Hi Guys,
i’m from Italy.
I recently bought a K3HA off ebay in order to upgrade my actual air horn system.
I now have a 1510 firetruck horn installed in my engine bay.
In the trunk i have a 2 or 3 gallon (not quite sure) tank retrived from an old fire extinguisher and a 150psi oilless compressor.
The fire extinguisher has a 1/4" output, so i run a 10mm OD pipe from the trunk to the engine bay, then split it with a T connector, one pipe goes to the manometer installed in the dash (using a smaller pipe, like 5mm OD) and the other one goes to the solenoid.
The solenoid was taken from a LPG system and has 3/8" holes…
since the 1510 horn has a 3/8" inlet too there’s no problem and everything works pretty fine (a part from some damn leak).
The problem is that in my engine bay there’s no enough room to place the K3 (expecially because i bought the K3HA) even if i take off the 1510 (and i will anyway), so i’ll have to install them separately.
My question to all the experts is… what happens if on the outlet of the solenoid i put a 1/4" converter, a 4 ways joint with snap-in connectors and then run three 10mm pipes, one to each trumpet separately?
Will this cause any loudness loss?
I would gladly avoid to buy a 1/2" solenoid because it is hard to find here where i live and of course because i have no more money after bought the K3 (it costed me $121 just to ship them). And then i want to use the solenoid i have, it is been barely used for a couple of months only.
Ok at this point i’ll have to order a 1/2" solenoid from the states.
Actually i have a leak problem.
I can accept it with my 1/4" line but i won’t accept it on my new line.
How can i be sure to have no leaks?
I filled a spray bottle with water and soap and then spraied over each connector but nothing, it seems to have no leaks…
If i change the tank at… let’s say 120psi in the evening, the next morning i’ll find it at 30psi…
If you cant find leaky fittings then your solenoid valve may have a slow leak, or if your compressor check valve is bad that will cause the leak as well.
at the beginning i tought it was a compressor issue.
Infact i disassembled it and put some car engine high temp siliconeup and down the heatsink but there i realized that it was useless because there are two sealed holes on the top, one for intake and one for compression. Thinking that the compression hole was somehow corrupted i installed a no-return valve between compressor and tank but problem was always there.
Tomorrow morning i’ll take a good look at the solenoid…
Take a peice of thin plastic, like food covering kind. Spray it with windex. Stick it on the air cleaner inlet, and the outlet of your valve. That will determine a leak. If its not those then there is a fitting leaking.
I’m not sure i got this system.
So you say i have to remove the air filter off the compressor and put some plastic cover with some windex on the inlet hole. That should stick by itself with compressor running.
The other one on the outlet of the valve, that means i have to remove the horn from the valve and keep the plastic on it with my finger? I don’t know if i can hold 120psi with my finger…
Then opening the valve will cause the leak you say… you mean i’ll find the invisible leak i already have, right?
Sorry was in a hurry. Should have explained better.
Spray the thin plastic and stick it on the compressor inlet, air filter off, and just leave it there watching for bubbles. Dont turn the compressor on. If the check valve is leaking air will come out the air filter hole.
Do the same for the valve. Dont turn the valve on. Just stick the plastic on the outlet and watch for bubbles.
Since your loosing that much air it should be easy to find.
Ok, i tried.
Both compressor and solenoid without bubbles. Since i took the solenoid off the horn i spayed it with soap and water… then i found the leak.
It was between the 1/4" snap in connector and the 1/4" FtoF connector which goes to the reduction of 3/8" for the solenoid.
I guess i used not enough teflon tape.
This time i used a LOT of tape and then put everything back where it was.
It seems i have no more leak over there.
I’ll wait tomorrow morning to see if it still leaks.
Not very interested right now since i will have to replace the whole line with 1/2" pipes… but… i still have one question.
The tank i have has a 1/4" outlet… will it work the same if i use a reduction to 1/2" and then to the K3???
I still have a leak somewhere.
The pressure dropped from 120psi to 85psi overnight.
I’m afraid it’s in the fittings.
I used to plug and remove the pipes more than once… i think one or more internal sealings are gone bad.
I’ve found another important leak.
Probably this has been caused by me the last time i replaced the fitting on the compressor because i don’t remember this damage.
By the way part of the housing is broken, so i used a lot of teflon tape around the fitting and put it all back.
There are no more bubbles coming from the compressor now, we will see if it’ll hold the charge… but still not charging over 125psi
I have no pressure switch, i hooked it up on the rear fog lights (using a relay of course) so once reached 125psi it still tries to pump… i tried to keep it on for about 20minutes after reaching the 125psi but it seems it could run forever getting no more pressure.
seems like i finally removed all the leaks from the sistem.
In 5 hours no pressure decreasing.
By the way i reinstalled the non-return valve between compressor and system due to the crack found this morning. A few minutes ago the pressure was still on 120psi (what i filled this morning).
But the max pressure problem now needs to be solved.
this morning i found a minor air leak, but i know where it comes from. i’ll fix it tomorrow morning.
Still wondering why the compressor refuses to pump more than 125psi.
When i opened it to seal the heatsink i noticed the sealing around the piston was not correctly in place.
I’d need a picture to explain exactly whan i mean but i’ll try anyway.
Piston has a lateral cut to fit the sealing. In one point of the sealing it is like it went out during piston were working and so it is “like” sealing has changed its shape covering the side of the piston as well.
I tried to see if it was cause of any air leak inside the cylinder but the sealing was covering the whole cylinder anyway.
But i’m not the expert here so i’m asking you… may the sealing be the cause of this problem?
In that case would it be possible to find a new sealing?
Honestly i’d trash that compressor and buy a viair 480 but i’m outta money at the moment.
I’m no expert either, but it sounds like your compressor has seen better days.
Maybe you can get a rebuild kit.
Maybe it’s time to save for a new one - especially with the damaged housing.
Bummer…
