05-17-2013, 07:26 AM
another chapter in the search for air leaks. my supply air would drain overnight if the compressor was not left on. wednesday i was out in the garage working and i heard a strange noise. i didnt pay much attention to it. then i heard the compressor come on and again, not unusual. but it ran and ran and ran. so i went and looked and it was only getting up to 70psi. so i shut it off and didnt have time to deal with it till thursday.
i aired it up with the engine thursday morning and as soon as i turned it off i could watch the supply air drain down about 10 psi a minute. i knew i had a castastrophic leak. i was pretty bummed. i put my leak detector headset on and walked around and didnt hear any leaks. inside and out. so then i called my personal newell mechanic (steve bare) and he talked me off the ledge.
he said what i knew but didnt really think about it. to air up the coach using a separate air compressor. i only have a small pancake compressor in my garage so i put it in an outdoor storage room in the back yard and ran a long air hose to the coach. i had previously made an adapter to put in the air chuck port in the engine bay. (a 1/4" ball valve with male air connectors on each side) and hooked up the compressor. it would only get to 80psi. steve said the next thing was to open up each bay one at a time and listen in them. what i discovered is that the leak detector will not hear leaks inside a compartment unless the door is open. a lesson in leak detecting.
as soon as i opened the passenger side aquahot bay i didnt need no leak detector. the manifold for the holding tank air valve was blowing air out a ton.
i have never used that dump valve so for now, i took the manifold out and capped off the line. it will be on my list for the fall.
i kept going so i found another small leak i could have only found with the leak detector. (i am becoming more sold on it than i was before). the petcock on the bottom of the small air tank in the genny blower bay was leaking. so i replaced it as well.
i aired it up to 100psi last nite and turned the compressor off inside. it dropped obout 30-35 psi in about 12 hours. i consider that to be pretty good from where i started from.
now i just have to find the leak on the drivers side airbag circuit.
tom
i aired it up with the engine thursday morning and as soon as i turned it off i could watch the supply air drain down about 10 psi a minute. i knew i had a castastrophic leak. i was pretty bummed. i put my leak detector headset on and walked around and didnt hear any leaks. inside and out. so then i called my personal newell mechanic (steve bare) and he talked me off the ledge.
he said what i knew but didnt really think about it. to air up the coach using a separate air compressor. i only have a small pancake compressor in my garage so i put it in an outdoor storage room in the back yard and ran a long air hose to the coach. i had previously made an adapter to put in the air chuck port in the engine bay. (a 1/4" ball valve with male air connectors on each side) and hooked up the compressor. it would only get to 80psi. steve said the next thing was to open up each bay one at a time and listen in them. what i discovered is that the leak detector will not hear leaks inside a compartment unless the door is open. a lesson in leak detecting.
as soon as i opened the passenger side aquahot bay i didnt need no leak detector. the manifold for the holding tank air valve was blowing air out a ton.
i have never used that dump valve so for now, i took the manifold out and capped off the line. it will be on my list for the fall.
i kept going so i found another small leak i could have only found with the leak detector. (i am becoming more sold on it than i was before). the petcock on the bottom of the small air tank in the genny blower bay was leaking. so i replaced it as well.
i aired it up to 100psi last nite and turned the compressor off inside. it dropped obout 30-35 psi in about 12 hours. i consider that to be pretty good from where i started from.
now i just have to find the leak on the drivers side airbag circuit.
tom
2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608 Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH