Hello , i just recieved my brakes and when i went to bleed i had a leak on the connection that connects to the caliper.
I called customer service and he needs to wait for techs to come in , so no help.
I think i just need to tighten the connection but he didnt know how , i had my extra lines and i asked him if i could use pliers , he gave me the go ahead and i think i broke. I tried on these just in case this would happen.
I looked at my connection on my caliper and they look different its has threads the replacement looked pressure fitted.
I wanted to know, how to tighten the connection on the caliper?.
because i believe this is were the leak is coming from i already tightened the olive and the screw that connecta the connection to the caliper .
Also what is this piece called?
Thank you
by Clear-Afternoon-4067
1 Comment
In many other industries that piece is called a “banjo fitting”. Yeah, no kidding.
It might have a special name in the world of bicycles but most people will recognize it as a banjo fitting.
If the leak is coming from the banjo fitting the copper sealing washer(s) is often the culprit. Once they are crushed and hardened it’s hard to make a seal with them again.
You can re-use the copper washers if you re-soften them with a torch and a ceramic cup filled with water. Hold the washers with a pair of long pliers or tongs and heat them to a cherry red with the torch. While they are still glowing hot, thrust them into the water. Unlike steel, quenching the copper makes it dead soft.
Clean them up a touch with a fine wire brush or fine sandpaper to remove any scale and you can then reuse the washers to form a good seal.
If it’s leaking from the NPT (threaded) fitting, Loctite 5452 thread sealant is okay on NPT fittings.
Teflon (yellow) thread tape is also okay on NPT fittings but I wouldn’t use it for anything else in the system.
***
In an absolute emergency situation bubble gum can be used to help seal a threaded hydraulic fitting. Bubble gum is Buna-S rubber which is *close enough* to the Buna-N rubber used in hydraulic fittings for it to work. (for a while anyway) Some care is required to avoid contamination of the system but if used only as a thread sealant the risk is pretty minimal.