How to clean 7800 brifters?

[bjf]

I have a pair of DA 7800 brifters with a fair amount of accumulated grit inside them. Best method to clean them out? (If it matters, they seem to work fine, but I'd still like them to be cleaner.)

[peanutgallery]

At approximately 12 to 15 years of age, anything that isn't an epoxy will work. Wd40 followed by a little of whatever is on your bench that you'd categorize as lube will work

[AngryScientist]

At approximately 12 to 15 years of age, anything that isn't an epoxy will work. Wd40 followed by a little of whatever is on your bench that you'd categorize as lube will work

I concur with this approach. Blast the crap out of them with Wd40 or brake cleaner until clear/clean and follow up with spray lube. White lithium spray line is a good choice; but pretty much anything will work

[pbarry]

Remove the hoods or protect with rags before blasting as they can get permanently sticky or "grow" when exposed to some solvents.

[oldpotatoe]

I concur with this approach. Blast the crap out of them with Wd40 or brake cleaner until clear/clean and follow up with spray lube. White lithium spray line is a good choice; but pretty much anything will work

Agree...shift them up and down while spraying..cable disconnected.

[Bentley]

I concur with this approach. Blast the crap out of them with Wd40 or brake cleaner until clear/clean and follow up with spray lube. White lithium spray line is a good choice; but pretty much anything will work

Brake cleaner is generally pretty harsh stuff, it got some strong solvents and I am not sure I would use that. Have you got experience with using Brake cleaner?

Best

Ray

[zmalwo]

Thin lube will thin out the gunky old grease in old shifters. It's probably the best if you can rebuild the shifters with thick grease again but thin lube works as well i guess, you just have to relube them often.

[MikeD]

The bike shop trick was to submerge them in an ultrasonic cleaner, then spray with Boeshield.

[commonguy001]

Just did the WD40 trick on a set my wife still uses where the front had stopped working anytime it got cool out. Took all of a minute and shifting is as new. Man I love DA7800

[Malinois]

I got great results with an off the bike (with hoods removed) set by flooding the mechanism with WD40 and working through the shifts for a couple of minutes until they began to function normally. After the initial application I blew compressed air through the shifter to help clear any build-up. I then repeated the process one more time to clean it with all the major build-up removed. The second time I went a bit longer with the compressed air to remove excess moisture and help out the drying process. After an hour or so of air drying I applied Triflow pretty liberally and kept working the shifters through their positions for a couple of more minutes. A quick wipedown and another air dry later, they were ready to reinstall. Haven’t had a problem with them since. I love my 7800’s.

[tylerbennett]

I got great results with an off the bike (with hoods removed) set by flooding the mechanism with WD40 and working through the shifts for a couple of minutes until they began to function normally. After the initial application I blew compressed air through the shifter to help clear any build-up. I then repeated the process one more time to clean it with all the major build-up removed. The second time I went a bit longer with the compressed air to remove excess moisture and help out the drying process. After an hour or so of air drying I applied Triflow pretty liberally and kept working the shifters through their positions for a couple of more minutes. A quick wipedown and another air dry later, they were ready to reinstall. Haven’t had a problem with them since. I love my 7800’s.

Glad to know that you got great results.