I think I have a air brake pressure leak

[Booyah45828]

I wouldn't blow it. Degreaser is fine, so is spraying it off with a garden hose, but if you're using air to blow it, you can push the degreaser past the different seals and that wouldn't be good.

Every year before annuals we pressure wash the underside of the buses with a hotsy. That water will be close to boiling and the grease and grime just falls off like nothing. I did it once without the hot part on, and you could definitely tell a difference in efficiency. After washing, we'll then grease everything and go through and inspect it.

[adic27]

Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur

Yeah, as Booyah said, the brakes can stick after being parked for some time - or applied when the brakes were fairly hot. Sure, you could do as described and whack 'em with a hammer, or do what many drivers do and rock the vehicle forward/back until the brakes let go (my usual method if/when this happens).


The part is called an "Air Dryer" for a reason! It's supposed to take excess moisture out of the compressed air. Naturally there will be water in this part, which it's supposed to purge periodically with a nice reassuring "Pshhh!" (usually right as the air compressor cuts-out).



If you spray the underside with degreaser, why not go on and give the underside a nice bath while you're at it?

I can't tell if you're saying this is a bad idea or why not do more than spray it with a degreaser, Like use a pressure washer or something lighter than a pressure washer..?

[Brad_SwiftFur]

I'm thinking a careful pressure washing. If you have access to a hot water setup then skip the degreaser and use hot water, but do be careful to avoid any major closeup high pressure sprays where there are parts with seals and gaskets. Since most of us won't have hot water setups, use some degreaser and regular temperature water.

[adic27]

Hear you loud and clear. I had just recently purchased a battery-powered sprayer for weeds, pesticides, etc and think it would be perfect for this task as it's only 40-70 psi, (2 settings)

Thanks

[Brad_SwiftFur]

I think a typical "Car Wash" pressure will be fine, just keep the nozzle a foot or so away from anything that shouldn't be wet inside.