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Pressure Brake Bleeder

hhshort

Member
There has been much discussion about bleeding motor cycle brakes. I Have been bleeding brakes for more then 55 years but have not been very successful with my BMW,s. The pump, pump, pump, squirt just will not work, besides not good for MCs. I have tried the Phenix and the MityVac and just created a mess. I end up going to a shop where I am still welcome and using a pressure bleeder that is set for a car. It will be charged with DOT-3 not the recommended DOT-4.

I have found the PowerBleeder by , WWW.motiveproducts.com . At about $60 I took a chance that I could make it work for me. I had hoped that some of the car adaptors would work but no such luck. What it is, is a small garden pressure sprayer with a pressure gauge.

To make it work for me I wanted a valve. The brass needle valve, fittings and barbs came out of the junk can. I used salvaged MC caps to make adaptors. I drilled them for 1/8 inch pipe thread and used ?? inch tubing barbs. I cut the centers out of the gaskets and used a dab of rtv to plug the air passage in the front cap. I used ?? inch vinyl tubing.

The procedure I use is that I install the power bleeder with no fluid and pump it up to about 15 psi and then open the needle valve. The pressure will drop a little and then if it holds for a minute or 2 there is no leaks, I release the pressure by removing the pump and add fluid. A quart should flush both brakes but it will work with the new 12 oz pint. Pump it back to 15 psi, open the bleeder valve, open the needle valve. When the catch can tubing flows clean and clear, close the needle valve and then the bleeder valve. That way there will be no pressure when you remove the adapter or the tubing. If you let it flow until you see air in the tubing going to the MC, you will find only 1 oz. of left over fluid.

It should not be used to store brake fluid so it needs to be cleaned after use. I flush it with a lot of hot water, then alcohol and leave it all open when stored.

The important result is that it works for me and I donÔÇÖt make a mess.
 

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