hope mini bleeding hell

gixerator

I have fitted s/h hope minis, they worked but a bit spongey. I have tried to bleed them. when pulling the lever in, no fluid is coming out into my blled tube. Now they wont work at all any ideas?

allthegearnoidea

ive tried both methods to bleed these, the syringe full from the bottom (caliper) up which was a messy job! or my much prefered method, release nipple squeeze lever, tighten nipple up and release leaver, and repeat untill happy,

could be that yours have a Lot of air in?? need to keep the resevoir topped up as three pulls and is close to empty,

gixerator

I have sorted now, I have a non return bleed pipe but was blocked. No air still feel spongy compared to the old Shimano's. Will try when out.

stubs

A trick when bleeding Hope and Shimano, squeeze and release the lever with the reservoir cap off. You dont need to squeeze lever hard your almost flicking it on and off.

Keep on doing it and you will see small bubbles rising through the brake fluid in the reservoir. It can take about 10 minutes of constantly working the brake lever till all the little air bubbles come out.

Then use a zip tie or something similar and lock the lever on hard, leave it overnight and the lever should feel rock solid in the morning. Its amazing how many little bubbles of air get stuck in corners even when you bleed the damn things properly.

ride_whenever

are you rolling the diaphragm on causing fluid to go everywhere so there's no air in there?

stubs

^^^^^^^ and that as well. The fluid should go everywhere if you do it right.

gixerator

yes rolled the diaphram, didnt leave overnight though. its just the early bite thats rubbish

mmacavity

Speak to HOPE.
http://www.hopegb.com/page_mep_force_5.html

http://www.hopegb.com/page_mep_force_4.html

ride_whenever

what pads?

gixerator

Hope sintered. its more in the lever. nothing for a lot of the travel. it might be that im not used to them will check out at the weekend.

ride_whenever

more fluid in the system needed from the sounds of things.

gixerator

dont think its that as I filled then rolled in diaphram. will update after ride.

stubs

Have you tried locking the lever back hard with a zip tie and leaving overnight then slowly releasing the lever when you cut off the tie. It fixed a front Mini that no matter how many times I bled it it had too much travel but felt firm when the pads finally hit the disc I think it might be to do with getting the pistons in the right position. They were too far away from the disc.

gixerator

Took it out today and its not right, If I leave it overnight (cable tied) I take it the reservoir cap should be off and the nipple open with the non return bleed tube attached. Then tighten the nipple and slowly release in the morning?

Mancunianfightingcat

I had this issue. I concluded that there wasn't enough pressure in the system.

I attached a tube to the calliper bleed nipple, filled the tube with DOT 5, and this is the bodge bit, inserted a track pump into the end of the tube full of fluid, pumped a bit of it in to the system, closed the nipple whilst still under pressure and stood back to admire my work. The brakes work brilliantly now. This was done about 9 months ago and I've changed the pads since with no issues.

stubs

gixerator wrote:

Took it out today and its not right, If I leave it overnight (cable tied) I take it the reservoir cap should be off and the nipple open with the non return bleed tube attached. Then tighten the nipple and slowly release in the morning?

No if you leave the reservoir cap off the Dot fluid will absorb water out of the atmosphere. You clamp the lever with the brake system fully assembled.

gixerator

how will that expel air unless the nipple is loose?

ratty2k

Hose is open to the reservoir if you keep the brake on overnight with a rubber band. Any bubbles in the line will slowly work their way into the reservoir where they dont cause any issues.

stubs

ratty2k wrote:

Hose is open to the reservoir if you keep the brake on overnight with a rubber band. Any bubbles in the line will slowly work their way into the reservoir where they dont cause any issues.

And when all the little bubbles rise up you can take cap off refill and replace diaphragm if your bothered by a little air. Though unless you regulary store your bike upside down I cant see it being a problem.