Easy air drain lanyard

[jackhartjr]

They are nice to have on your air commpressors in your shop too!
Jack

[buswarrior]

If it matters to some readers, MCI's correct term for this "ping tank" we speak of is "discharge muffler".

The discharge muffler is mounted shortly after the compressor and gathers some of the moisture and oil blow-by from the compressor before it goes any deeper into the air system.

Since it is mounted quite close, it does not catch all of the moisture, since it gets warmed up and condensation does not occur as readily.

It's main claim to fame is to muffle the impulses of the compressor that might otherwise be transmitted and amplified by the long run of pipe under the floor from back to front, making that noise noticeable to the occupants of the vehicle.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[John316]

BW, thanks for the info. That helps.

God bless,

John

[busshawg]

Thanks BW, I have never noticed one on by coach , was it standard equipment on all MCI's?

Grant

[buswarrior]

The discharge muffler is mounted on or about the back side of the tag axle inner fender inside the side engine access door, curb side.

Look at Jack's picture up a few posts to align these words with some hardware.

I have seen all manner of drain plumbing for these, as it appears many fleet owners made modifications, or their mechanics did, at various points, some mangling or re-alignment of the mounting done no doubt at compressor or compressor outlet hose change time. Also, the large outhouse air-powered drain was mounted fairly close, the regular drop through drain was there, so maintenance space wasn't great.

It may have been removed by some previous owner, who may have been more concerned with the financial end of coach repairs, rather than the function. If the commercial life of the coach is measured in months, as they are at the third tier, pretty much anything goes for minimum maintenance outlay...

Popularly, some method of airing the coach up by way of a shop air fitting is tee'd in, some have the copper drain piping extended through the floor so the oily drain mess goes only on the toes of your shoes, instead of spraying on the shins of your pants.

The muffler itself may have slight variations in proportion, but you can see in execution, it is just a fatter place on the line to interrupt the flow, for any noise and debris to swirl a little and the debris to fall out into the bottom.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Fredward]

I retrofitted the three main tanks on my -5 with the lanyard style because unless its over a pit, you can't reach any of the water drains on those tanks. I get quite a bit of moisture out of the wet tank (ahead of the rear axle) and some moisture periodically out of the next tank in line, I forget what its called, up behind the front axle and no moisture from the other front tank. Then there is an auxiliary tank I think for the air horns and door latch thats located under the driver's left foot. Thats easy to get at but always dry.

My only complaint on the lanyard style is after three years the one on the wet tank started to hang open a little bit and so I replaced it.

Fred