leveling system

[Ace]

Pete what are you getting for the system?

Ace

[TomC]

I made my own system.  I have a 3 point air leveling with 2 valves in the rear and one up front.  For each point, I bought three 12v continuous duty solenoids-one normally open and the other two normally closed.  For the air supply, I tee'd into the air supply to the leveling valves.  Then between the auto leveling valves and the air bag I installed the normally open solenoid.  Tee'd in between that solenoid and the air bags is the two normally closed solenoids-one to dump the air and the other attached to the air supply from the T in the supply line to the automatic leveling valves.  The switches I have for each position is a on/off (on for manual and off for automatic) and a single toggle with on/off/on-being a spring loaded toggle for adding or dumping the air.  The operation is this- when you want to level at the campsite, first switch the first toggle from auto to manual.  When the switch goes to manual, it also activates the electricity to the add/dump switch.  So first the normally open solenoid is activated blocking the air path between the automatic leveling valve and the air bags, then all you do is to activate either the dump or adding solenoid (up or down) to level the coach.  It takes me about a minute to level and it lasts about 2-3 days.  I prefer the normally open solenoid that stays open without power because I feel a bit nervous relying on a solenoid being electrically held open for automatic leveling valve operation going down the road.  If any of the solenoids fail, you have normal automatic leveling valve operation that the bus was initially made with. I used Skinner valves, and just have to choose the correct valves for your application since they make hundreds of types.  Have had no problems with the system since installing 12 years ago.

[akbusguy2000]

I believe I have achieved an equally reliable 3-point system on my 4106 that is somewhat more flexible and uses no solenoids, no power and none of those adjustable regulators that are commonly used for leveling systems.

I used Clippard toggle valves to select between manual and automatic, and Clippard bleed/fill valves to regulate pressure (height) when in the manual position.  I have one pair for each individual set of air bags.  I added a pressure gage for each on the same panel, which allows me to monitor bag pressure under all circumstances.  The advantage of doing the air bags sets individually is that they can be individually switched between manual and automatic.  This comes in handy in iffy clearance situations, or in the event of an automatic leveling valve failure.

The only disadvantage might be in the time it takes to achieve level from the manual position, as the valves are small.  The selector valves work perfectly, but I had to alter the orifices of the bleed/fill valves to improve flow.  It can take 5 minutes or more to level up.  But the valves are foolproof and when placed in manual the bus will stay in position over most of the winter – 5 months or so.   I have the manual side of the system supplied from an 80 PSI regulator.

I could post pictures if I knew how to get them down to acceptable size.

tg   

[plyonsMC9]

Hi tg,
If you send your pics to one of the moderators they would resize them for you.  my email address is plyons at phillyons.com 

There is also a thread in the board help which details how to resize them, along with links to some free software which helps with the same task.

Hope this helps, Phil

[Ross]

Tom...Do you have a source and part numbers for the solenoids?

Thanks...Ross