On board air questions (searched)

[hunterguy86]

I searched and found a few good posts but I'm still confused on some things so thanks in advance for the help.

I want to use my factory AC compressor for simplicty reasons:
1. because I have it on the engine and it works.
2. Seems to me the factory selenoid(sp?) will still work to idle the engine up when the compressor is in use.

Questions:
1. Can a tank be mounted under the hood?
2. I read that an air cleaner needs t be mounted on the inlet side of the compressor. What do I use for that.
3. What kind of check valves ect. do I need?
4. What problems did yall have from this kind of setup? Is there anything in the installation I should know before hand?
5. What kind of air lines did you use?
6. Where are your air hose fittings mounted for tools ect?

Sorry this is so long. Any and all advice is appriciated.

Thanks,

Dustin

 

[4X4HIGH]

To answer your questions in order

1. If you can find a small enough tank and a place to put it under the hood then yes it can be done. (I mounted mine under the truck on the passenger side frame rail and it is a 2 1/2 gallon tank purchased from www.sunperformance.com)

2. Yes you need to install an air cleaner on the inlet port. (I bought mine from www.kilbyenterprises.com)

3. You will need a one way valve so the air compressor does not start under a load (once again i purchased it from www.kilbyenterprises.com)

4. If you use the factory AC compressor it will fail very fast. These type air compressors do not have their own oil supply but rather use the oil that is in the AC system for lubrication.

5. I used 3/8" air hose and brass fittings to plumb my truck.

6. I have an air fitting on the front bumber and also on the rear bumper.

You best choice for a compressor is the York AC compressor because it has its own oil crankcase and will survive for many years. The factory AC compressor can be used but you must oil the inlet port everytime you want to use the compressor and maybe a few times while you are using it so the compressor won't sieze up.

 

[ntsqd]

1) Yes, if you have the room for it.
2) Something like a K&N type valve cover breather works. Otherwise search McMaster or Grainger for true air comp. filters.
3) Yorks's don't use a check valve normally. Do not know about the stock A/C comp. Most likely you will want an in-line oiler for the stock comp. and then an in-line dryer on the discharge side to catch the oil. If you're trick you might be able to make the dryer's drain dump back into the oiler.
You'll want a over-pressure pop-off valve (McMaster or Grainger) and a pressure switch to cycle the comp. as needed.
4) The discharge air has the potential to be quite hot, would use a high temp rated hose for the first couple feet, or even some metal tube.

 

[hunterguy86]

The idea of using an air breather sounds like a good idea. Do yall think if I put some air tool oil in the compressor before each use it will last or use one of those lubricators? What about using the factory evaporator as a dryer. maybe by pass the low pressure switch? what do yout think? any other ideas?


I'm tryin to put together a list of what I need.

 

[hunterguy86]

ttt

 

[73k5blazer]

Factory compressor works great, just put an oiler on the inlet side and a de-oiler on the outlet side. I plumbed my buddies truck so the de-oiler is higher than the oiler and the drain for the de-oiler goes right back into the oiler. I plan on doing my truck the same way. We have the old style long body axial compressors, which are better for that setup, the little pancake compressors don't work very well for air, so I hear. The setup on my buddies truck has been working for over 2 years now, no problems.

 

[Jagged]

where did you get the oiler/de-oiler from?

and what did you use to control the clutch on the compressor?

 

[ntsqd]

In-line oiler and dryer are off the shelf items from places like McMaster or Grainger. Pressure switch from either above works to control the A/C clutch.

Can use the ARB compressor switch, but it's pressure setting is only 90 psi. Not quite enough if you plan to run air tools, but will work for filling tires.

 

[73k5blazer]

I picked up "mini" oiler and deoiler from tractor supply co. I used the factory clutch that was on the compressor, just wired it to the pressure switch (also from tractor supply co) instead of being activated by the ac position on the hvac slider.