so i hate draining the tank. just the way my tank was installed in my car its a pain. my question is: if we just pull the air release every night after using the horn and such, would that lessen how often we’d normally have to drain the tank?
doesnt rust and water occur because of having pressurized air in it…?
thanx in advance guys
it wont help much… because the water sits at the bottom of the tank… and the water gets in there from moisture in the are pulled in through the pump and also condensation inside the tank…
I doubt it will help at all, because the water is already in the tank… you should release the water as soon as possible…
Just do like I did and get a remote purge valve… 1/4" valve should do the trick for you… that way you can drain it any time just by pressing a button…
Purge valve is a good idea, but slight bits of rust or dirt will in time screw up the valve. If you live in a cold area, and purge your tank, the water coming out can freeze the bvalve open or closed. Your best bet is using a ball valve.
I agree with this, however, I believe Honduhh lives in Northern Cali where it doesn’t freeze.
The rust, I will agree with. It will damage the valve over time… I haven’t had any problems with mine as of yet, and when it comes time, I will just get another 3/8" valve. They are inexpensive enough that even if they break every year, I can still justify going with this route versus getting out of the truck to purge with the ball valve every time. I don’t always think about purging the tank that often, and when I do think about it, I am usually driving someplace.
My tank is installed on its side… so I could hide away all ports… I’m kinda expecting trouble with water at some point… I have however got a 1/4" line off the tank at the bottom which goes to the bags on the air suspension, so I kinda have to make sure the truck is parked in position where the water will be at the 1/4" port end and I then lift the suspension, hopefully forcing water into the tubes, I then close off the valves and then release the air out and that clears some of the water… it works, I have seen water being sprayed out…
Hmm just thought of an idea for myself as well as others. Use a small valve as your using and just hook it up to open when the horns do. Even use a restrictor down to 3/16 to not loose alot of air, just get the water out. Youll never forget to drain then.
I have a weighted hose going into my tank with a pet cock. This way it sits in the bottom of the tank, I turn the pet cock and mostly only water comes out.
I have my old 1/2" solenoid valve hooked up to my drain port… but i also have about 10 feet of line between the drain and valve so any moisture falls into there first… then on the other side of that valve i have a set of psychoblasters. Which are also hooked up to my alarm… so the combination of me driving and blowing the psychoblasters , and me messing with people walking near my truck , setting off the alarm, the tank dosent have moisture in there to long…
The moisture in there and winters around here is what scares me… it does get very cold here, sometimes below 0… I learned tho since i had horns / compressor that once the temp goes below 28 degrees , the compressor wont pump air… the check valve must get frozen, so when its that cold i just turn off the compressor with a shutoff switch i hooked up and i wait till it warms up…
Alarm going off here w/ psycho blasters… And everytime it goes off, the moisture goes out 
Hey, I have a question:
Does rust mean anything in the tank? The first time I drained my tank, it threw up RUSTY water. It was pretty nasty. But it is normal? I turned my compressor on by the beach quite a bit, and the salinity might have something to do with it.
Trippy dude… rusty water is what you will get…its totally normal mate.
Rust is the orange color in the water, it eats away at the tank, and will eventually put a hole in it… You want to keep the tank drained as often as you need to do it (or as often as possible) If you are in a humid area, you are more likely to “press” the water out of the air when you fill the tank. The water has no where to go unless you drain it.
Rust is normal, and you can’t do anything about it unless you get a stainless steel tank…
This is what I was going to suggest. Get a small solenoid valve and route a house out through the bottom of your car. I wouldnt wire it up to function along with the horn, especially with a 5 gal tank. Then you could open the valve electrically and blow all the water out. Kinda fun. Sounds like you have air-bags so make sure you park on a slope. lol:cool:
thanx for all the advice everyone. im thinking a ball valve now but i dont know how long the handle is on them. right now i just have a drain cock on the bottom but i dont have a lot of space underneath the tank to turn it.
if not a ball valve, maybe have some line coming out to a valve.
im liking those two ideas… is one necessarily better than the other tho?
and yes i do live in northern california and my car is usually parked in a garage at night so im not worried about things freezing over.
Not necessarily better, a ball valve would be just as good as an electric valve… the nice part about the electric, you don’t have to get out, mess with the valve handle, potentialy get rusty water on your feet… just press the button and go… down side to the electric, you would have to run more wires, install a new button (unless you just install a 3 way switch (Single pole double throw)) in which case you could use the same “trigger” you use now, just move the switch to the other side to use the “blow off”
I have an aluminum tank, all brass fittings, and brass valves. With this setup I can’t imagine any rust being possible. Also, my compressors are in a covered bed which is bone dry all the time so very little moisture except the very humid southern air. And the way my setup is installed the horns are the lowest part so I would expect some moisture to make it to the horns and just blow out through them. Is that even possible?
My current setup has been in for 2 months without being drained. I have used it quite a bit so I plan to drain it soon. Wonder if I will have any water?
Most likely it will have some water in it… the moisture in the air is what is being squeezed out when it is compressed in the tank… Also, you don’t have to worry about rust, but you do have to worry about corrosion. I would install something to be able to drain the tank…
There’ll be some water in it.
where would I be able to get a remote drain valve?
Get a solenoid, attach tubing to bottom drain port, jsut as you did your horn outputm and run th the solenoid lower than your tank… water will seep towards it and once you activate the solenoid to open, it will carry the water out …