trialschallenger Posted April 8, 2009 Report Share Posted April 8, 2009 I've run pure water in my Magura's for the last 8 odd years and have never had a problem. Nice light lever feel, fast return, no mess, doesn't matter if you get any on your rim/bike and it's also pretty damn cheap...and if your caught out while riding tap water is free in most pubs! and there is always someone willing to give you some,now i might have to give this emulsion a go im really struggling with my brake atm i bucket bled it today and it seems to have died off :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted June 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 come back and tell us how its doing in 10 weeks then ill decide if your a noobie or not Its been 15 weeks and still as good as the day I bled with the emulsion, am I a noobie or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Still waiting... Current maggy has been going for over 3 years I think with nothing but pure water and it's still light and fast.Same for me, aside from having to replace a slave when the pad nipple broke. Water and RB lever for as long as i can remember and it's still going strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Missed this thread completely. When I have the time, my maggie is going to receive this emulsion.Could be quite interesting, it's been run on water for quite a long time and no longer works as quickly as it should. A bit of lubricant could change that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualjoe Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Emulsion has worked brilliantly for me. My lazy piston woke up and moves light and smooth. It is ideal if you only have a small amount of mineral oil laying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted February 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Bit of a massive bump sorry :$ As a development of this thread, Ive been using the emulsion base as I described initially since creating it without any real problems; had to top the bleed up every so often as the RB lever finally started seeping too much out. Got the lever lapped and resealed by ed potts (thanks krisboats for the contact) and its absolutely spot on now with no apparant leaking Found an off the shelf emulsion that doesnt seperate anywhere near as much as the home made one. Seeing as we have a full machine shop at work I should perhaps try suds as a brake fluid; for those that dont know, suds is an oil/water emulsion that is sprayed onto the cutting tool/workpiece for coolant and lubrication purposes. I asked nicely and was given a litre of neat suds, it has a similar consistency and feel to 10w40, its very slippery! Bled the brake with the neat solution and found it to be a bit too heavy and arm pump inducing. Mixed it 1:1 with plain tap water and the brake now feels exactly the same as water but with the added lubricity. I havent added any antifreeze, I rarely ride in sub zero conditions now but as its mostly oil it should be far better than plain water (I will try chucking a bottle of it in the freezer and see how it fares); additionally antifreeze is very good as getting past seals, the oil has a much higher surface tension so is easier to seal against. The down side is this stuff is pretty expensive to buy neat (about 100 quid for 20 litres) but as you only need a tiny amount you probably ask a local engineers shop to donate a small quantity for the price of a beer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 additionally antifreeze is very good as getting past seals Haven't ever found that to be a problem on any of the many Maguras I've personally used and that I've seen used with a water/anti-freeze mix. I've even used neat anti-freeze in my brake before and it didn't leak at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted February 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Haven't ever found that to be a problem on any of the many Maguras I've personally used and that I've seen used with a water/anti-freeze mix. I've even used neat anti-freeze in my brake before and it didn't leak at all. Maguras use proper lip seals though rather than o-rings, makes a big difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Maguras use proper lip seals though rather than o-rings, makes a big difference They actually have one of each... I think this thread pretty much proves that you can use almost anything as fluid in a hydraulic rim brake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted February 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 (edited) They actually have one of each... Ah, mines only got a single lip seal I think, it is from 98 though I could be wrong and missed the o-ring but seem to recall its lip only, either way its still better than the RB with a pair of o-rings Sealing aside, using the suds works very well certainly more slippery than my initial emulsion. Possibly a better option than water for the lesser sealed brakes - mainly echo and RB. Adam, have you got a suds pump on your lathe? edit: sneaky ninja edit! It also proves that using water/antifreeze in an old maggie leads to sticky slaves through lack of lubrication. Edited February 25, 2011 by forteh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark W Posted February 25, 2011 Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Didn't really find that a problem with my water/anti-freeze mix as pretty much every anti-freeze I've bought has had lubricating and anti-corrosive additives in it. EDIT: As do pretty much all brands of anti-freeze if you check the small print/active ingredients type bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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