Filling brake fluid lines solo?

[airguy]

I need to fill my brake system with fluid, and I'm stuck without a helper for a while. I've got the cheap Harbor Freight vacuum handpump and I've got lines for drawing fluid in at the bleeders at each brake, but what about pumping the brakes in the cockpit? Is that necessary for the first fill or just later to work out the bubbles? Is this necessarily a 2-man job?

[Mel]

If you are filling from the bottom-up, pumping the pedals is not necessary.
Check valves will allow the fluid to flow upwards.

[TCONROY]

I have bled the brakes in my -7 twice now, solo. I connect the nozzle of the harbor freight oil can to a plastic hose that fits over the bleeder valve on the caliper and then start pumping. I also temporarily installed a push-to-connect fitting in the top of the reservoir with some extra pitot/static hose with the other end in a gallon size zipper bag. I then pumped and pumped and pumped some more. When I saw fluid going into the zip-lock bag (full reservoir), I shut the bleeder valve and connected the oil can to the other side. I pumped and pumped until I got more fluid going into the bag and then shut the bleeder. No need to pump the brake pedals. I then removed the hose and fitting at the top of the reservoir and drew some of the extra fluid out with an extra syringe I had in the shop.

[ChiefPilot]

I've done mine solo a couple of times; it's super easy.

I use a hand-cranked fuel pump for R/C models, a bunch of silicone tubing, and Mobil ATF as the brake fluid. Outlet from the pump goes to the nipple on the bottom of the brake, the inlet goes to the ATF bottle. There's enough tubing so I can see the plastic brake lines inside the cockpit while standing outside and turning the pump. Not terribly concerned if bubbles appear at this point.

Once the system is full (including the reservoir), I move the inlet from the ATF bottle to the reservoir and keep pumping. This circulates the fluid through the system and removes any air bubbles that might be in place.

[N941WR]

Go here and skip down to the 10/24/06 entry to see how I did it.

[RV6_flyer]

There are many homemade ways to bleed the brakes from the bottom up.

You can also buy a pressure pot made for the task.



VAF advertiser Aircraft Spruce sells this one and it works great.

[Raymo]

Originally Posted by RV6_flyer

There are many homemade ways to bleed the brakes from the bottom up.

You can also buy a pressure pot made for the task.



VAF advertiser Aircraft Spruce sells this one and it works great.

+1 for this tool!

[scard]

Originally Posted by RV6_flyer

There are many homemade ways to bleed the brakes from the bottom up.

You can also buy a pressure pot made for the task.

VAF advertiser Aircraft Spruce sells this one and it works great.

Wow, a $90 solution to a $2 problem .

[bruceh]

Ditch the Harbor Freight pump. I tried it and it wouldn't push the fluid high enough. I got a small garden sprayer like the expensive one pictured above at a True Value hardware store for $14. You just need some hose barbs and adapters and a couple of different sizes of clear tubing to make a nice solid connection. Put a drain hose on the reservoir and into a container to catch the over spill. Pump it up, connect the hose to the brake caliper, then crack the bleeder and it will fill up each line with no bubbles. Easy job to do solo. It turned out to be a really quick and easy task.

[DHeal]

On some brake master cylinders (like the Matco units on my RV-12), you should make sure that the master cylinder is fully retracted before starting the bleeding process.