Loosing air pressure on an airbag system.

[lyrikz]

UPDATE 3/5I have 4 bags. Is it common to have an air pressure drop over a night of sitting??? With the 8 valves and all the lines, im going crazy trying to keep it 100% air tight...

[lolife99]

How much air are you talking about.
I try to use DOT fittings and a good thread sealant.
(like Loctite 545 hydraulic thread sealant)
No leaks here.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by lolife99

How much air are you talking about.
I try to use DOT fittings and a good thread sealant.
(like Loctite 545 hydraulic thread sealant)
No leaks here.

All the fittings are top notch. I used a good thread sealant. I put 40 pounds in it last night and this morning it was 20...

What im going to do tonight is air up the whole system to 90psi on all 4 bags and just sit there with some soapy water and see where the bubbles are.. The ONLY problem is that the top of the airbag fitting isnt accesable unless i unbolt the top mount plate. ahaha.. Here is how i have my airbag valves set up.

[IMG]http://www.*****************/files/how_to/wire-diagrams/valveassembly.gif[/IMG]

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

The ONLY problem is that the top of the airbag fitting isnt accesable unless i unbolt the top mount plate.

A little tip for other people doing this...leak test your front airbag fittings before you bolt the whole thing up.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by jlaird

A little tip for other people doing this...leak test your front airbag fittings before you bolt the whole thing up.

I did.... Im just worried that what if a leak started there. ahah...

[lolife99]

I've had mine at 80 psi for weeks. You must have a leak somewhere.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by lolife99

I've had mine at 80 psi for weeks. You must have a leak somewhere.

Thats what i was figuring...

So, on to the leak testing...
Just going to get them all to 90 or so, and then just sit and watch. ahaha...

[leftcoast66]

Good luck with the tests. Doesn't sound like too big of a leak, which is good, but sucks at the same time. Should be worth it in the end though.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by leftcoast66

Good luck with the tests. Doesn't sound like too big of a leak, which is good, but sucks at the same time. Should be worth it in the end though.

well, aired the bags to 80 in the rear, 60 in the front, and the tank to 120. Tank dropped down immediately. Went underneath and a few had some leaks. Tightened em up, all good. The bags stayed aired. Im actually settin the computer down right now and walking out to se ehow well the bags did.

start front = 60
start rear = 75
tank = 120

BRB
Ok, all bags stayed the same. The tank dropped down to 80.... There are 7 ports on the bag, i know i have a bad petcock valve that might leak a TINNNYY tiny bit, but i didnt check to see iff the pressure switch was not leaking. Glad the bags didnt leak. Will let ya know what else is leaking on the tank...

[leftcoast66]

Glad to hear its not at the bags and is a relatively easy to get at fix.

Originally Posted by lyrikz

well, aired the bags to 80 in the rear, 60 in the front, and the tank to 120. Tank dropped down immediately. Went underneath and a few had some leaks. Tightened em up, all good. The bags stayed aired. Im actually settin the computer down right now and walking out to se ehow well the bags did.

start front = 60
start rear = 75
tank = 120

BRB
Ok, all bags stayed the same. The tank dropped down to 80.... There are 7 ports on the bag, i know i have a bad petcock valve that might leak a TINNNYY tiny bit, but i didnt check to see iff the pressure switch was not leaking. Glad the bags didnt leak. Will let ya know what else is leaking on the tank...

[tds]

Do you have check valves?

[jlaird]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Will let ya know what else is leaking on the tank...

It might not even be the tank. If you have Viair compressors, might be the check valves on those. Those are notorious for leaking. You might have air from the tank leaking out your compressor.

[tds]

Originally Posted by jlaird

It might not even be the tank. If you have Viair compressors, might be the check valves on those. Those are notorious for leaking. You might have air from the tank leaking out your compressor.

werd. i'm gonna run 6 check valves. 4 for the bags 2 for the viair compressors.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by tds

Do you have check valves?

Check valves?? No. I have two for my compressors. One on each. But thats it..

