can I use air on bus to pump up tires?

Bryan · February 12, 2015, 03:37:42 PM

First of all, the thought of tinkering with the air lines on the bus is a little scary to start with. But I'm curious to know if there is a fitting somewhere that I could connect to to use to pump up tires if necessary. Thanks!

baker4106 · February 12, 2015, 03:56:59 PM

On my 4106 there is a hose quick connect in the engine bay. I carry a 50 foot air hose and use it all the time. I will check in the morning to see where it is tapped in. Email me @ larrydbaker@aim.com.

eagle19952 · February 12, 2015, 04:13:10 PM

Simple answer Yes.
Done all the time.
I would not plumb into the wet tank.

Utahclaimjumper · February 12, 2015, 04:31:09 PM

Brian,, under your drivers seat floor you have a "dry" tank,,tap off at this tank for usable air.>>>Dan

Bryan · February 12, 2015, 04:33:16 PM

Quote from: Utahclaimjumper on February 12, 2015, 04:31:09 PM
Brian,, under your drivers seat floor you have a "dry" tank,,tap off at this tank for usable air.>>>Dan

Thanks Dan! I know exactly which tank you are talking about. I'm not near the bus at the moment, are you saying there is already a quick connect for air hoses on that tank? or do I have to install one?

RJ · February 12, 2015, 08:36:18 PM

Quote from: Bryan on February 12, 2015, 04:33:16 PM
. . . are you saying there is already a quick connect for air hoses on that tank or do I have to install one?

Bryan -

You'll have to install one.

When you look at that tank, you'll see the drain line for it that points down. On my 4106, I simply put a "T" in that line, the straight part pointing down w/ a ball valve below it, the 90^o pointing forward w/ a ball valve and the quick disconnect.

FWIW & HTH. . .

Bryan · February 13, 2015, 06:41:20 AM

Quote from: RJ on February 12, 2015, 08:36:18 PM
Bryan -

You'll have to install one.

When you look at that tank, you'll see the drain line for it that points down. On my 4106, I simply put a "T" in that line, the straight part pointing down w/ a ball valve below it, the 90^o pointing forward w/ a ball valve and the quick disconnect.

FWIW & HTH. . .

Thanks! I am familiar with that drain. However I'm not to experienced with air fittings. How would I know what type of "T" to get that would fit on that air drain?

buswarrior · February 13, 2015, 07:11:35 AM

Remove the existing drain, and take it to your favorite hardware store to match up the threads and piece together the bits to do the job.

Who has a suitable picture in their 'puker to post a visual idea of what is proposed?

Happy coaching!
buswarrior

TomC · February 13, 2015, 07:34:23 AM

One of the many reasons I like my transit-it already had a quick disconnect next to the driver's seat. Just bought a 50ft air hose with the correct male quick disconnect, and put a female quick disconnect on the other end. How I fill the tires everytime.

On Trucks, I always include a quick disconnect with 50ft air hose as an option. With personal experience, you can get to a tire place by pumping up a tire with your own air even with a nail in the tire. Good Luck, TomC

Iceni John · February 13, 2015, 12:19:35 PM

If you use the Accessories air tank (for everything not braking-related), it's isolated from the rest of the braking system by a Pressure Protection valve. This way, if you have a leak in the Accessories system it shouldn't compromise your brake system. I connected a small on-board 2HP twin-tank electric compressor to my Accessories system, with a filter between it and the Accessories tank to trap any moisture, and then put in three air outlets around the bus for inflating tires and using air tools. It's good to also have air inlets to be able to use shop air in the bus - if you use both Industrial and Automotive male fittings for them you'll always be able to connect.

John

Oonrahnjay · February 13, 2015, 12:31:23 PM

Quote from: TomC on February 13, 2015, 07:34:23 AM... With personal experience, you can get to a tire place by pumping up a tire with your own air even with a nail in the tire. Good Luck, TomC

I absolutely agree with Tom on this (not that I would disagree on much, bearing in mind his extensive bus and truck experience), but I'd add one thing. Filling a (nominal) 120 Psi tire from a 120 Psi tank will take a "lot" of air and that might put a strain on your engine compressor. (Of course, you're much more likely to have a 70 Psi tire with a slow-nail in it that you want to bring up to 90 Psi but let's consider "worst case".) One thing that might work would be to put in a fairly large aux tank and install a 110 Psi "protection valve". When your main system goes above 110 Psi, the protection valve will open and allow air to flow to the auxiliary tank, you'd put your "plug in" port in the aux tank. That makes the air for the brake system, the primary use of the air; if filling tires and using the brakes drops the air pressure below 110 Psi, air stops flowing to the aux tank until the brake side charges up. Once the aux tank is full, it becomes sort of invisible to the compressor and brake system.
On the other hand, that does you little good if all you want to do is air up and put air into a tire that's sat for a while and an emerg measure to get to a tire shop as Tom described.

(See above. John described it better than I did but we agree.)