Brake Fluid Storage in Glass Bottles

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 10, 2005
Messages
2,731
Location
Toronto, Canada

I store brake fluid in these large wine bottles. The glass is thick and I keep the metal cap screwed on tight.

Isn't it safe to store brake fluid in this bottle for two or three years? I don't see any moisture working its way in to the brake fluid.
 
I maintain a small fleet of trucks and buy brake fluid in gallon jugs and sometimes end up with fluid left over after brake fluid flushes.
 
Air is going to migrate through the thick glass? Or through the metal cap? Or past a nicely gasketed seal between the bottle and the cap?
 
Yes, air in Canada will pierce through the glass and metal cap , but not gasket.
 
Last edited:
I'm more impressed that a place that handles fleet work actually got client approval to do a brake flush. I feel like anytime I have see fleet work contracts they want the barest of bare minimum. In terms of the wine bottles it is a neat idea but you're probably better off buying less fluid or even using those rubber stoppers that you can pump the air out of them and keep them in a dry, dark place
 
Originally Posted By: zeng
Yes, air in Canada will pierce through the glass and metal cap , but not gasket.


I'd like to see the results of your 'Diffusion Kinetics" to support this statement. What about the air in China?

If one is going to use a glass bottle to store BF, then one has to make sure the glass bottle is very clean and void of contaminants, and has a clean top and good seal.

In the lab, pure acetone is used to clean glass and then a thorough drying is done.

However, it is not a good practice to store BF in anything but the original container.

I seriously doubt the wine bottle screw-on top will provide a good seal.
 
Last edited:
Quite frankly, BF is a very complex chemical mix and a High Level safety item I would not want to mess with.
 
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
I'm more impressed that a place that handles fleet work actually got client approval to do a brake flush. I feel like anytime I have see fleet work contracts they want the barest of bare minimum. In terms of the wine bottles it is a neat idea but you're probably better off buying less fluid or even using those rubber stoppers that you can pump the air out of them and keep them in a dry, dark place


The owner of the fleet never questions my recommendations on best practices for proper maintenance. The oldest truck, a Freightliner FL70 which I have maintained since it was bought new in 1999, now has 15000 hrs on the original engine (Cummins 5.9) and it still does not consume excess oil. Another truck has 12000 hrs on it.
 
Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Originally Posted By: zeng
Yes, air in Canada will pierce through the glass and metal cap , but not gasket.


I'd like to see the results of your 'Diffusion Kinetics" to support this statement. What about the air in China?



I think zeng was being sarcastic.
 
Originally Posted By: MolaKule


If one is going to use a glass bottle to store BF, then one has to make sure the glass bottle is very clean and void of contaminants, and has a clean top and good seal.

In the lab, pure acetone is used to clean glass and then a thorough drying is done.

However, it is not a good practice to store BF in anything but the original container.

I seriously doubt the wine bottle screw-on top will provide a good seal.


The same glass bottle gets reused, I just drain out the old fluid when I pour new fluid in. I never clean the bottle. My thinking is that the glass bottle is preferable to storing the fluid in its original plastic gallon jug for a year. However all the responses so far seem to indicate otherwise.
 
The wine bottle might work if you use the vacuum pump wine seal. But will the material be brake fluid resistant to maintain the vacuum.

Wine-Saver-Pump.jpg
 
I like the idea of pulling a vacuum.

But what is the cost savings of keeping old brake fluid, waiting for it to be used, vs tossing and buying new, after say 1 year? I mean, is this stuff really that expensive on a per-gallon basis? I know it doesn't magically go bad after a year, but if you datestamp the bottle when opened, and you get out past a year, is it really big money to just toss?

Worst case, once that year rolls around and you didn't have the spate of brake jobs you had planned more, everything gets a brake flush, 'cuz it's free fluid that has to get used up.
 
My excess brake fluid from a 8 oz container gets placed in a 3-4 oz glass bottle with screw on cap. Full to the very top to minimize air. If you figure this stuff can sit in a vented clutch reservoir for 10 years and still do its job fine, I don't see the issue with a bottle and cap for 1-2 years.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top