Re: (ET) Bye bye brakes

["Jim (fiskfarm)" <fiskfarm mediaone net>]

Hey Chris,

I generally jack it under the transaxle and then put 2 jackstands under it 
at
the frame. With the bats in it weighs plenty. Don't bother to remove them. 
Too
much of a pain.

I guess I have been lucky not to have run into the "other" brake sys. as 
the
floating rotor type has always been pretty straight forward to fix and the
results quite satisfactory.

Jim

Christopher Zach wrote:

> That helps an incredible amount. My rotor didn't seem to float on the 
> axle,
> which made me guess it was a deformation type. However those require 
> careful
> setting of the pad clearance (and a screw device to maintain the 
> clearance
> as the pad wears) so I was confused. Is there a blow-out of the parts 
> that
> make up the brake system anywhere on the internet? If my puck is gone I 
> want
> to make sure there isn't something else I need that goes between the
> activation dowel and the brake puck itself.
>
> If the rotor is unable to float on the shaft though; you won't get great
> braking action, and you might wind up bending the rotor. Interesting....
>
> I'll pull the wheel and start working on this next weekend. Two quick
> questions:
>
> 1) Where is a good place to jack the Elec-Trak on the back? Do I have to
> haul out the batteries before jacking?
> 2) Can one put a jackstand under the axle? (I never work on anything 
> without
> tires or jackstands)
>
> Thanks!
> Chris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim (fiskfarm)" <fiskfarm mediaone net>
> To: "Christopher Zach" <czach computer org>
> Cc: "Elec-trak" <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
> Sent: Monday, February 04, 2002 9:43 AM
> Subject: Re: (ET) Bye bye brakes
>
> > Hey Chris,
> >
> > The rotor is NOT supposed to "deform" but rather float free on it's 
> > keyed
> > shaft. I use a combo of air chisel, Breakaway and sometimes heat to 
> > free
> up the
> > rotor and then remove it , clean up both shaft and sleeve, retighten 
> > the
> rivets
> > by hammer and anvil (or replacement) and reinstall all with a gentle
> coating
> > (you don't want any on the rotor and pads) of Never Seize. Here, 
> > unlike a
> car,
> > the caliper doesn't float, but the rotor does. Also you will want to 
> > sand
> the
> > rotor smooth with either a power sander or rotate the rotor in place 
> > with
> the
> > motor while sanding by holding the paper against it. Not for the faint 
> > of
> heart
> > but probably the fastest for the more experienced. DO NOT "grab" the 
> > rotor
> with
> > the paper , but rather sand one side at a time. New pads (if they are
> shot) go
> > without saying. Stainless steel rotors would avoid about 99% of the
> problems
> > with these breaks. That and Never Seize.
> >
> > Hope this helps you along,
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > Christopher Zach wrote:
> >
> > > Well, I figured out why I have no brakes....
> > >
> > > No brake pad :-)
> > >
> > > Seriously, the outboard pad is gone. It appears that the brake lever
> engages
> > > a cam which pushes on a metal dowel which pushes on a pad which 
> > > pushes
> the
> > > disc into another static pad on the other side. Interesting design, 
> > > are
> > > there any specs for pad clearance on the static pad (if it wears 
> > > down,
> the
> > > disc will have to deform more and more for the brake to engage, thus
> > > reducing brake effectiveness)
> > >
> > > Ah well, it looks like the pad disintegrated or something. I'll call 
> > > Mr.
> > > Gunn and see if he has a new puck.
> > >
> > > Chris
> >
> >