Bleeding brakes on Tripacer

[Corky Scott]

I don't actually own a Tripacer but I do have the landing gear which
is being mounted on my homebuilt.

I was painting the landing gear and wheels last weekend, which
included sand blasting everything such as the backing plate. I had to
remove the brakes and wheel cylinder so that I could do a proper job.

As I was re-assembling the stuff, I was struck by what appeared to be
the lack of a bleeder screw so that the wheel cylinder could be filled
with fluid, when the time comes.

There is no bleeder screw with a passage directly into the cylinder,
as is the practice in the automotive world, but there is a set screw
on top of the threaded portion of the cylinder that fits through the
backing plate. At first, I had no idea what this set screw's function
was, until I began thinking about how the heck I was going to bleed
the brakes.

The way the cylinder is designed, there is the cylinder itself, with
the two pistons to push on the brake shoes of the drum brakes. Then
machined to the cylinder is a threaded arm that sticks through the
backing plate. This is snugged to the backing plate by a nut against
a lock washer. This leaves a longish threaded part to which another
piece is attached. This is threaded onto the threads and to this last
piece, the brake line is attached.

This second part, is machined to fit the flange of the brake line and
accept the threads of the brakeline coupler. On top of this second
piece is what appears to be a set screw. It's in the wrong place to
be a bleeder valve, but that's the only thing I can think it is.

I'm half tempted to drill through the backing plate into the cylinder
and tap threads for a real bleeder valve.

Can anyone tell me, is that little set screw really intended to be a
bleeder valve for the wheel cylinder? If so, I'm going to be tempted
to attempt to remove everything on the outside of the backing plate
but the wheel cylinder, and squirt brake fluid into the cylinder using
a syringe until it's filled, then screw the brakeline attachment
fitting on, attach the brakeline and bleed from there.

Many thanks, Corky Scott

[RT]

Corky Scott wrote in message >...
>As I was re-assembling the stuff, I was struck by what appeared to be
>the lack of a bleeder screw so that the wheel cylinder could be filled
>with fluid, when the time comes.

Nope - the screw is to bleed AIR from the system. Fill the master and
bleed downwards - just like every other a/c and car/truck/bus.........

[Corky Scott]

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 00:51:44 +1000, "RT" > wrote:

>
>Corky Scott wrote in message >...
>>As I was re-assembling the stuff, I was struck by what appeared to be
>>the lack of a bleeder screw so that the wheel cylinder could be filled
>>with fluid, when the time comes.
>
>Nope - the screw is to bleed AIR from the system. Fill the master and
>bleed downwards - just like every other a/c and car/truck/bus.........

I was an auto mechanic in a former life. I've bled a lot of brake
lines and hydraulic systems. In every single auto or truck I've dealt
with, there was always a bleeder screw right at the cylinder or
caliper, usually at the high point, to facilitate removing air.

The wheel cylinder for the Tripacer is unlike anything I've ever seen
before and appears intrinsically unable to bleed the cylinder properly
as the bleeder is inches away from the cylinder. However, knowing now
that that's what it's for, I'm going to take another careful look at
the cylinder to make sure that it doesn't have to be mounted in a
specific way.

Thanks for the information.

Corky Scott