Topic: Another overkill tool build

[jgary]

Last spring I bled brakes for the first time in 15 years or so.  I had brake fluid everywhere.  Tried a bunch of different things, eventually had my wife come out into the garage and help me.  Even then, I still have some air in there.  I have two other bikes that need brake work this season, so I spent all winter thinking about a tool to make my job easier.  Forget those $8 speed bleeders, I wanted something worthy of posting on this forum.  So, here it is!

John.

[jgary]

It's pressurized with a garden sprayer, seen here.

J.

[ProTeal55]

Nice work !

[jgary]

Before pressurization, of course, the canister is rotated 90 degrees to pour in brake fluid.  I'm sealing that plug with teflon tape each time it goes back in.

John.

[jgary]

Once it's full, rotate back.  There are two bolts on the rotating face that the canister mounts to.  They just go through the plywood and act as stops to hold it in position.  The line coming out of the bottom goes directly to the bleed nipple.  There's a valve on the air side, and a valve on the fluid side, to control both air pressure and fluid flow.   I think I spent more in gas driving back & forth to Home Depot than I actually spent on materials. 

John.

[Klark Kent]

first, i gotta say, as an amatuer macguyver myself, i LOVE what you have done.  but...


rebuilding and installing my stuck front caliper was the very first thing i did to my bike (or any bike) and did not have any trouble (and nary a bubble)  am i missing something about the difficulty of this procedure.  i did end up having to replace the bleed screw because it had a very slow leak a couple days later, this may have gotten any air i left in there out???  i am just asking because i want to be confident my single disc is operating as best it can.

excellent piece though
-KK

[jgary]

In my case, I was trying to avoid having the wife come out to help me.  Her job was pumping the brake while I worked the bleed valve, but she would only be available during commercials on Dancing with the Stars or American Idol.  So, before I asked her, I tried a bunch of mickey mouse ways to do it myself, and made a mess each time.  She didn't really look at it as quality time together, and I wanted to be able to get this job done quickly, by myself.  I made it harder than it had to be.

John.

[ProTeal55]

It's like a mighty vac from hell 

[brockj]

In my case, I was trying to avoid having the wife come out to help me.  Her job was pumping the brake while I worked the bleed valve, but she would only be available during commercials on Dancing with the Stars or American Idol.  So, before I asked her, I tried a bunch of mickey mouse ways to do it myself, and made a mess each time.  She didn't really look at it as quality time together, and I wanted to be able to get this job done quickly, by myself.  I made it harder than it had to be.

John.

I know the feeling!  I recently got a 84 nighthawk with dual discs and hydraulic clutch, so there was 3 bleeding sessions, I think she is glad it is all done now, but by the end, she was a pro!

[fanaticbr]

That's awesome! Looks like an IV...  Good work!

[nickjtc]

Nice ingenuity; good job. I like Speedbleeders....

[mwohlenhaus]

I think I understand now, is it a reverse bleeder.  where it pumps the fluid from the caliper up to the master?

[putnaja1]

YES!  Home made tools rock! 

On this note, has anyone made the homebrew carb balancing vacuum gauges, as listed in the back of the Clymer CB 500/550 fours manual?  I think they use like soup cans, glass jars, and tubing, water with food coloring dye, and a wood frame to build your own vacuum gauge set!

I wonder if it is worth building, or if it is much cheaper to just buy ready-made..  Of course, as with my wheel holding fixture, just because something is cheaper, better, and ready-made, I won't let that stop me!

[nickjtc]

On this note, has anyone made the homebrew carb balancing vacuum gauges, as listed in the back of the Clymer CB 500/550 fours manual?  I think they use like soup cans, glass jars, and tubing, water with food coloring dye, and a wood frame to build your own vacuum gauge set!

If you can build it for less that $25 or so, go for it. Otherwise that's how much the least expensive balancers cost. If you do build it, post pics!

[jgary]

There's a $25 limit?  I think I may have gone over that...

J.

