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Dumping Air
I’m in Indiana for the winter.I found everything changes when it gets cold.Instead of starting the coach every few days to level , will it hurt the air bags if I just dump all air ? Will it cause any damage to leave it dumped all winter? I also have been running the auxilliary compressor.I guess I should not in the winter !…….Thanks Steve
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7 Replies
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Steve
Pam & I did 3 winters in DC. I never dumped the air system. I made sure we were as level as possible as not to put uneven distribution on any corner. My bags held up over the duration with no real drastic drops. I would run the bus every 3 to 4 weeks, around base and go tank up on fresh diesel. Our Webasto sipped diesel but over a few weeks it was good to top the tank.
FYI – do not just run the bus in place. Drive it. You want to get everything to operating temps. The idea is to not leave any moisture inside the motor or trans.
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In the past Prevost has cautioned against dumping all air and allowing the bags to rest on the internal stops. I cut open one of my air bags after replacing and the stop in the bottom of the bag was in pieces.
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Tom, how old were the bags when they were replaced.
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And to clarify Tom,
Is Prevost suggesting you never fully dump the airbags, even when trying to level the coach?
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Andy – 13 years
Tim – I think the emphasis was on storage or long stays. Sometimes you have to dump it all, but I usually add a little.
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Thank you all for your answers. Tom your answer convinced me not to dump. I’ll just keep starting the coach during the winter to inflate. I’m on a perfect level concrete pad and thought about it. Jeff just replaced My air bags a couple years ago and sure don’t want anything to happen to them…………………Steve
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I know what has been said but I have no choice. For 17 years I have to go through various up and down gyrations to get my coach into my garage. The first bus I could just back up the driveway and into the garage at road height.
But because of loading and unloading I drop the coach down when the bus is in the garage to keep the step up into the bus low. I do that with all of my coaches. When the need to have easier entry in the coach has passed I usually raise it and support it under the chassis support points so I can go in the pit to work on it if I want.
The Last two coaches I have had to lower all the way down to get them into the garage so I am actually moving when I back in with the bags all the way down. That is probably the worst thing to do, but I have no choice.
If the bags are damaged I don’t know because when they reach 10 years of age I am replacing them.
People from Prevost have repeated not to let the air out of the air bags, yet that is inconsistent with how they designed the coach. The level low system allows the bags to be over inflated to raise the coach or to be deflated to lower the coach. We can do that as required to keep the coach level on sloped RV sites. If lowering the coach is not acceptable the system should have some means of limiting down travel, but it does not. That is why I do not get too excited about lowering my coach all the way down when it makes sense.
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