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Avid Juicy 7 bleed- what did I do wrong?

I guess I must have gotten some air in there.

I had to shorten the cable so that went fine. Then I bled the system (twice). After the 2nd time I thought it was good but then I put the bike on the rack and drove it home. By the time I got home I could pull the lever to the handlebar. Then I hung the bike from it's spot in the garage, I grabbed the lever and it was fine.

Good thing the bleed kit gives you enough oil for multiple bleeds.

I found this to study before I do it again:

 

zebrahum

Monkey
Jun 22, 2005
401
0
SL,UT
are you hanging your bike from the front or back wheel? The air might be hiding, I can't watch the video at work, but one thing I find to help is to rotate the lever so that it is flat in relation to the ground. If you do it by rotating the bike, it keeps a smooth line for air bubbles to travel up to the lever. If you have a big dip in the brake line (like under the bb) it may trap air, so try to get it as vertical as possible.

Avid can easily be the most frustrating brakes in the industry to bleed, just keep at it. I frequently take the pads out, pump the pistons a few times, throw in the pad separating piece of plastic, and bleed them that way. After I feel like I've gotten all the air out, I very quickly close the caliper end and give a little pull on the syringe at the lever to pull a vacuum. You'll probably notice some air come out. Then I gently press the pistons back into their retracted position with a 10mm box wrench which will push more fluid into the syringe. After that, I'll pull a vacuum again and push gently back down on the syringe a couple times, then disconnect the syringe and plug it up.

More often than not, the air is hiding in the caliper, not the lever. Pushing out the pistons helps with that, so does pulling the fluid from the lever syringe by using the caliper syringe. I rarely push fluid through the system, instead I try to gently push all the time.
 
are you hanging your bike from the front or back wheel? The air might be hiding, I can't watch the video at work, but one thing I find to help is to rotate the lever so that it is flat in relation to the ground. If you do it by rotating the bike, it keeps a smooth line for air bubbles to travel up to the lever. If you have a big dip in the brake line (like under the bb) it may trap air, so try to get it as vertical as possible.

Avid can easily be the most frustrating brakes in the industry to bleed, just keep at it. I frequently take the pads out, pump the pistons a few times, throw in the pad separating piece of plastic, and bleed them that way. After I feel like I've gotten all the air out, I very quickly close the caliper end and give a little pull on the syringe at the lever to pull a vacuum. You'll probably notice some air come out. Then I gently press the pistons back into their retracted position with a 10mm box wrench which will push more fluid into the syringe. After that, I'll pull a vacuum again and push gently back down on the syringe a couple times, then disconnect the syringe and plug it up.

More often than not, the air is hiding in the caliper, not the lever. Pushing out the pistons helps with that, so does pulling the fluid from the lever syringe by using the caliper syringe. I rarely push fluid through the system, instead I try to gently push all the time.
I hang it from the rear wheel. Where do I get one of those plastic thingys to put between the pads?
 

zebrahum

Monkey
Jun 22, 2005
401
0
SL,UT
You can get the plastic things from a bike shop. If you ask nicely they might have a pile of them laying around. Actually, the Hayes ones are really good for this sort of thing. You could even just put a tire lever or some other object that's a bit thicker than a rotor in there. You just want to keep your pistons from blowing out when you bleed. That makes a whole lot of extra work.

Try hanging it from the front wheel for a while before you bleed next, it may encourage the air to move up to the lever body where it's easier to extract. I'd still store it by the back for long periods of time.
 
Try hanging it from the front wheel for a while before you bleed next, it may encourage the air to move up to the lever body where it's easier to extract. I'd still store it by the back for long periods of time.

damn I wish I knew that before I left the house this am LOL.

I really want to get this working tonight because we are leaving for KT on Friday! :thumb:

Thanks for the help. If it doesn't work I may bring it with me - kit and all and I would think SOMEONE there could help too!

:)
 

Greggah

Motorboat
Oct 9, 2008
273
6
Gonic, NH
damn I wish I knew that before I left the house this am LOL.

I really want to get this working tonight because we are leaving for KT on Friday! :thumb:

Thanks for the help. If it doesn't work I may bring it with me - kit and all and I would think SOMEONE there could help too!

:)
If you don't get it figured out I am bringing my work stand to KT just in case. I'm sure we can get it sorted out there.
 

caseyo

Monkey
Feb 14, 2007
112
0
Reno
Before you even start the bleed, you can get a ton of trapped "micro" bubbles out of the fluid itself. Just pinch the hose out of the syringe with the little red clip, and keep pulling on the plunger like you were sucking in more fluid and you'll see all these bubbles magically appear. tap on the syringe to make them all join up with each other and move to the bigger air pocket. Then make sure you hold the syringe the right direction while bleeding to keep the air pocket from going into the caliper.

Avid brakes are terrible. They need a bleed about every two months it seems.
 

cycleguru

Chimp
Oct 28, 2009
6
0
I've been running Juicys on my bike for several years now. They've been almost trouble-free from the get-go, but I bleed them each spring whether they need it or not. Here's the bottom line for bleeding Juicys: follow the step-by-step instructions EXACTLY and you won't have any problems. The only thing that can mess you up (other than missing a step) is if your hose has a break in the inner wall. If that's the case you can bleed it 50 times and it still won't work because every time you squeeze the lever the fluid is forced into the space between the inner and outer walls. It's like losing fluid. If this is happening, go to you local shop and have them get you a replacement hose kit from Avid.
 

ryangt

Chimp
Nov 5, 2009
8
0
Alice Springs, Australia
the problem on my shimano 535's was not air at all, i bled it about 5 times probably, even took the whole brake off the bike and suspended it upside down to make sure there was no air in it. Ultimatly, it took a rubber band wrapped around the brake lever, holding it in the "engaged" position overnight to "reset" the caliper. After that, its a nice firm lever, no problems at all.