Air Tank Question

[Ray Lobato]

Originally posted by Brian1
certain other 4x4 I have.

Hey Brain, it's ok to say the J word. Dead Link Removed

 

[Brian1]

Ray, I have used the J word before on this board, I just thought it was a more clever way to put it! Well, lately I have been modding my Explorer while my J**P has not been touched in 18 years. I'm saving it for my Winter project.

 

[megillet]

If you were gonna do that dangerous spark plug fill up trick, take off two spark plugs (i.e. 1 and 4 or 2 and 5 or 3 and 6 (firing order correct? too lazy to go look it up)). Then you won't get the rough idle and you'll essentially have a really loud 4 cylinder with really bad gas mileage, eh?

 

[Perry]

Brian we know what that other certain 4X4 is. You can admit it, it's not all that bad.
I figure no matter what you use for air it is better then nothing. Most of the time it will be for emergancies only since you can drive to the closest town and get air.

 

[Commtech]

You only replace the plug when you need to inflate - Not to be left in all the time

 

[Ray Hutchinson]

Air TAnks in trucks

Wabbit,

You are right on. It is a violation of DOT regulations, therefore almost every state vehicle code, as most states automatically adopt DOT standards as part of therir own VC. DOT says that there (can't be pressure vessels tanks, cylinders, etc.) with pressures greater than , I think, 100 psi in the same compartment as the passengers. I(f you've ever seen the destructive force of a pressure cylinder on the loose from say, a broken off valve, you wouldn't even wonder why its illegal. The damage they can do is unbelievable! I personally wouldn't carry one in side my 4X passenger compartment for this reason.

We ran into this a few years back, at work, with our breathing air apparatus being mounted in the cab with us for quick donning while were enroute to an emergency. We had been operating illegally for years, it turns out, and we had to get special federal legislation passed exempting fire fighting equipment. We still can only have one cylinder per person in the cab, all spares have to be stored separate from the passengers.

 

[tdavis]

I wouldn't do the spark plug with todays engine for one big reason - with aluminum heads, you can easily strip the plug hole when changing the filler plug with the real plug.

You know your supposed only change spark plugs on cold engines, right?

 

[rpenner54]

Dead Link Removed

Sorry it took so long to get back to you all about this but here is that Bro II with the A/C setup with a tank!

 

[Brian1]

I just thought of something

What if I buy the 7 gallon tank and make a setup where I plug my little compressor into the tank so it will have a storage tank with a continous supply of air. So before I would go, I would fill the tank up at home and then when I need it to air up, I would plug the compressor in and pump air to the tank while I fill up my tires. Would this provide enough air?

 

[tac0meat]

just a thought, couldnt you take the actual compressor part off a shop air compressor(you know for air tools and stuff) and just rig it with a different pulley and mount to run off the engine. plus it would only take like 2-3 hp to run and you would have a almost limitless and quick supply of air. just a thought

 

[FiremanRon]

High Pressure Cylinders

A couple years ago, a Detroit fire truck experienced a sudden catastrophic failure of an air bottle. The bottle had been damaged at a fire scene and then placed back in the jump seat, behind the driver's seat. A few hours later, while parked in the station, the tank let loose, blowing the driver's seat out through the windshield. Had this happened on the way to a fire, at least two people would have been killed instantly, plus the others hurt when the truck crashed.
I remember seeing one of those sparkplug inflater kits, several years ago. It came with an air hose, fittings and adapters.
I have a tank for topping off tires, but I've never tried it for airing up from that low of a pressure.

[Edited by FiremanRon on 10-22-2000 at 11:18 PM]

 

[zensius]

Getting back to the spark plug rig for filling tires... On the Discovery Channel I was watching a show on srossing from Russia to Alaska across the frozen tundra in specially rigged late model Landcruisers. It was a crazy show but one thing I saw on the show that was really crazy was that they re-seated a tire and inflated it with starting fluid!! How you ask? They filled the tire with starting fluid then threw a match at it. The small explosion reseated the tire and filled it. Crazy. Don't try that at home!

 

[Brian1]

Now I have heard it all. Puts a new meaning to a blowout or rather a blow up! I quit thinking about the tank. The one I wanted said it would only fill 1.5 P205R14 tires. Way too small for my needs.

 

[Ray Lobato]

Brian,
I know these aren't exactly cheap, but they do work really well. I have one and thinking about getting another backup tank. Power Tank

 

[Ray Hutchinson]

Power Bomb (Tank)

Guys,

In spite of what the Mfg of the above tanks says, IE DOT approved etc., I DO NOT BELIEVE they are SAFE to be carried in the passenger compartment of your vehicle! Please see my and Fireman Ron's posts above. And even though they're DOT approved, I'll bet that approval dosen't include carrying in the pax compt. I have witnessed and experienced the failure of pressure tanks,with a "popoff valve"! Bomb or loose Torpedo is the only way to describe the destructuion they caused. I won't be carrying one in my passenger compartment!! Just a word to the wise!

 

[zensius]

From what I've seen of the power of a loose high pressure tank, it wouldn't really be safe to carry one in the bed of a pickup or stapped underneath either as there's not much sheetmetal there to protect.

[Edited by zensius on 11-02-2000 at 06:12 PM]

 

[Charly]

Yes, I hear the concerns expressed by Fireman Ron and others (I'm a firefighter/paramedic), but the air tanks use by the fire service are high pressure, with the lower pressure being 2200psi and the higher pressure (most bottles today) being 4500 psi. This is significantly different than the 125 psi maximum run with an onboard air system.

I still wouldn't suggest putting an air tank in your pass. compartment, but I feel a lot safer with 125 psi in there than 4500 psi.

And here is a good resource for basic onboard air system design (it is J word based, but will still be valuable for ideas) http://www.onboardair.com

And Quick Air is coming out with a twin cylinder electric compressor, although I'm sure it will be expensive (I'm hearing close to $500 retail).

Good Luck,

Charly