Originally Posted by jlaird

It might not even be the tank. If you have Viair compressors, might be the check valves on those. Those are notorious for leaking. You might have air from the tank leaking out your compressor.

I rechecked the tank today and the pressure switch was leaking (i didnt test that.) and one of the other fittings was leaking. So, back up to 100 psi and we will see.. Bags are steady.

Originally Posted by tds

werd. i'm gonna run 6 check valves. 4 for the bags 2 for the viair compressors.

What are you using the check valves for? Where do those go and you have any pics???

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by leftcoast66

Glad to hear its not at the bags and is a relatively easy to get at fix.

oK, i have a new problem. I have the valves mounted and grounded. Power is not hooked up to the system yet. I inflate all the bags to about 60 psi. The tank is 100psi. Well, the tank dropped down to 60 (bad petcock) Well, i went to drain the tank 100% so i could put the new petcock in, and as i took out the air in the tank, all 4 bags lost all the air pressure with the tank. What the hell is going on???

I have the airbag valves setup like the picture up above, but i have NO idea whats going on... Anyone? Why would losing the air pressure in the tank, cause the bags to lower. ??

[lyrikz]

I dont know if im making myself clear. SMC valves. setup like this.
[IMG]http://www.*****************/files/how_to/wire-diagrams/valveassembly.gif[/IMG]

Airbags at 80psi. Tank at 120. No issues. Say i drop the air in the tank down to 70psi or so, the bags will lower also. As the air is 100 percent out of the tank, the bags are empty also... This right? The valves need pressure from the tank???

[Chevy4Life]

I have my valves setup the same way and without pressure behind the valves(from the tank) the bags will deflate. The tank psi always needs to be greater than the psi in any given bag.

Jay

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Chevy4Life

I have my valves setup the same way and without pressure behind the valves(from the tank) the bags will deflate. The tank psi always needs to be greater than the psi in any given bag.

Jay

Ok. awesome. thats what im gathering. So, is that where check valves come into play??? You have any check valves on your ride?

[Chevy4Life]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Ok. awesome. thats what im gathering. So, is that where check valves come into play??? You have any check valves on your ride?

There is a check valve on the leader hose from the comp. But as stated earlier they can leak back though the comp. If you had one between the valve and bag you wouldn't be able to let air out. So as long as the comp. to tank check valve is working and you have no other leaks you should be good. You can run them between the tank and valves, but that would only be needed if the tank was losing psi or you didn't want to keep psi in the tank.

Jay

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Chevy4Life

There is a check valve on the leader hose from the comp. But as stated earlier they can leak back though the comp. If you had one between the valve and bag you wouldn't be able to let air out. So as long as the comp. to tank check valve is working and you have no other leaks you should be good.

Jay

The way i have the valves set up, i can put a check valve right on that first valve or where the hose comes off the tank.

Thanks for the time and responses.

[tds]

Originally Posted by lyrikz

Check valves?? No. I have two for my compressors. One on each. But thats it..



I rechecked the tank today and the pressure switch was leaking (i didnt test that.) and one of the other fittings was leaking. So, back up to 100 psi and we will see.. Bags are steady.



What are you using the check valves for? Where do those go and you have any pics???

you use check valves to stop the back flow of air. since your tank was leaking. that caused your bags to have higher pressure then your tank. and with that you may have backflow from your bags to your tank since most common valves used only seal real great in one direction with out higher pressure on the tank side. hopefully that makes sense. so you put check valves before your fill valves to totally eliminate air tranfer from bag to bag or back to your tank. there cheap also too.

[lowrollin70gmc]

If you're looking to use check valves, I bought spare leader hoses from suicide doors for like $15 each (cheapest check valves I could find) and those feed from my tank to the valves and also are braided stainless to eliminate the DOT tubing. I also run hydraulic line from the valves to the bags. I drove 250 miles with an empty tank and didn't drop a pound in the bags (digital gauge). I'll get a pic here in a bit...

[tds]

Check kplinks or waylayed for check valves too...