Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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MoonlightVFR
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Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by MoonlightVFR »

Bottom up brake bleeding with a pump style oil can filled with 5606 seems to be preferred.

My question to the forum is simply is there an alternate method of pushing brake fluid UP through the master cylinder?

I am thinking something less than a $450.00 Snap On Pressure Pot System.
gradyb, '54 B N2890C
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johneeb
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by johneeb »

https://www.grainger.com/product/WESTWA ... chBar=true

Grady,how about adapting one of these pressure sprayers?
John E. Barrett
aka. Johneb

Sent from my "Cray Super Computer"
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lowNslow
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by lowNslow »

MoonlightVFR wrote:Bottom up brake bleeding with a pump style oil can filled with 5606 seems to be preferred.

My question to the forum is simply is there an alternate method of pushing brake fluid UP through the master cylinder?

I am thinking something less than a $450.00 Snap On Pressure Pot System.
Not sure why you want to spend more money on a different system when the pump oil can works great?
Karl
'53 170B N3158B SN:25400
ASW-20BL
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nippaero
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by nippaero »

ATS has their bleeder on sale. I was just looking at it a couple days ago.


http://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detai ... T_ID=225DX
1952 170B
N8180A s/n 25032
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KS170A
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by KS170A »

MoonlightVFR wrote:Bottom up brake bleeding with a pump style oil can filled with 5606 seems to be preferred.

My question to the forum is simply is there an alternate method of pushing brake fluid UP through the master cylinder?

I am thinking something less than a $450.00 Snap On Pressure Pot System.
There is an alternative way. Involves filling the master cylinder, pressing the brake pedal, and pushing any trapped air down through the lines, through the pistons, and out the caliper bleeder. Sound involved? Much more so than pushing up from the caliper. Best done with two people as opposed to one person pushing up.

Get some ¼" vinyl tubing, secure it to a $5 oil squirt can from your favorite hardware store, or whatever sort of pump/syringe thing you can come up with that will push the fluid up along with any air bubbles. Really no reason to spend more than just a few bucks.
--Josh
1950 170A
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pdb
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by pdb »

image.jpeg
Josh is right. You guys are making this much too complicated.

This is the rig you need. Replace the vent plug on the master cylinder with the fitting described in a post above above and a section of tubing to catch the overflow. I am not sure if 1/8" or 3/16 tubing is best. Try 3/16" first.

Read about the process here: http://a.moirier.free.fr/Train%20d'atte ... lation.pdf under the section "Servicing from the bottom up."

As you pump, if you need to refill the pump during the process, close the nipple fitting with a wrench, refill the pump, and continue until all bubbles are gone from the system.

You can skip the part about fitting tubing to the master cylinder by wrapping rags around the master cylinder to catch the overflow but it can be messy.
Pete Brown
Anchorage, Alaska
N4563C 1953 170B
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2366/2527 ... 4e43_b.jpg
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GAHorn
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by GAHorn »

PLain old ordinary plastic Garden Sprayer cost's $5 at WalMart and works beautifully! Cut the nozzle off the end of the wand and slip a piece of clear plastic hose on the end, and push the hose directly onto the bleeder fitting. 8)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/RL-Flo-Maste ... r/13376324
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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gfeher
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by gfeher »

If you decide to do it with an oil can/squirt pump as Pete shows, I recommend that you use a 1 qt pump like this one sold by Tractor Supply: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... _vc=-10005. You won't run out of fluid. Although you can attach the clear tubing to the end of the flexible metal spout, I prefer to replace the flexible metal spout (it just screws out at the top of the can) with a brass screw-in nipple fitting and attach the clear hose there. It makes it easier to manage the hose. I don't remember the size of the fitting you'll need, but its a standard size available at any hardware store, including the big boxes. That's what I've used for years and it works great.

My second choice would be to convert a garden sprayer as George suggests. I've never tried it, but I think it's a great idea. It's essentially the same as the ATS bleeder.
Gene Feher
Argyle (1C3), NY
'52 170B N2315D s/n 20467 C-145-2
Experimental J3 Cub Copy N7GW O-200
bagarre
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Re: Bottom Up Brake Bleeding

Post by bagarre »

I used one of these http://www.homedepot.com/p/RL-Flo-Maste ... /100164531


and a length of tubing.

I had to modify the tip to remove the sprayer and fit the tubing but it worked great.
3025a14c-374c-460b-ba10-4ac099bf6786_1000.jpg
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