Brake Cleaner

[PeterH]

Excuse my ignorance.

In my question about glue removal, brake cleaner was mentioned.

I've never used brake cleaner, so what is it and what is it used for?  I can see its a liquid - usually a spray, and I guess by its name it has some use for cleaning brakes. But why ?

 

[Pete Lewis]

its a clean evaporating product which is good at de greasing and cleaning just about anything its very useable clean and evaporates to a dry clean finish

on brakes it removes resin deposits on disc drums etc.  its really a jack of all trades stuff , economical to use , especially if bought from any decent factors in 5ltr cans for around £10 - 14 

as said you must use a proper pump  spray   £8 - 20   , but i would not be without it  .

[Paul H]

What’s the difference between brake cleaner and carb cleaner .

Paul 

[JohnD]

Plus several from me to Pete's comment!   Very useful.

Brake cleaner used to be tetrachloroethylene, dry-cleaning fluid, but that's banned along with all the halogenated hydrocarbons for their ozone depleting effects.   Today it's a mixture of methyl acetate and aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons.       It will dissolve and wash off grease and other contaminants,  and unlike engine degreaser doesn't need to be washed away with water.

It will attack rubber and most plastics, so needs a special spray bottle, unless you use an unrefillable aerosol can,  and  paintwork too, but can be wiped (not sprayed) on in moderation to clear grease smears.     Always use in a well ventilated area and remember that it is highly inflammable!

Carb cleaner. Paul, is intended to remove hard varnishes and is more aggresive, especially to plastics and paint!      It contains smaller molecule hydrocarbons like acetone, toluene and Xylene, and is probably more toxic!    Definitely well ventilated area and keep away from sparks!

John

PS Hammerite used to have Xylene as solvent.   I painted a chassis with it, in winter, in a closed garage.     That night I had the worst headache in the world!   A real head banger - I thought I was having a stroke!    It recurred thereafter if I ever used the old Hammerite, even in small quantities.      Avoid breathing the fumes!

[PeterH]

Thanks guys. Sounds usefull -  I'll buy some on Monday. I expect Mill Autoquip will have it.

The forum really is the fount of all knowledge.

[Pete Lewis]

dont mention the Fount ,, i nearly got dropped in it when i was a beefy 3.5lbs 

Pete

[Badwolf]

John - I have some old hammerite (when it used to be good). Will modern carb cleaner act as thinners for it and will it disolve the old stuff that has gone hard in the can or is that for the bin (never throw anything away!!!)

[Clive]

Carb cleaner to aggressive to use as any thinners. 

If paint has gone thick best to use the correct thinners.Or throw it away is better advice.

Plenty of decent quality paints available (new hammerite is not one of them)

[Badwolf]

Clive - Thanks. Yes I know about the 'new' hammerite. Thats why I wanted to use up the remaining old formula that I still have, but the thinners are no longer available.

[PeterH]

1 hour ago, Badwolf said:

but the thinners are no longer available

I've used ordinary cellulose thinners in the past - seemed to work. But even these are not what they were.

[JohnD]

If there's just a skin on top, cut around the edge and remove that in one piece, scrape it's backside back into the tin, stir well ansd use!  It'll probably be OK!  But use it up now!

[Badwolf]

PeterH - With the original hammerite, cellulose thinners separate. Same with the current version.

JohnD - I don't have much left now, but there is a tin which has gone very strange, hence the question about softening the hard stuff. I'll just chuck it, although it would be handy to know what chemical mixture the old (1980s) thinners was.

[Paulfc]

Regarding using brake cleaner. I’m just about to tackle the rear drum brakes. I’ve no need to strip anything down (other than remove the drums) as there’s plenty on the shoes and no leaks, everything is just very dusty. Can I just spray the whole assembly with the cleaner and let the excess run into a drip tray and then use an air line to blow any residue away? I’m thinking maybe I’ll hoover the dust off first. Any advice on how best to tackle this will be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Paul

[Colin Lindsay]

Either, Paul. Hoover or brush the dust off first then spray with brake cleaner to wash the rest off. I don't usually get any near the pads or shoes, though - I'll remove those first, or else mask off the friction surface. I've no idea if it would affect the surface or contaminate it in any way, but I just go for the safe option just in case.

[JohnD]

On brake dust, even now, I'd be careful with it, it might contain asbestos residues.

