind you, I have my Mighty Mini Vac for testing vacuum lines and such, but I
can't justify going to all the trouble to pressurize the whole system, what
with all the leaks and such I've heard about at the sealing point with the Easi
Bleed system.
Chris Prugh
72 Spitfar
Morgan Hill, CA
prubrew@ix.netcom.com
Triumph Travelers Sports Car Club
Publicity Director/Editor
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Shirley [SMTP:tshirley@VoyagerOnline.net]
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 1998 4:03 PM
To: Jerry
Cc: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Brake Bleed Pumps (Long!)
Jerry wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Here's a question for the masses. I'm thinking about purchasing a brake
> bleeder pump from Victoria British.
I'm not sure of the source, but I've had this copied for a while and
thought everyone might be interested.
Build your own Eezibleed for less than $10
Introduction
Would you like to have that Eezibleed you've seen in catalogs? Do you
have trouble justifying spending $40 for it and waiting a week to
receive it?
Me too.
I copied the design using things readily available at hardware,
grocery, and auto parts stores. I spent less than seven dollars in
cash and two hours in assembly.
For those not familiar with Eezibleed, it's an apparatus designed to
make bleeding brakes a one-person task. It uses air pressure to
pressurize the fluid reservoir. Air, water, and old fluid in your brake
system are automatically purged when you open a bleed nipple. There's
no need for an assistant to sit in the cockpit and pump the brake pedal.
I've heard comments on problems with he real Eezibleed. It comes with a
collection of caps to fit most any reservoir, but it seems the caps
usually don't fit tight enough, so they tend to pop themselves off. My
design doesn't have that problem, since you'll be using an actual cap
from you reservoir.
Shopping list
1. Extra cap for brake fluid reservoir (or clutch fluid reservoir)
Don't plan on using the one in service on the car, since you're going to
need to punch a hole in it. (I got lucky. Both the brake and clutch
reservoir on my 77 B use the same cap, and I had an extra sitting
around.)
2. Clear vinyl tubing, two feet (you may want yours to be longer),
$.78. I used 1/2-inch OD, 5/16-inch ID because it had to fit a hole I'd
already punched in the reservoir cap in an aborted design. You can get
away with tubing much smaller than that. Something like 3/16-inch will
work peachy.
3. Rubber grommets, two, $.70 The rubber grommets should fit tightly
around whatever size tubing you're using.
4. Tire valve stem, rubber, two-pack for $1.99, but you'll need only
one.
5. Bottle or jar of some sort. A mayonnaise jar or screw-top mason jar
will seal very well and hold a good amount of pressure, but handling
glass is risky when you might have brake fluid on your hanks. Plus
you'd have to finish the mayonnaise first. A one-quart Rubbermaid
screw-top drink bottle will seal well and won't break if dropped, but
will balloon a bit under pressure. A bottle like this cost me $1.99.
The lid already had one hole, presumably for drinking, that fit my
tubing nicely.
6. Bicycle pump. I saw no compelling reason to use a spare tire to
pressurize the system when I I could pressurize it directly. Using and
air compressor is not recommended!
7. The tube and catch reservoir upi usually use to bleed brakes. I use
a length of small-diameter clear vinyl tubing and a peanut butter jar.
(Hooray for smashed goobers!)
Assembly
1. Cut a hole in the bottle lid so that you can press the valve stem in
from the bottom. Cut another hole in the lid to fit the grommet
tightly, and an identical hole in the reservoir cap(s). Make sure these
holes are no larger than necessary, since the system needs to be
airtight.
2. Press the valve stem and grommet into their holes in the bottle lid,
and press the outer grommet into the hole in the reservoir cap.
3. Press the tubing into the grommets in the bottle lid and cap. A
little soapy water will help them slide in easily. You want one end of
the tube to reach the bottom of the bottle, and the other end to barely
dip into the fluid reservoir. The idea here is that the fluid being
flushed from your hydraulics will be automatically
replenished from the bottle.
4. Wash everything out and let it all dry thoroughly. You don't want
to introduce any metal/plastic shavings or water into your hydraulics.
Testing
1. Top up your reservoir with fresh brake fluid, and fill the bottle
about halfway.
2. Screw the lid tightly onto the bottle, and screw the reservoir cap
tightly onto the reservoir.
3. Find a convenient spot in your engine bay to perch the bottle. If
your tubing is long enough you can put it on the ground, but I preferred
to have the bottle higher than the reservoir so a siphoning effect would
not work against me when it came time to depressurize everything.
4. Attach the bicycle pump to the valve stem on the bottle and give it
a few pumps. Fluid should start up the tube to the reservoir. If not,
you've got a leak somewhere that needs to be fixed before it will work.
Usage
The bleeding procedure is identical to the way you'd normally do it,
except nobody has to pump the brake pedal.
1. Start with the wheel that has the longest line to the reservoir.
2. Attach a short length of small-diameter clear tubing to the bleed
nipple and put the other end into the catch reservoir. I like to put a
vertical loop in the tube so that the fluid has to run upwards from the
nipple--easy to tell when all air is out of the system, and further
minimizes the risk that air will not get reintroduced.
3. Loosen the bleed nipple. Air in the line will be purged, followed
by fluid. As you don't have a lot of pressure (probablly only 7-10psi),
and there's a lot of plumbing to the rear brakes, you may need to do a
little conventional pedal-stomping to get things started. Don't worry
about getting an assistant. The
pressurized system should prevent air from getting reintroduced at the
wheel. Things should flow freely for the front.
4. When you see clean airless fluid come out tighten the bleed nipple
and move to the next wheel.
5. Keep an eye on the fluid in the bottle. When in runs out,
depressurize the bottle at the valve stem and refill.
6. When you're done, remove the pump and depressurize at the valve
stem.
That's it! Your own Eezibleed clone at less than one-fourth the price of
the real thing.
Warning
Always depressurize the system by pressing the button in the valve stem,
not by unscrewing the bottle lid or reservoir cap. Unscrewing the
bottle lid will cause the fluid to be sucked out of the reservoir.
Unscrewing the reservoir cap will spray saint stripper nee brake fluid
all over everything.
Another Idea!
An appropriately modified Super-Soaker squirt gun would make a spiffy
self-contained unit. Not quite as frugal, but spiffy nonetheless.
Tom Shirley Sale Creek, TN (just north of Chattanooga)
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1080
My Datsun 510 #18 (the race car)
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1080/510stuff.html
Spitfire FAQs and Tips
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1080/spitgarage.html
|