Air bag discharge

[Steve Hepfer]

I recently pulled into a level concrete pad campsite. Since it was very level I decided not to empty the air bags and level off. After 2 days I noticed that the coach has settled below the normal ride height on it's own. I this normal or do I have perhaps a leak in the airbags. They all seem to have settled uniformly. 

[vito.a]

All of these air ride coaches have air leaks.  Usually dozens of small ones.

They are in the fittings or the solenoid orings.  They are easily fixed by someone that cares but almost impossible to find a repairman that can/will fix them.

[Dr4Film]

Steve, do you have air leveling or not? You don't say. If yes, then what brand?

[Steve Hepfer]

The leveling system is a Power Gear. It is electric/hydraulic 

[Dr4Film]

You don't have air leveling so you don't have 6-Pack Valves to repair.

Coaches will not stay at ride height when the air ride system is off. Leaking down of the two air supply tanks is perfectly normal and any small leak will be almost impossible to find.

If you want to remain level then I would suggest use your electric/hydraulic levelers to keep you level, not your ride height controls.

Edited July 4, 2021 by Dr4Film

[cbr046]

And don't level "up" your coach without releasing air from the bags first, basically having pressure on the bags without weight on them.  (I read that in the owners manual).  That said, you could put the jacks down until they just barely touch.  The coach would then settle onto the jacks as the air leaked out. 

Mine leaks down after a few days. 

- bob

[Steve Hepfer]

My typical procedure is Slides Out, then dump air, then engage auto leveling system. This trip I didn't dump air or level but the coach lowered itself a good deal uniformly 

[Nevada Rob]

I spent 3 days chasing down air leaks. We found and fixed 16 air leaks. Not one leak was the actual air bags. Most leaks were from fittings on the primary and secondary air tanks. Now our air leveling system works as it should. We do not have hydraulic levelers only air levelers. The coach remained level for 4 days without the auxiliary air compressor coming on once. Air leaks are common but they are not "normal". It is a bit of work but well worth the time to get the air system in top shape. We replaced every leaking quick connect fitting with solid brass compression. Well worth the time and effort.

[cbr046]

1 hour ago, Nevada Rob said:

I spent 3 days chasing down air leaks. We found and fixed 16 air leaks. Not one leak was the actual air bags. Most leaks were from fittings on the primary and secondary air tanks. Now our air leveling system works as it should. We do not have hydraulic levelers only air levelers. The coach remained level for 4 days without the auxiliary air compressor coming on once. Air leaks are common but they are not "normal". It is a bit of work but well worth the time to get the air system in top shape. We replaced every leaking quick connect fitting with solid brass compression. Well worth the time and effort.

Can you describe your technique?  Finding leaks I'm not worried about.  HOW TO FIX THEM I'm a little fuzzy.  Do your just tighten the fittings 1/8 turn?  Teflon tape?  Replacing valves? 

tia,

- bob

[Chargerman]

I have found many leaks at the “push on” air fittings. I was able to resolve each one by removing the air line and cutting of a short piece of line at the compressed ring on the line and reinstalling it. Be sure your air system is drained first. 

[Nevada Rob]

2 hours ago, cbr046 said:

Can you describe your technique?  Finding leaks I'm not worried about.  HOW TO FIX THEM I'm a little fuzzy.  Do your just tighten the fittings 1/8 turn?  Teflon tape?  Replacing valves? 

tia,

- bob

I attached my shop compressor to the front air inlet fitting so as not to run the engine for an air supply. It is already 9,000 degrees here at home so anything I can do to keep the undercarriage cooler the better. I drive the coach up on wood ramps I made in order to raise up the front or back of the coach in order to get my old broke down butt under the motorhome and have some room to work. With a fully charged air system spray a generous amount of soap/water solution on all the fitting and valves. I use Dawn dish soap and water. Once I found the problem areas I drained the air system. If the leaking fitting was part of the air leveling system then when you remove the air line the bag will drop. With the coach up on the wood ramps I can still get under the coach even with the bags completely deflated. Removed the old dried out quick connect fittings, clean the female receiving threads and install the new brass fittings. I had two leaks on two pressure regulators on the front primary tank. The regulator body threaded together in two pieces. The upper and lower halves just need to be tighten back together. I do not use Teflon tape. I only use pipe thread paste. Teflon tape is nice and some folks use it. I have never had thread paste leak whereas I have had to redo Teflon. I only want to do this once so the extra effort and time is well worth for me. I just ordered a really cool tool to get the old push connect fitting off/released from the tubing. The tool is not cheap but after smashing my hand into the air tank, worth it to me. You can search for a quick connect fitting release tool. I found a set on Amazon for about $140.