Mountain Biking - Can "regular" alcohol be used to clean disc brakes?

I'm not sure what rubbing/isopropyl alcohol is but from the looks of it it is not like regular alcohol (you know the one you put up to clean and desinfectate wounds and such) sorry if this sound stupid but english is not my main language so I'm not familiar with the terms used.

Well, can anyone enlight me on the subject?

i believe both alcohols you speak of are the same...

Are you trying to say that rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) is not like drinking alcohol (ethanol)? They are definitely not the same for drinking, but both act the same way in terms of being a solvent.

so i can use vodka to clean my brakes?

where does drinking alcohol come up in his question?

all he is wondering is if "regular alcohol (you know the one you put up to clean and desinfectate wounds and such)" can be used to clean disc brakes.

But isnt that stuff that cleans and disinfects wounds actually rubbing/isopropyl alcohol?

Unless he uses beer/vodka to clean his wounds........... but i doubt it..

all he is wondering is if "regular alcohol (you know the one you put up to clean and desinfectate wounds and such)" can be used to clean disc brakes.

But isnt that stuff that cleans and disinfects wounds actually rubbing/isopropyl alcohol?

Yes. It is.



Unless he uses beer/vodka to clean his wounds........... but i doubt it..

Beer and vodka cleans some "wounds" quite nicely. ;)

Beer and vodka cleans some "wounds" quite nicely. ;)
it sure does :) (beer, not vodka... blechh)

where does drinking alcohol come up in his question?



I wasn't sure if he meant drinking alcohol when he said "regular alcohol" since his english isn't that great. I didn't want him to go drink isopropyl..

just don't use Denatured alchohal. it will leave a petrolum residue.

Why does this question come up so often? I have never cleaned my brakes with anything but soap and water incidental to washing my bike, and they have always worked just fine.

just don't use Denatured alchohal. it will leave a petrolum residue.

Probably not. The substances used to denature alcohol will evaporate also. Any residue left behind will be vanishingly small and shouldn't be a problem.

Why does this question come up so often? I have never cleaned my brakes with anything but soap and water incidental to washing my bike, and they have always worked just fine.

yeah, but once you get hydraulic fluid on those brake pads, you need to clean the stuff off with alchohal

Is automotive brake cleaner too harsh for these discs?

yeah, but once you get hydraulic fluid on those brake pads, you need to clean the stuff off with alchohal

It would appear that the OP (as well as the majority of riders on this forum) use mechanical discs. Why would they get hydraulic fluid on their brake pads?

Gasto - Maybe they dribble chain lube all over thier brakes? Gee, I don't know! Maybe they're just grease monkeys?

Probably not. The substances used to denature alcohol will evaporate also. Any residue left behind will be vanishingly small and shouldn't be a problem.

it definitly does leave a petroluem residue, how much this will effect disk brakes i'm unsure, but would not chance it. besides, isopropyl is more readily available anyways.

just put new rotors on everytime they get dirty

it definitly does leave a petroluem residue, how much this will effect disk brakes i'm unsure, but would not chance it. besides, isopropyl is more readily available anyways.

Denaturants are selected to give the ethanol a disagreeable taste or odor and in some cases a distinctive color. In some cases the substances added are toxic and produce gastric disturbances upon ingestion and/or other unpleasant symptoms. A large number of different "denaturants" are utilized dependent upon the use for which the ethanol is intended. These denaturants include methyl isobutyl ketone, pyronate, kerosene, acetone, turpentine, amyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, and various butyl alcohols. In some cases more than one denaturant is utilized. From http://chemcases.com/alcohol/alc-03.htm.

