Are we this lazy?

[RayV]

Not as often as I should.

Perhaps you didn't fully read my post that finished with this: "Seriously, this little gadget works great and is a lot easier to manage than a c-clamp.

probably have the parts to make one sitting on your bench... "

So my suggestion that that using a c-clamp to push the caliper back in could contaminate your system was partly in jest. However None of the many manufacturers procedures I have read mention a c-clamp. Most have a part # referencing a specific tool to retract the calipers. So a c-clamp is usually wrong but most DIYers use them. The biggest problem with using a c-clamp is that you can't always get them to press on the center of the piston. Scoring, cocking the piston and tearing the seal are much more common than pushing dirt backwards to damage another component. Several manufacturers recommend changing your brake fluid as often as once a year to reduce the chances of corrosion. So that could mean a fluid change more often than your pads are changed.

Do I use a c-clamp to retract the piston? Almost exclusively. Do I flush my brake fluid and replace with fresh annually? Nope. Can using a c-clamp to retract a piston damage your brake system if the bleeder isn't opened? Yes, but you probably have a greater chance of breaking off the bleed screw than damaging something else by not opening it.

[RayV]

I've heard this before and would never do it (pinching the line that is). Even though the lines are tiny the amount of pressure inside them is very high and forcibly deforming a high pressure hose doesn't sound good to me.

[Greg O]

I don't know about lazy, but I can think of MANY times I was clamping something with C-clamps and needed a third hand to hold the parts, line up the clamp and twist the screw down. Now if it were made by someone other than B&D! Greg

[lwasserm]

Personally I wouldn't buy these for clamping, but if the screw operates under power in both directions and the switch leads could be brought out externally, I could envision some neat uses for these things as positioning mechanisms or in home made robots & such.

[lwasserm]

Yeah, my Mom at age 83 finally accepted a microwave as a gift. It took a few months but now she uses it every day. I remeber trying to give them one about 15 or 20 eyars ago, my Dad was still alive at the time and recently retired, said, "What do we need that for, we don't need to save any time any more."

BTW, maybe cats were not as smart in Mark Twain's day, but my observation is that he was mistaken in this particular quote.

[lwasserm]

Hey guys, lets come down to earth here. I've been working in vehicle maintenance for 26 years, the last 10 or so as a supervisor. believe me, most of the time those C clamps sit in the toolbox. Especially in flat rate shops. Unless the piston is stuck, 9 time out of 10 the mech will just jam a medium sized prybar in there wherever he can get a bite and get that piston retracted before he even removes it from the disc.

[lwasserm]

The ad says that a set of batteries will operate the clamp 60 times. I can just imaging how frustrating it would be to be all set up and depending on that "one handed operation" when the batteries quit.

[lwasserm]

No doubt if you were using one of these clamps, that would be the same time the batteries decided to go dead.

[Upscale]

People are going to be using a lot of batteries then. The first several dozen times the clamp is used will be people playing around with it.

[FoggyTown]

I've decided to wait until the 110 volt version comes out. Unless of course they enhance the "cordlessness" in a new version that has a little 1/20 hp Briggs & Stratton engine attached.

FoggyTown

[Leon]

I'll not be using the cord on my Recip saw any more. I can make it saw with out the motor. ;~)

[Doug Miller]

Yes, I read the whole thing. Including the part quoted above, which simply shows another mechanism for pushing the caliper piston back -- which you said could damage the system by forcing contaminated fluid backwards.

You're starting to sound like John Kerry -- it was just a botched joke.

You need to get out more.

I have a Dodge truck, a Suburban, and a Saturn. I have the factory service manuals for both trucks, and a Haynes manual for the Saturn. _All_three_ say to use a C-clamp. None of them even mention the existence, let alone the use, of any special tool, and the illustrations accompanying the text show a C-clamp.

I've also had a Fiat, an Oldsmobile, a Buick, and two Mazdas, all equipped with disc brakes at least on the front, and the factory service manuals for each -- and I have yet to see a brake-pad procedure that does not recommend a C-clamp to retract the piston on the front calipers. (Rears are a different story, but that's because of the emergency-brake mechanism.)

In my experience, most DIYers use them because they're the tool recommended by the manufacturer.

That's not a problem with using a C-clamp per se -- that's a problem with using a C-clamp that's too small.

I'm sure that's true -- partly because using a too-small clamp or putting it on cockeyed is fairly easy to do, and partly because pushing dirt backwards isn't anywhere _near_ the problem you made it out to be.

Which manufacturers would those be?

No. Not likely anyway.

You did get that part right.

[Frank Boettcher]

As do mine for a Chrysler T & C, Dodge Dakota, and Honda Accord

[RayV]

You're right.

[J. Clarke]

>>> I don't know about lazy, but I can think of MANY times I was clamping

Have you ever tried Irwin Quick-Grip clamps? I'm talking about these .

I needed something to hold some pieces in place a while back, didn't need precision, didn't need much force, just needed to hold them more or less in place for a few minutes, and none of the clamps that I had that were long enough to do the job would fit in the space available (one of those deals where you reach a point that "if that %^&* thing falls on my head _one_ more time . . ." ). Went down to Home Depot to look for something that would hold them and saw a four-pack of Mini Quick-Grips for something like 30 bucks--on the basis that they'd do _that_ job and one can never have too many clamps, even lousy ones, I went with those rather than plan A, which was carpet tape. Turns out they actually work--they're not a substitute for Bessey Ks but they're darned handy, mainly because they can be used one-handed and exert a reasonable amount of clamping force. I'll usually grab one of those instead of a small handscrew to hold a stop block or the like now that I have them. Ended up going back and getting another pack of them.

[Bill]

If you retrofit a crank, might be able to do the same with a router.

Bill

[Doug Miller]

Those are great! I have a pair of those, and for the type of application you just described, they're perfect.

[JP]

This guy in the photo has it all wrong. He needs to turn the board around,set on it. cup of java in left hand saw in right hand. OOOH be carefull not to get any sawdust in your java, mite be bad for you.

RicodJour wrote:

> I love how they sell stuff like that. Check out this picture from the > B&D site:

I suppose if you're that inept, an auto-clamp might keep you from

[Brian Henderson]

Hey, then you could play Laser Tag with your tools! Cool idea! ;)

[Lee Michaels]

"Doug Miller" wrote

i use them too. Had a friend with a massage office who bought a big, (expensive) infared lamp made in china. It has some strange connector that I could not replace that kept coming apart. It was essential for the function of the lamp. I looked at it closely and determined if I could keep some external pressure on it, it would work just fine.

So, just like Mr Clark, I spotted these clamps at Lowes and bought some. They were perfect for the application and their trendy styling fit right into a massage facility. The big lamp is shiny white and most people think that the clamp is original equipment and that it is a part of the lamp. The most popular perception is that it is an adjustment lever of some kind.

The lamp is about $400 and the clamp was about $8. So for $8 and a little reclamping now and then, everything works just fine.