CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Contaminated disc brake pads - fixable?

(7 posts)
  • Started 11 years ago by Greenroofer
  • Latest reply from Greenroofer
  • This topic is resolved

  1. Greenroofer
    Member

    I have Shimano hydraulic disc brakes on my commuter bike. Something contaminated the rear brake, and it went from working to being squealing and ineffectual over a couple of days last week. I think it might be oil off the chain, but I don't know. Annoyingly this is a relatively new set of pads, so they would have had a lot of life in them.

    I've cleaned off the rotor and put some new pads on and all is working fine.

    Question is, can I rescue the old pads? They are 'metal' pads (Shimano calls them 'M06') and I've read all kinds of stuff on the internet saying I can recover them by setting them alight with meths, or roasting them in an oven. I think the idea is that it carbonises the oil or grease that's absorbed into the pad.

    Have you got any experience of this? Do you know if it actually works? Have you got any tips for recovering these pads, or should they just go in the bin?

    It's annoying, because they are quite expensive to replace (particularly because when I went online today to order a new pair of pads, I 'accidentally' bought some new pedals too...)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I think DaveC or perhaps Steveo, of this parish, roasted [his] disk brake pads on a camping stove or similar.

    No idea if it worked!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. Roibeard
    Member

    Brake cleaner? Purely by analogy with motorised vehicles, but I expect the technology is very similar.

    I've successfully given my Magura pads a squirt following a foolish error during a (mineral oil) bleeding session...

    That said, they didn't really have time to absorb much brake fluid.

    Robert

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. Dave
    Member

    I've tried torching Avid pads over a flame but without any success.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. Cyclops
    Member

    The more the pads have been used after becoming contaminated, the harder it is to get any oil out. The pads heat during use allowing contaminants to penetrate into the pad.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. DaveC
    Member

    I've tried cleaner, burning in meths etc.. and camping gas stove. The camping cas stove method worked but the pad material crumbled and the glue holding them to the metal also melted. Bin them and get new ones. If it happens again get the hydrolic lines fixed or replaced.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. Greenroofer
    Member

    Thanks folks. It sounds like it's not worth the bother roasting the pads...

    @Roibeard: I can see that brake cleaner (I have some expensive spray) would work if there was an accidental spillage that I could get to quickly. However the problem is like @Cyclops describes: something got on the pads at some point, I carried on using the brakes and it's now sunk right in.

    Posted 11 years ago #

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