Free Syringes - Good For Brake & Clutch Bleeding

[GerryAttrick]

Hi,

I work in a hospital and have access to large clean (used) syringes- no needles.

These are ideal for bleeding clutch and brake cylinders singlehanded. All you do is stick a bit of plastic tube over the syringe, other end over the bleed nipple. Then you crack open the nipple, draw fluid into the syringe (along with any air)., close the nipple and repeat until bubbles stop coming out with fluid. Keep your eye on the MasterCylinder level to make sure you don't suck all the fluid out and then more air in.

Means you don't have to get Her Indoors to help or provide free beers to a mate to help you.

Its the poor mans MightyVac.

You can use them on the car too where its even harder to reach the footpedal from the wheel cylinder on your own!!

Anyone want one PM me.

[yungatart]

I'll be having none of that near my nipples, y'hear. Why, the very thought of it, its enough to make decent people cringe....
oops, you said brake and clutch, not...never mind, as you were

[scumdog]

Good for adding brake/clutch fluid to awkwardly placed master cylinders too.

[Motu]

I use them the other way round - fill with fluid and push up through the master cyl...best way to get air out of a bike system.

[scumdog]

I use them the other way round - fill with fluid and push up through the master cyl...best way to get air out of a bike system.

The hose-popping-off-and-brake-fluid-spraying-everywhere put me off that idea.

[car]

I work in a hospital and have access to large clean (used) syringes- no needles.

I have a "bladder irrigating syringe" that I bought from the local chemist's for injecting grease into VW Beetle CV boots, ta. I had to argue black was blue and that I wasn't about to inject half a litre of smack into my eye to get it, mind, but it's proven all manner of useful since then. Sucking brake fluid out of the reservoir before I back the calipers off to change pads, for instance.

Take this guy up on his offer, folks.

[GerryAttrick]

I use them the other way round - fill with fluid and push up through the master cyl...best way to get air out of a bike system.

Yeah that works too but just watch you don't send too much up the line and it flows all over your paintwork. Not a good look after that stuff gets to work.

[sels1]

and have access to large clean (used) syringes-.

we have some at work - we use them for cleaning and inking long pen arms on ancient chart recorders

[GerryAttrick]

Sounds line an interesting line of work

[Pixie]

A syringe and 2 check valves can be used as a vacuum pump.
Connect it to a suitable container and the fliud can be continously sucked out of the brake system without it geting into the syringe and ruining it.

[sAsLEX]

A syringe and 2 check valves can be used as a vacuum pump.
Connect it to a suitable container and the fliud can be continously sucked out of the brake system without it geting into the syringe and ruining it.

When refurbishihng my brakes used an old brittish car brake bleeder, looked similar to yours except it worked by pressurising the large vessel using the tire air and forcing fluid from the resivour down to the nipples.


How much would it cost to make up your little system you got there? Where you get the valves and tubing?

[Motu]

I prefer not to use a vacuum bleeder,they can pull air and crud from behind worn seals....ok,you shouldn't have worn seals,but 4.00pm friday afternoon all sorts of shit happens.Pressure bleeders are making a come back,and the latest method is a pump action from the bleed nipple to master cyl,pushing the air in the direction it wants to travel.A big horse syringe is my cheap version.

[sAsLEX]

I prefer not to use a vacuum bleeder,they can pull air and crud from behind worn seals....ok,you shouldn't have worn seals,but 4.00pm friday afternoon all sorts of shit happens.Pressure bleeders are making a come back,and the latest method is a pump action from the bleed nipple to master cyl,pushing the air in the direction it wants to travel.A big horse syringe is my cheap version.

Here is a visulisation of what I was talking about, the one we used hooked over the mastercylinder resivour though, but a small alteration to Pixies model could make something like my pic where the air gap is pressurised in the container pushing the fluid up the tube towards the nipple.

[Motu]

You need a Mityvac,you can get a vacuum bleeding kit for them.....but you can also use them as a pressure pump too.

[Pixie]

I prefer not to use a vacuum bleeder,they can pull air and crud from behind worn seals....ok,you shouldn't have worn seals,but 4.00pm friday afternoon all sorts of shit happens.Pressure bleeders are making a come back,and the latest method is a pump action from the bleed nipple to master cyl,pushing the air in the direction it wants to travel.A big horse syringe is my cheap version.

How do you get round the problem of air leaking round the threads off the bleed nipples,when using a vacuum bleeder?
This makes it impossible to tell if the bubbles are in the fluid or are coming via the nipple.
I remove the nipple and use thead tape on it.

The set up I posted can be used in reverse to fill the system from the caliper end.