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California Air, Air Compressor 2010 A
I have a Thomas aux. air compressor that’s gone tits up. It appears to be available at Grainger for a bit over $600 but would be a plug and play replacement.
I see California Air Tools has a similar unit but with an aluminum tank that would not rust and a 1HP vs. 0.50HP motor of the Thomas. The configurations are similar but the Thomas is deeper and shorter but no issue with having enough room. The Thomas is only $208. Does anyone have any experience with the Thomas unit and/or now why it would have better specs but cost 1/3 as much?
With my neck still in a brace it’s going to take awhile before I can address this but I would like to get my ducks in a row now so I can have a plan in place when I could do the work. Should be pretty easy swap since it’s there in the empty storage area behind the front bumper.
Thanks.
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9 Replies
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This is the compressor in our bus that is not working, I suspect that the tank was never drained and it locked up. I have purchased the same compressor to replace it, I will relocate the tank drain valve via an air line to the edge of the compartment so that I can keep the tank drained. The handle part of the frame does need to be cut off for the compressor to fit.
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To follow up and close out this discussion, I bought the California Air Compressor 2010 A. I think I made a great choice. I was lucky enough to have had Art Twaddell service my Webasto here in Paso Robles. I had ordered the compressor but it had not yet arrived. I asked Art if I could also hire him to swap out the 2 compressors since my neck is still immobilized from surgery. He agreed and other than having to get an extended air line for the output from the compressor it was pretty much just a matter of changing a couple fittings and sliding the new compressor in place.
The specs are much better than the Thomas and the sound is substantially lower. I also think the aluminum air tank will be beneficial compared to watching all that rusty water coming out when the tank needs drain.
Thanks to this group for the great participants and many thanks to Art for his help in getting the compressor up and running!
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
Bill-
Glad it worked out well. I want to do the same thing. Found the one you mentioned.
Do you have any photos of the install?
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Not really much to take a picture of. The air compressor is in the compartment behind the front bumper. The old one was sitting on 4 rubber feet and the new Calif. Air compressor just has 4 suction type feet. At this point it’s just sitting there with a somewhat longer air line than the last as we moved it to the opposite side of the compartment just ’cause it seemed to work out a bit better. Even without it sitting on those rubber feet the Thomas air compressor used it is so quite it often takes a bit of time before I realize it has come on. Since it usually only runs for about 15 seconds when it does kick in, it’s usually about to turn off by the time I realize that it’s running.
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Ok.
I wondered about how it fit in the original place, but if you moved it over, a photo wouldn’t show what I was looking for. We have the same year and length coach, but different converters. I’d like it have it fit where the thomas was, as I like having the behind the bumper area for storage.
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Luc,
On my Liberty the California Air Tools CAT-1P1060S fits in the space in front of the front axle where the original compressor was located. The handle portion of the frame does need to be cut off.
https://www.amazon.com/California-Air-Tools-CAT-1P1060S-Compressor/dp/B01LYHYHEA
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Hey guys……One thought. My Marathon aux compressor feeds larger air storage tanks. Do you really need a self contained compressor with a tank built in? I know California Air sell just the compressor head with control (sans the tank) that seems like it would work. I think its a model 10L maybe? My current Thomas does not have a tank.
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Marshall,
The California Air Tools 10TL is a tankless compressor. I chose to purchase the CAT-1P1060S for several reasons, it is about half the price of the 10TL, it is the same model currently installed, and most importantly it is quieter at 56 dBA vs the 10TL at 65 dBa.
Both will work. The one issue with the 1P1060S is keeping moisture drained from the tank, which I suspect is what caused the one in our bus to fail, it was not working when we bought the bus a couple of months ago. When I install the new one, I will relocate the drain valve to the doorway under the driver’s window.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
Thanks Clay and Marshall, I will check out the options you suggest.
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