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Auxiliary Air Tank Drain
Jon and I didn’t drain it while we were doing everything else, which may have been a mistake. I think that the only ways to get to it are from underneath, or to pull out the entertainment center (not going to happen).
If I go under and take off the screen, where do I get one of those things to remotely drain the tank in the future?
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16 Replies
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Yes we did. We drained all the tanks and lubed all the valves. I drained the water trap in the steer compartment also.
But there are drain valves that are operated by a lanyard so you can drain a tank without getting beneath the coach. But why?
If the service interval for a lube is 6250 miles then draining the tanks during that service is going to be more than adequate for draining what little moisture might collect. With a regularly serviced air dryer element and regular draining of the aux water trap in the steer compartment there is unlikely to be a need to drain tanks more often. My concern about a lanyard is if it should catch on something like a shredded tire in the road it could pull a valve open. The tanks as placed are well up above any danger from road debris, but I presume a lanyard would have to come out the bottom of the coach making it susceptible to road debris.
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Then maybe I am speaking of the wrong tank. This one is behind a grill that has about 20 screws holding it in place, and I see no other way we would have accessed it. I am pretty sure that we didn’t pull down the grate and reinstall….
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ACCESSORY tank is what I meant…. Sorry. Newtimers.
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We got all the Prevost system air tanks, specifically the wet, primary, secondary and the aux system (or accessory) tank. The first two were over the drive axle, the second two over the steer. We also drained the ping tanks associated with each air bag.
As to a grille with screws in it the only grille I can think of is the one beneath the aux system air compressor that also provides air intake for the Cruiseairs and the house batteries. If there is a tank there I suspect that is the awning pneumatic tank but that is a guess. I was unaware ZipDee had one, but if they do it does need to be serviced (drained) at intervals and a lanyard run sideways with a loop type handle in the back wall of the first bay would be an ideal thing because it would be protected from snagging and would make draining the tank easy.
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My coach is equipped with a tank in the battery area compartment. Below the tank is a chicken wire type screen covering the area to provide ventilation and prevent ingress of unwanted whatever. When I acquired the coach, a roughly 5″ square flap had been cut out of the chicken wire on 3 sides only creating a hinged flap by which I reach up to drain the tank at my normal service interval. The flap is then closed by using the hi-tech zip tie method.
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See my post “Zip Dee Awning Air Tank” boys.
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Never saw that one. But if it was like the photo I don’t see a drain. Karl, I assume that is the tank, and if your installation is like Tom’s photo there are a couple of things to note. First, you need to add a drain valve. Second you need to give serious thought to how it is installed because an air tank needs the air line on the top and the drain on the bottom.
As Tom’s is set up he doesn’t need a drain because every drop of moisture that is delivered to the tank via the air line is drained right back out of the tank via the same air line. Not good.
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Surely, the hose shown is only to drain the air/water outside the coach. It’s hard believe you can buy a tank without fittings on both top and bottom.
FWIW, CC installed an electric controlled drain valve. The only caution if you go that route is to also install a manual shutoff valve, which CC did not do. My electric valve ended up getting just enough junk in it that it didn’t fully close once. Thankfully, I was near a place I could get a standard compressor drain.
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The tank drain had a manual petcock and required you to remove the chicken wire under the bus to drain the tank. I installed a lanyard that is accessed in the entertainment center and I can now drain the tank often. I don’t follow your comments Jon, what hose are you talking about? All hoses and fittings are on top of the compressor. Are you awake?
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Joel and Truk are right on with my situation. I’d like to drain from the petcock for now and figure out how to do the lanyard when we get back from Africa.
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I think it’s a waste of time/effort to put a lanyard on that tank. You’re under the bus anyhow at regular maintenance time, it’s not hard to access, and I generally get very little out of it.
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As long as we are discussing draining an air tank I have a question. Mark and I discussed this yesterday but I wonder how many others have experienced this. As a background I drain all tanks in succession every 5000 miles when I service the coach. I change air dryer cartridges every two years. But this is a new to me coach and only the second time I have serviced it.
I drained the tanks starting with the aux air, then secondary. No surprises. Both dry. Then I did the primary and as I cracked the drain valve I got what appeared to be a small puff of what looked like dry rust (dust). I wasn’t paying real close attention so it could have been my eyes deceiving me. So when I drained the wet tank I looked really close and I cracked the valve slowly. Sure enough I got a clearly visible cloud of dry rust. Then it blew clean. Not a drop of oil or water.
I am not due to change my air dryer element, but if my eyes weren’t lying my air system is bone dry. Mark said he has experienced the same thing. I have drained tanks in the past and gotten nothing out of them, but never before have I gotten dry rust powder.
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Joel,
That compressor makes water if you are using your awning and it can’t wait until service time. So, I had a choice of pumping up the bus, supporting it with stands, cut the wire ties, remove the chicken wire, manually drain the tank, put the chicken wire and wire ties back in place, remove the stands and let the bus back down or pull the simple lanyard.I paid the price of water in the tank (previous owner) to the tune of 2 new arms and a motor. I won’t be doing that again and keeping the system dry is necessary.
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Never got much water out of mine, but I’m in a dry climate usually and shut off the awning compressor when traveling and in storage. The lanyard is a good idea if you get lots of water. By the way, I’ve had trouble with 2 arms and I doubt it was from water in the air system.
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Liberty told me the cause of most arm replacements is water in the cylinders Joel. I suppose they see enough of them, so that’s what got me going on the drain fix. Give me the good ole manual Zip Dee’s any day!
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