What size tanks?

[Shane]

To continue a bit on Scotti's thread of what type, brand and how many compressors, I want to ask you guys the same sort of question concerning what size tanks and how many?

I ordered two Viair 380's this week and was initially planning on running 2 - 3 gallon aluminum tanks, but am now considering & leaning towards a single 5 gallon aluminum tank.

I'm planning on putting all of this IN the bed (not under) so space is not a real big concern. Although I don't want the entire bed dedicated to tanks, compressors, valves, etc.

Share with me your setups and your opinions of the advantages/disadvantages of 1 tank versus 2 tanks ... or vice versa.

Many Thanks,
Shane Bob

[SCOTI]

2 x 3gal aluminum that I had built to my specs.

I considered a single larger tank, but I'm hiding my stuff under the bed & figured 2 smaller tanks would be easier to mount than 1 larger tank.

[revn67]

I will be running dual viair 480c's and a 5gal tank....should be plenty for what i'm gonna do, i won't be hitting switches all of time, but i'll still be able to play whenever i want to. if you run 2 tanks and 2 compressors then you'll have a greater air supply, but it will take alittle longer with fill up time than just 1 tank and 2 compressors.

[itsmike2k]

How are those 480's? I'm probably going witht he 380's and dual 3gal tanks. Decisions decisions ... How big of valves did you run and did you go with 8 or 4?

[1lowdiesel]

dual AZ's one 12 gal and two 5's. i'm also running 200psi. 6 1/2" valves

for just the weekend warrior i'd say go a single 5 or 12 and dual comps.

[itsmike2k]

Did you run side controll for rear or front or??

[1lowdiesel]

front independent and rear tied together.
but i'm prolly gonna switch to eight this way i get less air transfer from bag to bag.

[itsmike2k]

Is it better to run the valves close to each bag or just in a center location or does it even matter?

and back to the tanks, 1 5gal wouldnt be that much different then 2 3's if you ran a 1/2" line between them, right? It would just look like 6+ gal tank...

[1lowdiesel]

you could run them close to the bag but it's easier to just mount them all in one place.

as for the tank it's really personal preference on wether or not you want 2 or 1 tank. imo i'd rather spend 45 bucks on 1 5gal then 60 or 70 on 2 3's

[shifty]

Old thread, but since this is related - If you're running a 2-tank (3gal ea) F/B/S/S system, how many ports should you have, total?

And when I ask that, I'm curious to know:
- #of ports for compressor
- # of ports for line to bag
- # of ports for water dump

I picked up a couple of 3-gal tanks locally (from GF customs) with 3-1/4" ports, but I don't think there is a water purge on the tank.

How important is the water purge, anyway?

My tanks are 7" diameter, ~20" long. I'm mounting them to the rear framerails, similar to what N2TRUX/n2billet did on n2billets truck

[bagged69c10]

You can pretty much run it any way you want. You could run one port for each bag or one port for 2 bags and tee them off. I have one line for the driver side bags and one for the passenger side bags because I didn't want all those lines running down the frame. I would say that you should have a drain cock on your tank, especially if you don't have any water traps.

[shifty]

Is it sufficient just to run a water trap between the compressor and tank?

[Shane]

from what i have gathered it would be better to have it AFTER the tank. the air is heated when it is compressed and the tank allows it to cool back down and once cooled it will de-condensate or "release" the moisture.

[shifty]

Gotcha. Well, maybe I need to rethink my setup then. I really wanted to run all four bags independent from two tanks, but it sounds like the better way to save money and space from bolting crap down would be to use two drier/water traps on a T'd line from each tank and put inline check-valves along the way.

Shane, you got your bags installed and plumbed? Last I saw your ride it was all painted and purty. Don't recall ever seeing the chassis.

Sometimes I wish everyone had links to their buildup threads in their signatures

[Shane]

mine isn't painted ... you may have seen some pics of the black '72 SWB fleet I picked up a few weeks ago ... it's now gone.

My bags are plumbed, but my compressors, valves and tanks are not .. well, there aren't plumbed "complete" ... I'm working on something pretty dang cool that I think you guys will like ... stay tuned.

Anywhoo ... don't worry about a dryer ... put a petcock on each tank and manually drain about once a month ... like you do on your compressor in the shop.

[shifty]

What? I can't be thinking of someone else. I saw a roadster that you were building, you shaved the firewall, and it was painted glossy blue. Is that not your ride? It looked like it may as well have been straight outta the body shop

You drain your compressor in the shop?

[MotorHead Lon]

If you are running a York engine driven compressor would you use a watertrap/dryer?

[shifty]

If I spent the $$ for an engine driven compressor, **** yeah I would use a drier.

(I was kidding about the draining the compressor bit)

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by shifty

....I saw a roadster that you were building, you shaved the firewall, and it was painted glossy blue. Is that not your ride? It looked like it may as well have been straight outta the body shop

I don't think that was Shane. It was board member 'Jamis' (sp?).

[MotorHead Lon]

Originally Posted by shifty

If I spent the $$ for an engine driven compressor, **** yeah I would use a drier.

(I was kidding about the draining the compressor bit)

Mine was a freebie, not even sure it will work, it came off of a friend's 70 Nova. I killed my electric compressor and want to try an engine driven compressor.

On draining the tank, in 1 year of use with the Viar 450, I did not have any water in my tank. And as Shane and any other southerners can attest summer in the south can get real humid.

[shifty]

Originally Posted by MotorHead Lon

And as Shane and any other southerners can attest summer in the south can get real humid.

I've lived almost all my life in New Orleans, all over Florida, Texas and SoCal, so you don't gotta tell me about it

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I don't think that was Shane. It was board member 'Jamis' (sp?).

Damnit, you're right. I can't keep track of all of you swamp folk.

(I thought Jamis lived in Alabama also?)

Well ****, I need to get acquainted. Shane, you got a build thread?