[putnaja1]

There's a $25 limit?  I think I may have gone over that...

J.

I think he just meant that you could buy a vacuum carb balancer tool for 25 bucks, so unless you could build that tool for <25 bucks, easier to buy one.

[cbjunkie]

you got a site for that 25 dollar tool...? LOVE to see that...

[DammitDan]

Not to mention the fact that you won't have to store toxic liquid metals in your house...

[putnaja1]

Here's one I found at JC Whitney..

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/tf-Browse/s-10101/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2004169/p-2004169/N-111+10211+600014252/c-10111

But it's 52 bucks, and check out the review- not very good.  I do remember seeing the "stick" type of mercury gauges a few years ago..  I wonder how much these cost?  I think I might build my own carb sync tool- it will give me another excuse to "pull a mcgyver", it will look like total shadetree nonsense (but probably work pretty well), and I don't think any mercury is required- a plus!

[cbjunkie]

100 bux, minimum. that's why i called you on the 25 dollar claim...

there's a thread straying around here somewhere with a couple of sketches for making your own...materials list, etc...
let us know if you decide to do it - i am putting it off until i have to do some serious engine work, myself.

[putnaja1]

100 bux, minimum. that's why i called you on the 25 dollar claim...

there's a thread straying around here somewhere with a couple of sketches for making your own...materials list, etc...
let us know if you decide to do it - i am putting it off until i have to do some serious engine work, myself.

Agreed, I don't think they are available for 25 bucks..  Maybe a single gauge, which would make it difficult to sync efficiently..  I think nickjtc might know of a 25 dollar one?

On this note, has anyone made the homebrew carb balancing vacuum gauges, as listed in the back of the Clymer CB 500/550 fours manual?  I think they use like soup cans, glass jars, and tubing, water with food coloring dye, and a wood frame to build your own vacuum gauge set!

If you can build it for less that $25 or so, go for it. Otherwise that's how much the least expensive balancers cost. If you do build it, post pics!

I haven't been able to make a good arguement for homebrew is worth the money anyway- my wheel holding thing cost me 50 bucks to build!  The wood wasn't so bad, it was the (20) 3/8" bolts, washers, nuts, lockwashers, etc.  But the satisfaction of using homebrew!  Priceless!   

[nickjtc]

Here's the one I bought. Very crude, and only does one carb at a time, with the 'reference' carb. It's very quick to use, though (less than half an hour to do all four carbs), and seems to work well. I notice the difference in smoothness before and after.

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=12365.msg118280#msg118280

There are none for sale on eBay at the moment.

Nick

[putnaja1]

Cool, Nick, the vacuum gauge thing you used looks like it operates on the same concept as the DIY model listed in the Clymer manual, only yours looks refined as it is factory made.  It's good to hear that it works, I think I'm gonna build one now.  Clymer lists soup cans, jelly jars etc in the parts list!  Which is cool, as it will then double as an abstract recycled food container art piece when I not in use!

Back to the brake fluid pressure bleeder by jgary:
I have a dumb question here- do you just start out by removing the fluid in the reservoir with a turkey baster or similar device, then hook up the pressure bleeder, load it with dot3, pressurize it, and then open the bottom bleeder valve on the caliper, and close the valve on the caliper when the reservoir has the right amount???

Man, this would be great!

[mwohlenhaus]

I think what you do is drain all the old stuff and then fill it from the bottom up.

[jgary]

Drain the old fluid first out through the bleeder valve, then pressurize and pump new fluid back up through the same bleeder valve until it's at the right level in the master cylinder.  The valve to control fluid flow into the caliper is critical here.  Learned through experimentation, if you don't control the fluid it blows a bunch of air up first, that catches little droplets of brake fluid, and then erupts like your own little DOT 3 volcano through the holes in the master cylinder, spraying fluid droplets everywhere, but mostly on your paint.  Having learned this the hard way, when I use the pressurized brake bleeder now I take a manilla file folder and tape it around the outside of the master cylinder to contain any spray.

John.