Do you clean & lube your brake pistons?

[ragnor]

So do you clean & lube your disk brake pistons? If you don’t then why not? If you do what gear, greases, lubes etc do you use?

 

[Goff]

You can't replace the seals on Shimano brakes. They don't sell them.

Unfortunately yes., but Shimano use mineral oil the seals seem to last longer.

 

[Bones]

Never touch them regarding lubing pistons. Like my car they just work when left well alone. A bit like a decent chain

 

[ebsocalmtb]

If you ride a lot of miles, you will need to do this. I bought spacers for all brake types/brands from a seller on etsy that make it rather easy. Code/guide brakes will especially need this with time in order to keep them feeling great... provided your bleed and bleed methods are good, you only need to do this once a year or so. Shimano need the same on their 4 piston calipers (deore, xt, xtr).

I clean them with diluted dish soap and water which I create by putting a few drops in a spray bottle. I used to use Isopropyl alcohol, but i found that I'd still have sticky pistons after. I get much better results after switching to dish soap.

 

[militantmandy]

Pretty sure it was this one:

Bleed Block and Spacer Tool for SRAM Code Brakes

Buy Bleed Block and Spacer Tool for SRAM Code Brakes for only £10.00 at r3pro!

www.r3pro.co.uk

@iamanej

 

[Paulquattro]

Never touch them regarding lubing pistons. Like my car they just work when left well alone. A bit like a decent chain

What he said
Shimano saints and never touch them apart from pad changes
There as good now as they were 10k ago

 

[Chrysaor]

You can't replace the seals on Shimano brakes. They don't sell them.

you can actually find some non official pistons and seals on the internet. Running a pair of aftermarket ceramic pistons and seals without issue for 2 years after the original pistons cracked

 

[iamanej]

@iamanej

But those you linked cover all of pistons. Didnt you say you have some smaller one that covers only a pair?
I have this type in my bleeding kit.

 

[JC-1]

But those you linked cover all of pistons. Didnt you say you have some smaller one that covers only a pair?
I have this type in my bleeding kit.

Printables

www.printables.com

I’d like a version of these that allows all pistons to be advanced a little at the same time, to shorten the lever throw more than the lever adjustments allow. I manually advance the pistons on all my bike. Super picky about it.

 

[Gman086]

So what would you clean with after a bleed? Will soapy water be enough?

Yes, after wiping calipers off with paper shop towels I use soapy water with Dawn dish soap and that does a pretty good job.

Have FUN!

G MAN

 

[barnclos]

Hope have done a video on piston cleaning. The most interesting things that I took away were: they advise against using any cleaning ‘products’ and instead just wipe the pistons clean; they use silicone lubricant (looks like the one that 2WheelsNot4 recommended earlier) to lube the pistons rather than brake fluid.

Full disclosure - I’ve not yet cleaned my pistons, but I am building up to it.

 

[Montana St Alum]

Yes. IT can be helpful in maintaining optimum brake feel, noise reduction and performance:

 

[Gman086]

Yes. IT can be helpful in maintaining optimum brake feel, noise reduction and performance:

I respect the guys at Park Tools and their video of how the seals works is great for the novice mechanic to understand how disc brakes work but... the rest of the video is just wrong (I've tried that method and it just collects dirt and starts sticking again within a couple of rides). The Hope video basically said everything that I said to do and I trust Hope a LOT more than Park when it comes to brake knowledge so... to each their own.

Have FUN!

G MAN

 

[Montana St Alum]

I respect the guys at Park Tools and their video of how the seals works is great for the novice mechanic to understand how disc brakes work but... the rest of the video is just wrong (I've tried that method and it just collects dirt and starts sticking again within a couple of rides). The Hope video basically said everything that I said to do and I trust Hope a LOT more than Park when it comes to brake knowledge so... to each their own.

Have FUN!

G MAN

Yeah, these get stuck or move in an irregular fashion. Unstick them and they work better. Moving them through their range of motion is sometimes enough, but doing so fairly regularly keeps them operating well.