Tony,
I am in the middle of upgrading my finger brake installation. The master
cylinder
is an American automotive product of unknown origin. The seal only in front
of the piston is available from any automotive supplier. The same applies to
the the 1/4 inch brass compression fittings; these can also be obtained from mst
hardware stores, but this may be a problem in Australia. The Matco brake valve
and reservoir can also be obtained from ACS. I have ordered all the nuts and
bolts and brackets and handgrips etc. from Europa. The bore is 3/4 inch, and
the brake fluid must be Dot5. The original brake line tubing supplied by Europa
seems a little undersized for the brass fittings, i.e. you have to be careful
when tightening the nut so that the olive doesn't tilt.
I had a lot of trouble last year bleeding the brake lines and finally gave up.
This winter I disassembled it all and noticed that the seal in front of the
piston
(with another seal) kept sticking. This meant that the piston didn't always
return to the maximum back position. I tried cleaning it thoroughly and greasing
the cylinders, but it made little difference. Changing those seals has fixed
it. I assume that the problem was one of the following: seals have expired
their shelf life, wrong seals, or the spring is too weak. I am also changing
all the short brake line sections to proper 1/4 inch size ones.
I am happy with the way I installed the master cylinder and handles. I still
have
full use of the open tunnel ( even with the airbrake handle for the glider
wings installed), the brakes are easy to use, and the handles don't interfere
with anything else.
Hope this helps.
Karl
From: Tony Renshaw <TONYRENSHAW@OPTUSNET.COM.AU>
Subject: Europa-List: Europa Finger Brake Master Cylinder Brand????
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 17:45:25 +1100
-- Europa-List message posted by: Tony Renshaw <TONYRENSHAW@OPTUSNET.COM.AU>
Gidday,
I have a Europa dual cylinder master cylinder for finger brakes, but it is
not stamped with a manufacturers name, and therefore I cannot find out what
type of lubricant is OK to put down the bores to loosen things up, and also
for the future I'd like to find out who can supply seals, and how to gain
access to them. So, any ideas???? Anyone else who has installed these in a
Classic module, I'd like to hear from.
Reg
Tony Renshaw
Sydney Australia
Classic 236B.B. Taildragger (possibly convertible)
Tail, Wings, Ailerons, Flaps Complete and Connected
Lower Fuse in Jig, Tail Torque Tube installed
Mass Balance assembly installed and deflections sorted
Intended Engine: 912S CS prop (model undecided)
Instrumentation: Undecided
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