What to do with my Elixirs?

submityournentries

my front elixir has completely died now.

the lever pulls completely back to the bar and offers no retardation atall.
it was bled 2 weeks ago, and has good pads.

on closer invesgation it had 1 sticking piston.

ive had the brakes 6 months, done 500 miles on them.

should i dismantle them and fully service them? or should i send them back to merlin?

cheers guys.

nicklouse

sounds like a poor bleed if you have no leaks.

submityournentries

but it was working until about half way round the trail i rode today? one side was rubbing so i adjusted the caliper and then this happened.

Raymondavalon

nicklouse wrote:

sounds like a poor bleed if you have no leaks.

As above. Get them to a good LBS for a proper inspection. If you dismantle them, you'll need to replace the seals within the calipers, best let a reputable bike shop do an assessment because brakes are life & limb parts

doug@basqueMTB.com

Could be needing bled and there was air trapped. Happens a bit IME. I've found them very tricky to bleed properly. Even Avid can't bleed them it seems since lots of sets arrived with a poor factory bleed.

popstar

Few of my riding buddies including myself have had these kind of problems. Bleeding them properly cures it.

submityournentries

good good. okay 1 bleed kit purchased. we live in hope that this will solve the problem. is this like to fix the sticking piston? or are there other suggestions for this?

weescott

Try some silicon spray on the piston.

Northwind

1) Kill with fire
2) Buy Formula

Or. Rebleed for sure. The piston might benefit from being removed and having the piston and seals cleaned, and the gutter that the seal sits in cleaned out too with a dentist's pick or bent paperclip- carefully for all of this or you'll end up not being able to reuse the parts. But, this isn't brain surgery but it's not simple either, if you've never bled brakes etc it's a big leap to doing a full strip and service so approach with caution.

frogstomp

submityournentries wrote:

good good. okay 1 bleed kit purchased. we live in hope that this will solve the problem. is this like to fix the sticking piston? or are there other suggestions for this?

My Elixirs had a sticking piston.. try removing the pads and pumping the pistons out a bit (not too far though!) then smear the outside edge with a bit of brake fluid and push them back home.. repeat a few times and your problem may go away..

submityournentries

ive bled them a fair few times before, and the last time i did they were much better, but have just gotten worse over the last couple of hunder miles.

ta for the advice of just cleaning and popping some brake fluid on the piston ill give that a go once my bleed kit arrives, and let you guys know how this works out.

on the plus side they are definately definately not leaking as the bike has been sitting for 24 hours and no fluids come out, and ive been pumping them to try and build some pressure, so if there was a leak it wouldve been obvious.

worst case scenario ill send them back to merlin for them to have a look at them, see what they say.

hainman

not sure about elixors but my shimanos were right spongey after 2 bleeds and someone told me to take the resevoir lid of and tie-strap the lever down to the grip.pads out and put the block in and leave it over night.i couldnt beleive the air that came from the resevoir in the instance i tied the lever down and worked a dream.also cleaned my pads and disk and it was like new brakes.

bennett_346

hainman wrote:

not sure about elixors but my shimanos were right spongey after 2 bleeds and someone told me to take the resevoir lid of and tie-strap the lever down to the grip.pads out and put the block in and leave it over night.i couldnt beleive the air that came from the resevoir in the instance i tied the lever down and worked a dream.also cleaned my pads and disk and it was like new brakes.

Wouldn't work with elixirs, they don't have a reservoir lid you can take off.

hainman

oh well thats a bugger,how doyou top up the fluid on these bad boys then?

submityournentries

the reserviour is in the lever body. basically you can only add fluid under pressure.

however i have treated myself to an avid bleed kit, which does the above, and therefore should solve the problem

hopefully

Northwind

bennett_346 wrote:

Wouldn't work with elixirs, they don't have a reservoir lid you can take off.

Plus you wouldn't want to leave DOT fluid open to the air overnight, you can do it with mineral oil though.

Tying the lever back still helps get air to settle into the reservoir though which makes it much easier to get rid of.

Mr bump

Have you tilted the bike during the ride?
I have exactly the same problem with mine in that they go back to the bar despite being bled numerous times.
After speaking to the LBS it appears they are an open bath system or similar.
As a result if i turn the bike upside down for say transporting or tilt it upwards the brakes need pumping to get going again.
To be honest a pretty pants idea if you ask me. :roll:

Northwind

That can happen if there's air left in the reservoir but you don't want that (it can happen with any brake but it's easier to get all the air out with some than others). Never seen inside their reservoirs mind but how it usually works is there's a little bellows/diaphragm that inflates as the fluid level falls and takes up the empty space while keeping the air out, I'd be surprised if Avid are any different. A bad bleed will often leave air in the reservoir just waiting to cause you trouble.

submityournentries

good news.
bleed kit turned up today whilst i was at uni, so im off to have a crack at bleeding them again, ill let you guys know how it goes

oh and i did try pumping them, as when they first came they were poorly bled, and needed pumping whenever i hoiked the front wheel up. it hasnt helped this time. ahwell

bleeding time

submityournentries

good news, a proper bleed and the problem is solved, and they are back up to full power only draw back is is that im a massive moron and spilt fluid on the rear pads, so i burnt most of it off in the gas hob, and am going to have a go at the technique in the FAQs section to try and solve it properly.

however, they are atleast back at full power and neither are dragging, and both pistons are pushing evenly.

so its all well now , and i just have to remember never to take my bike to the halfords near me, as they will make a problem and not fix the 1 i asked them to fix