Double your air, double your impacts......

[Boatcarpenter]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

Good point 580, but that can be remedied with a slight plumbing mod. Just put a petcock pre junction with the other lines or give it a separate petcock and leave the other ones commonly connected.
BC

 

[mangus580]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

Good deal!! thats why I was asking before.....

 

[Boatcarpenter]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

Hey gimpyrobb, two minutes forty-five seconds from start up till low air buzzer shut off. Plenty of time for a good walk-around!!
BC

 

[Boatcarpenter]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

OK 580, I isolated the drain on the tank with the check valve for ya. Pressurized the system and drained the three other tanks to see if the check valve works and it didn't so I took it out and apart. Some rust, gunk etc .in it so it was stuck open. Have a little more cleaning to do on it. In the picture you can see that the spring is a very fine one and does not exert much force on the round plate with the four tabs on it and the rubber disc that seals the tank. It seems to me that the unit is very susceptible to being made inoperable by a little rust flake from the first tank on the input side or any small accmulation of oily residue that hardens up and gets sticky. In fact, I would guess that many of the valves in the older vehicles in the Steel Soldiers Deuce fleet are inop, especially if they had a history of sitting for any length of time. If operating properly, any time there is no inflow or outflow from that tank the spring should close it.
So, there you have it. Thats about all I can tell you about the check valve in the system .
BC

 

[cranetruck]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

Your comments on the check valve are right on target, I have seen them get fouled up by tiny specks of dirt and feel that the air (or fuel) should be filtered before passing through the valve(s). The same thing happens when using, so called pilot operated solenoid valves.
When selecting valves use "dirt tolerant" ones, and/or filter the media. It may help to put two check valves in series, but filtering should do it.
Just some off the wall ideas, since I have run into this problem before on the deuce and also on the 8x8.....

 

[Boatcarpenter]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

Bjorn, thanks for confirming my observations. I think I'll see if I can find a small filter setup to plumb in directly ahead of the check valve to pick up any debris that is still in the system. I'm sure there are still some rust flakes in the other three tanks that could easily jamb it. It is very easy to work on with the bed off, but with the bed on it's not something that I want to be crawling under the truck to fix so now is the time to put a filter in.
BC

 

[Oldvw2]

RE: Driveshaft clearance

two minutes forty-five seconds from start up till low air buzzer shut off. Plenty of time for a good walk-around!!

BC, if that gets to be too long for you I wonder if you could set up your two new tanks as secondaries? The 900 series was set up that way in that your primary air tanks had to fill to a certain pressure before the secondaries would start to fill. This made the primary air tanks fill faster so that you could build enough air to release the spring brakes and get going...not as important for the duece but at least that friggin' low air buzzer would shut off sooner.
Chad

 

[rizzo]

do you have a high volume output? impacts need volume as well as pressure. I don't think the normal plimbing to the rear gladhand is enough.

 

[Boatcarpenter]

Chad, the time to pressurize is not a big concern to me. If I am going to use the truck and it's a cold startup, I always let it warm up 15 or 20 minutes minimum before I take off anyway. On a warm start, it will usually have plenty of pressure anyway.

Rizzo, I just have the regular Duece compressor. It's more than ample for small jobs. For example, when I took the truck to my buddies place to take off the bed, my 1/2 inch impact buzzed off the nuts in no time. By the time I got to the next one, there was plenty of air. Used it to take off all the mud guards also, no problem. This will just give me a little more volume to work with. If I am at the house, I have another compressor to use. Also, I have a 3/4 inch Robo to plug into the slave recptacle if I need it. Generally I just hook up to the quick disconnect I have in the cab by the pass. door, although I have a glad hand hookup with a mini regulator that I have set to the pressure I keep in the tires when I want to air them all up.

Bjorn, found a filter I am going to try. Will put it immediately before the check valve. I found it in the pneumatic tool/compressor accessory section at the lumber yard I deal with. It is for water and particulate matter, has a replaceable cartrige, 3/8NPT input and outlet, good for 150 PSI, and can handle 65 cfm. and a drain on the bottom. Hopefully it will collect any residue junk from the three other tanks. Will let you know!
BC

 

[Boatcarpenter]

Filter

Finally got the filter installed and all plumbed in. Pressurized system, shut off truck, drained the three tanks with their own drain and then checked to see if the single tank was still holding pressure. It was, check valve works again. Forgot to get good pic of filter before installing but got one after the fact which shows it fairly well. Filter is mounted low on back of cab on drivers side. Just got two longer bolts and used existing bolt holes with captured nuts. Out of the way but easy to check for debris and/or water in the filter. All in all pretty happy with the outcome.

 

[jesusgatos]

...bottom line is if you are going to use a lot of air, fit a larger compressor or put bigger pistons in the stock one.

Any suggestions about how a person might go about that? Either fitting a larger compressor or putting bigger pistons in the stock one?

 

[DUG]

Old thread (thanks again Clinto for helping find it), but I am working on the same mod - sorta. I see no reason to keep all four tanks full, so I will isolate the extra two with a valve (probably in the cab) and then only fill them when I want to run some tools.

Thoughts?

 

[gimpyrobb]

I have been thinking about this too. I Cut the back flap of my bed out so I have access to the space under the bed(above the truck frame). I am still in the planning stages, but so far I am leaning toward a winch under the bed right behind the cab so I can run the cable into the bed for loading purposes. Behind that(toward the rear of the truck) will be a couple more air tanks. Then I am designing a pull out shelf to store my tow bar and boarding ladder. I already have a tool box in a similar spot as yours, so I should be able to leave the house with the bed empty and have all my support gear stashed.

 

[DUG]

Are you planning on keep your tanks full at all times? Seems like it would be more wear on the compressor. My thoughts are to have them like an onboard air pig. I would like to mount them like the OP did, but I am open to other locations.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Once full, there should be little extra work for the compressor, so I will not be installing isolation measures. My stock tanks don't hold air very long after I shut it down so I plan on going through most of the air system. I also have an air assist kit waiting to go in, I will be finding a mega filter for the air system overall. I have heard too many stories of the air controller drag link needing service. I figure dryer/cleaner air is better for everything.

 

[DUG]

I drain my tanks, um I mean soldier B drains my tanks every night so the compressor would have to fill them all each time.

I guess I'll be different.

My system hold air really well now that the air wipers are gone. I think there was a leak in there somewhere.

 

[Westech]

YOu will love the extra tanks when you have the AIR O **** system.. I drove Gilberts Deuce (Aberdeen and Haspin) and at low engine speeds and lots of turning you can drain the QUICK.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I am installing it more as a safety issue. I know it won't be easy to control if a front tire goes out on me, but I can rest my conscience knowing I tried to help myself control the truck in an emergency if anything goes wrong.

 

[Westech]

speaking of tires.... any word on the set from Roger?

 

[gimpyrobb]

Nope. I mentioned it to him when we got back and haven't really been in contact much since. I'll give him a ring tomorrow.