The most common denaturants (in the US) are methanol, isopropyl alcohol and butyl alcohols. Those would evaporate readily and leave no residue. Of the list above only kerosene would leave a residue (not sure what pyronate is and I'm having search engine problems). Also, the denaturant isn't added in sufficient quantities to make you dead - just really sick - so the concentration is low. As I said before, any residual material would be vanishingly small.

okay, to state my case fwiw:

i work as a consultant specializing in exterior wall systems, mostly high rises and other large commercial buildings. allot of this work involves sealants, and especially silicone sealants. in particular, i'm a fan of Dow Cornings products. laboratory testing by Dow Corning, and field testing by myself and others within the industry have found that denatured alcohals when used to clean susbstrates prior to sealant application leave a residue that impeads silicone sealant adhesion. thus isopropyl has become the industries product of choice for cleaning (concrete, aluminum, glass, stainless steel, ect ect ect) susbstrates in most conditions. MEK is used sometimes, it is a more aggresive solvent, but is really nasty stuff so is generally avoided for health reasons and considered overkill anyways.

so go ahead and clean your rotors with coka cola for all i care, but to summerize: experts in my industry agree that denatured alchohal leaves residue.

http://www.observedtrials.net/vb/images/smilie/momaru.gif

okay, to state my case fwiw:

i work as a consultant specializing in exterior wall systems, mostly high rises and other large commercial buildings. allot of this work involves sealants, and especially silicone sealants. in particular, i'm a fan of Dow Cornings products. laboratory testing by Dow Corning, and field testing by myself and others within the industry have found that denatured alcohals when used to clean susbstrates prior to sealant application leave a residue that impeads silicone sealant adhesion. thus isopropyl has become the industries product of choice for cleaning (concrete, aluminum, glass, stainless steel, ect ect ect) susbstrates in most conditions. MEK is used sometimes, it is a more aggresive solvent, but is really nasty stuff so is generally avoided for health reasons and considered overkill anyways.

so go ahead and clean your rotors with coka cola for all i care, but to summerize: experts in my industry agree that denatured alchohal leaves residue.

Denatured alcohols may leave a residue that will interfer with adhesion of silicone sealants but we aren't talking about adhering silicone sealants to anything here. On a brake rotor, that very small amount of (possible) residue, would be taken off very quickly by mechanical means. Brake pads don't have to run in an absolutely clean room environment, so a few tenths of a milligram of residue isn't going to have much effect. If it did, then using disc brakes would be almost impossible.

I'm not sure what rubbing/isopropyl alcohol is but from the looks of it it is not like regular alcohol (you know the one you put up to clean and desinfectate wounds and such) sorry if this sound stupid but english is not my main language so I'm not familiar with the terms used.

Well, can anyone enlight me on the subject?

You may use whatever alcohol you like. You can use Everclear if you please. None of it will harm your braking system. But none of it (not even denatured (campstove oil)) will do a very good job at getting any oils off the pads.

If your system is contaminated, you have two choices. The easiest choice is EBC non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Just make sure you treat the pads and rotors without hitting any rubber seals. The other choice is the bake the breaking surfaces. Oh yeah ... choice three is to get new brake pads. But you still have to de-contaminate the rotors otherwise you'll just oil up your new pads.

It would appear that the OP (as well as the majority of riders on this forum) use mechanical discs. Why would they get hydraulic fluid on their brake pads?

The contamination often comes for chain lubing. In my classic example, the kid at the bike shop lubes my chain by spraying Finish Line onto the cassette while pedalling backwards. The overspray hits the rotor and contaminates the system the first time the brakes are applied.

The second example is using any "dry" lube which ironically goes on EXTRA wet. The liquid lube splatters as you pedal backwards and gets on the rotor.

Actually, I think I need to cut a "rotor shield" out of cardboard for lubing. I had previously bought a Pedro's Chain Keeper, then I switched to a Karate Monkey which requires you to break the chain in order to remove the rear wheel at all. It kinda defeats the whole point of the tool ;-)

EBC non-chlorinated brake cleaner.
or other commercially available non-chlor

The contamination often comes for chain lubing. In my classic example, the kid at the bike shop lubes my chain by spraying Finish Line onto the cassette while pedalling backwards. The overspray hits the rotor and contaminates the system the first time the brakes are applied.

The second example is using any "dry" lube which ironically goes on EXTRA wet. The liquid lube splatters as you pedal backwards and gets on the rotor.

