i have a leak in my system somewhere. i lose about 40 PSI over the course of 3 hours in my 3-gallon tank.
already tried soap and water, checked every connection point, hose, gauge, quick connects, anything that had air to it, never saw a single bubble. so i thought i might be loosing air though my valve. not likely, but possible. so i now have a new valve, since i just installed shockers. but the leak is still there.
any other good ways to track down a leak?
There’s been a couple threads about this lately.
If you’ve soaped all connections, weld seams on tank, etc…it might be the check valve.
To check it you pretty much have to fill your tank and disconnect the leader hose.
Do so on the compressor side of the check valve and then use soapy water.
It’s worth trying.
yeah, that was a though i had last night after posting this, that the compressor check valve may be leaking back into the compressor. i;ll give that a check today and see what it looks like
Soapy water is the key. Check EVERYTHING.
I had the same problem. no visable leaks. I took little ballons and put one over the drain cock one on the other side of the solenoid valve and the last one on the inlet of the compressor. when I came back out the ballon on the inlet was blew up showing me the the check valve is leaking. I think lol
if the check valve is leaking, do i just get a new hose and all from viair?
and i was actually thinging about trying balloons and see if it blew up. gonna break out the soapy water one last time before i start tearing it apart and hope it is only leaking at the threads of something.
Remove your check valve, and put this in the tank. Then run your stainless hose to the new industrial check valve. I have one, and it is flawless. The extra port with the allen screw is a great place to add anti-freeze into the tank. You can unscrew that port with air in the tank. Then put some in it, and when your compressor kicks on, it will push the fluid into the tank.
awesome! i’ll give that a shot if that is what i find to be leaking.
Curious - Why would you add anti-freeze to the tank? I haven’t heard of doing that.
me ethier… antifreeze and air dont seem to gotogethor?
Something about the lines and then they dont freeze, i believe. Ill find the thread.
Edit: here you go
http://www.trainhornforums.com/showthread.php?t=2857&highlight=anti+freeze
i could use the anti freeze. my OBA air line comes out of the very bottom of my tank and collects water, and seems like i always need it in the winter and it freezes up on me. usually, the exhaust heat with unthaw it however
eh im not concerned about that then… winter time ill prolly debunk the system from the rest of the vehicle… No heat/ac in the van… think i’d drive that in IL weather? actually i might so nm… lol!
But i prolly wouldnt use the horn during winter…
Ya… in the winter the solenoid, pressure gauge, and pressure switch can freeze up on you. These smart guys on here said to put about a table spoon of antifreeze in the tank and that will prevent this from happening. Drain your tank, and it is all out.
That’s an ingenious idea for you horn guys up north!
The anti-freeze won’t help with the compressor’s solenoid, just the solenoid valve for the horns. You may have already guessed that but I had to make it clear.
Best way to chase down a leak for me was to rip the whole intall out and redo it :D.
i actually thought of doing that, just re-working the whole system.
well my replacement compressor inlet hose came in today and leaks worse than the old one did
i am gonna order one of those check valves posted earlier in the thread. pretty sure that is where it is leaking,as it seems to be getting progressively worse, and i know the rest of the system was airtight as of 6 months ago or so, then a bad pressure switch, get that replaced and all the sudden it won’t hold air but is not leaking at the switch.