Clean in open air, wear a mask (we've all got them now, yes?)

Vacuum up the mass of it. Dispose of the bag right away!

Then wash off the rest, onto absorbent paper, like newspaper, put that into a plastic disposal bag before it dries.  Chuck that too.

What about disposing?     When I bought this house, the guttering was asbestos! (I didn't know, the surveyor didn't notice!)    When that began to wilt, I had it replaced - the contractor did not notice (??) or charge me for disposal.    But he left a length behind, forgotten behind the garage.   Far too long to get into the car,  I sawed it in half, with wife dribbling water onto the saw, into a basin of newspaper.    I bagged it all up and took it to the tip.

I have some asbestos guttering here.  How should it be disposed of, please?

Chuck it in the skip.

I'm sorry, I don't think you heard me!   ASBESTOS!    

Chick it in the skip.  We're allowed a bit. 

John 

[Pete Lewis]

def not an air line , 

vacuum get my vote 

before the days of H &S as apprentice in experimental guys would air line blow the brakes off to work on, workshop like a thick fog of dust I  used to go out a fire door  cant work in that mess, no idea if any of the fitters survived , but  who  new about asbestos  then , 

i raised a complaint  we had a safety officer and a fully enclosed vacuum arrived ...problem resolved  that was 1963 ...  

so suck it not blow it or get one of these https://thebrakereport.com/tallano-develops-brake-vacuum-cleaner/

Pete

[68vitesse]

Worked in shops new and refits while building work was going on including cutting the fire proofing boards with power saws, loads of dust. Went back to some of them for alterations a few years later, men in noddy suits with respirators working on the boards no one else allowed in shop.

The word asbestos was never mentioned,  health checks never made.

Regards

Paul

 

[Paulfc]

Thanks one and all, all advice noted!
 

 

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, JohnD said:

What about disposing?     When I bought this house, the guttering was asbestos! (I didn't know, the surveyor didn't notice!)    When that began to wilt, I had it replaced - the contractor did not notice (??) or charge me for disposal.    But he left a length behind, forgotten behind the garage.   Far too long to get into the car,  I sawed it in half, with wife dribbling water onto the saw, into a basin of newspaper.    I bagged it all up and took it to the tip.

I have some asbestos guttering here.  How should it be disposed of, please?

Chuck it in the skip.

I'm sorry, I don't think you heard me!   ASBESTOS!    

Chick it in the skip.  We're allowed a bit. 

John 

We had the same, an old fireplace in my last house. "Triple-wrap it in bin liners and throw it in the bin."

The current bug-bear is plasterboard, no-one will take it. I have a lot of it for disposal, and the council don't want it. There's too litle for any specialist disposal company to want to deal with it. As with the asbestos, it's broken down into small pieces, wrapped in bin liners, and put into the fortnightly bin. 

[Clive]

if there is any chance of it being asbestos, DO NOT USE YOUR VACUUM CLEANER. The dangerous fibres are too small to be stopped by anything other than a specific asbestos filter (normal masks offer little protection). Worse, you use the vacuum,and you will spray the fibres into the atmosphere. And continue to do so if it goes in the house. And then your family will be exposed. If dangerous you will find out in 20-40 years.

Wash the brakes (brake cleaner is ideal) collect the residue with newspapers in a tray. Keep them damp, roll them up and in a plastic bag. Or do it on the drive outside, hose the area so any fibres are washed down the drain.

The figures (if you really can be bothered to check properly, I did) show there is a slightly increased risk of asbestos related cancers in mechanics who did a lot of brake work, and who smoke. There was no trail of death by the roadside from brake dust. Most of it washed down the drain when it rains. 

[Colin Lindsay]

2 minutes ago, clive said:

There was no trail of death by the roadside from brake dust. Most of it washed down the drain when it rains. 

The current complaint from the anti-car brigade is rubber particles from tyres. Tyres wear, the rubber that wears off has to go somewhere, and is ending up in fish around the Great Barrier Reef or thereabouts and we're all eating it in our fish fingers. As brakes are no longer made from asbestos and there's no lead in the petrol any more, they have to get us somewhere else.

 

[poppyman]

1 hour ago, Colin Lindsay said:

The current complaint from the anti-car brigade is rubber particles from tyres. Tyres wear, the rubber that wears off has to go somewhere, and is ending up in fish around the Great Barrier Reef or thereabouts and we're all eating it in our fish fingers. As brakes are no longer made from asbestos and there's no lead in the petrol any more, they have to get us somewhere else.

 

Good point there Colin, we will have to stop them cyclists as they have rubber tyres and bus's ...... Oh and joggers with trainers and rubber wrist bands. It can't be just us car owners.... Can it??

Tony.

[Nick Jones]

And there is pollen..... an actual real and present problem for many people.  Who is going to tell the trees and grasses they are not allowed pollen anymore......

Nick

[Unkel Kunkel]

4 hours ago, clive said:

if there is any chance of it being asbestos, DO NOT USE YOUR VACUUM CLEANER. The dangerous fibres are too small to be stopped by anything other than a specific asbestos filter (normal masks offer little protection). Worse, you use the vacuum,and you will spray the fibres into the atmosphere. And continue to do so if it goes in the house. And then your family will be exposed. If dangerous you will find out in 20-40 years.

Wash the brakes (brake cleaner is ideal) collect the residue with newspapers in a tray. Keep them damp, roll them up and in a plastic bag. Or do it on the drive outside, hose the area so any fibres are washed down the drain.

The figures (if you really can be bothered to check properly, I did) show there is a slightly increased risk of asbestos related cancers in mechanics who did a lot of brake work, and who smoke. There was no trail of death by the roadside from brake dust. Most of it washed down the drain when it rains. 

Asbestos related disease  is far from straight  forward.

Some people seem unaffected by prolonged exposure, others , many years after a relatively brief exposure ,far very badly.Especially if they are smokers.

Some nurses and doctors who worked in some London hospitals are  developing   an asbestos specific lung cancer - mesothelioma .The suspicion has centered  on the underground passages between wards which contained  crocidolite asbestos lagged pipes.- the type of asbestos and the use it is out to seem relevant.The “blue”,  crocidolite   as pipe lagging  has a particularly evil thing to encounter.Recently there have been cases  in teachers whose only exposure has been to school lagging in the 1960s/ 7Os.It is still being debated.

A number of German ships taken to Barrow  for dismantling after the war, produced a  trail of serious asbestos related disease amongst the workers who stripped out the lagging, directly traceable  to the specific vessels-  over  30 years  later and it was  all rather grim.

The asbestos  cement - board used in millions of homes for soffits and garage ceilings appears to be very much less risky - especially if left undisturbed and preferably “encapsulated” and not smashed up, or carelessly drilled/sawn.

Why hasn’t the huge amount  of  used brake and clutch lining dust  which must have been  be generated for a hundred years  or more,  not affected us that much  ? It doesn’t seem to.
One theory is the abrasion and heat alters the fibres  to some degree and renders  them les irritant and carcinogenic.

With memories of  energetically blowing dust out of drum brakes 40 years ago -  I hope that’s right.

[RogerH]

13 hours ago, JohnD said:

On brake dust, even now, I'd be careful with it, it might contain asbestos residues.

Clean in open air, wear a mask (we've all got them now, yes?)

Vacuum up the mass of it. Dispose of the bag right away!

Then wash off the rest, onto absorbent paper, like newspaper, put that into a plastic disposal bag before it dries.  Chuck that too.

What about disposing?     When I bought this house, the guttering was asbestos! (I didn't know, the surveyor didn't notice!)    When that began to wilt, I had it replaced - the contractor did not notice (??) or charge me for disposal.    But he left a length behind, forgotten behind the garage.   Far too long to get into the car,  I sawed it in half, with wife dribbling water onto the saw, into a basin of newspaper.    I bagged it all up and took it to the tip.

I have some asbestos guttering here.  How should it be disposed of, please?

Chuck it in the skip.

I'm sorry, I don't think you heard me!   ASBESTOS!    

Chick it in the skip.  We're allowed a bit. 

John 

Hi John,

I had the same problem a few years back.

I dismantled an old garage that had asbestos sheets on the roof.

I contacted the council and they said 'double bag it in plastic bags. Take to the tip and inform the foreman, he will tell you where to place it'

I took it to the tip, found the man in charge and said chuck it in the  steel cargo container.

The doors were wide open and nearly all the asbestos in there was unbagged and open to the elements.

Still - I tried to be good.

 

Roger