Actually, I think I need to cut a "rotor shield" out of cardboard for lubing. I had previously bought a Pedro's Chain Keeper, then I switched to a Karate Monkey which requires you to break the chain in order to remove the rear wheel at all. It kinda defeats the whole point of the tool ;-)
you must run into some extremely messy hubs

The contamination often comes for chain lubing. In my classic example, the kid at the bike shop lubes my chain by spraying Finish Line onto the cassette while pedalling backwards. The overspray hits the rotor and contaminates the system the first time the brakes are applied.

Anyone who lubes their chain with an aerosol at the cassette doesn't deserve functioning brakes anyway.



The second example is using any "dry" lube which ironically goes on EXTRA wet. The liquid lube splatters as you pedal backwards and gets on the rotor.


Sorry, but I've been using wet and dry lubes for years, and I don't see how this could possibly happen without gross negligence on the part of the lubricator - see above.



Actually, I think I need to cut a "rotor shield" out of cardboard for lubing. I had previously bought a Pedro's Chain Keeper, then I switched to a Karate Monkey which requires you to break the chain in order to remove the rear wheel at all. It kinda defeats the whole point of the tool ;-)

It seems Ragnar was right.

Is automotive brake cleaner too harsh for these discs?

I work in the motor trade over here and we have a Brake cleaner that is based on methanol. This works on discs but can degrade the pads. There is another type that is for washing down brake calipers on cars and this has an oil mixed with it that will also protect the caliper from corrosion. If any oil gets on the Pads- it will be burnt off with the stronger application and heat formed on the cars. Obviously the choice of automotive Brake cleaners has to be taken with care.
If any brake fluid does get on the pads- it cannot be cleaned and the only effective choice is to replace the pads.

As mentioned by someone else- The cheapest and more effective way of cleaning discs and calipers is with soap and water. To clean up the pad material-A light rub with emery cloth will take the glaze off them and any burnt in residue.

Anyone who lubes their chain with an aerosol at the cassette doesn't deserve functioning brakes anyway.

Sorry, but I've been using wet and dry lubes for years, and I don't see how this could possibly happen without gross negligence on the part of the lubricator - see above.

It seems Ragnar was right.

Well, you do deserve functioning brakes if the person from the bike shop did it. Mind you that this method works OK if you're using rims as the braking surface isn't directly behind the rotor. I don't approve of it either. But once you get the things contaminated, you have to deal with the situation.

Yes a fluid applied to a moving body can and does splatter. This is not an issue of application. It is an issue of subsequently turning the cranks. Congratualations on your luck in this matter. I'm sure Ragnar (whoever he is) would approve.

Finally, lets consider that there may be a distinction to be made here. What does "clean" mean. If clean means removing dirt, soap and water works great. If "clean" means decontminating the system once oil has leached into the brake pads, you will need something stronger. Anything fit for applying to your skin will not decontaminate brake pads, and denatured doesn't do such a hot job either. The thing that I've found to work 100% is EBC non-chlorinated. Others have said that baking and blow-torching works as well. Though, I haven't tried these methods.

This was a thread on cleaning disc brakes (which includes the pads). It was not a forum on lubrication technique. Though, if you must know I apply a single dot of lub to each roller.

I do approve.

I also have never "contaminated" rotors or pads when applying wet, or "dry," lube to my moving chain (moving because I'm spinning the cranks backwards while squirting lube onto the chain).

What's with the Ayn Rand?

I must say I've lubed a many a chain in my day and I've never lubed a rotor in the process. I could be doing something wrong.

I do approve.

I also have never "contaminated" rotors or pads when applying wet, or "dry," lube to my moving chain (moving because I'm spinning the cranks backwards while squirting lube onto the chain).

I never said you did. Congratualations, I'm sure you approve of yourself as well. Your never having done something does not preclude it from happening. Nor does it preclude it from happening even when correct procedures are followed.

Contamination happens, when it does soap and water are insufficient.

I only use alcohol for two things:

1) Cleaning a cut
2) Quenchin' thirst

wow, if people are so concerned about contaminating their rotors/pads performing a task as elementary as lubing their chain, maybe they should take their wheels off and take off their calipers while they are at it.