Bleeding Magura brakes - any advice

[Maxi]

Hi all

Trying to improve the bite on my rear (MT Thirty) as I prefer single finger braking. I first tried the air bubble 'hack' of connecting a syringe to front port and pinging brakes repeatedly to force any air out. That made a small improvement but not enough. I watched several vids on youtube (including Magura's) on how to do a full bleed and followed them as best I could, including pushing the pistons back and using a piston block.

I was able to get all the air out (or at least there was none showing after pushing fluid back & forth a few times) but when I closed everything up again, the brakes are still spongy. I made sure that whichever port I was closing was the highest point in the system; I even opened the front afterwards and squeezed in another few drops of mineral oil. The only thing I can think I'm doing differently is not using Magura Royal Blood as we already have mineral oil - does Magura own brand make any difference (viscosity / compression / etc) ?

Any advice welcome.

Maxi

 

[Maxi]

Quick update - took it to my LBS who tried unsuccessfully several times to bleed with the same result...spongy feel with no real bite point. I ended up buying a new brake (MT5) and then changed calipers...no difference. Changed lever...bite point finally !

I can only assume that there is something inside the lever (or a micro-crack) that has failed and when under braking pressure, just doesn't deliver the required force to the calipers. Had a quick spin out yesterday and now very happy with these.

 

[cozzy]

I would have taken the opertunity to go Shimano levers (shigura). Perhaps next time when the rubbishy plastic magura levers fail.
Good result anyway.

 

[Maxi]

I would have taken the opertunity to go Shimano levers (shigura). Perhaps next time when the rubbishy plastic magura levers fail.
Good result anyway.

Matter of ££ / $$ - I would have liked to upgrade completely but couldn't justify the extra spend at this time.

 

[Eliadn]

I have exactly this same problem with mt30. No air bubbles yet the brake is so spongy it's almost useless. I got the original bleed kit thinking I would avoid paying huge sum at LBS for something so trivial as brake bleed....

 

[VWsurfbum]

use a syringe at either end.
Push the pistons all the way in, and make sure the blocks are used when doing the bleed.
Push the fluid from the lever end by using the lever, make sure the caliper end syringe is verticle and allows the bubbles to rise to the top,
once the fluid has filled up the bottom syringe (assuming its clear fluid/blue) push it slowly with the syringe back to the top syringe and repeat.

 

[larryvaan]

I noticed that my MT5 caliber was getting air from hose joint. I mean joint before banjo where metal is pressed around hose. Maybe defective part, but could be also common problem.

So I sealed it with Sikaflex. And I also sealed the root of banjo just in case.

The bleeding after this was great. Bit point was way more better than earlier. I get bit now earlier than ever.
While bleeding I also rotated the caliber alot. And also turned lever a little bit out of vertical while pressing it to pump air out.

And I also used seal with lever syringe because it seemed to leak air when I suck fluid from caliber end. I made seal with sikaflex.

 

[Akiwi]

This video is brilliant. Made a HUGE difference for me.

 

[G-Sport]

I've got two sets of MT Trails. First set was brilliant, never needed bleeding after the first installation. Second set has been problematic, re-bled them numerous times and they somehow just deteriorate straight away, I think they are just duff.