Maybe someone can shed some light or provide a scientific explanation of this issue.
When I first got my MH, in the winter of last year, the left rear air bag wouldn't stay inflated. It would leak down to empty over about 24 hours. When spring rolled around and I finally got the rig on the road, the leak had evidently repaired itself. The rig stayed level and the air pressure gauge stayed steady (except for a slow leak that I know I have at the pressure switch).
Well now that the cold weather is here, it's up to its old antics. I parked it last night and it was fairly level. I got inside this morning and felt it was way out of whack. The left side was on the ground and the air pressure had dropped from 120 PSI to 30.
What is it about the cold that makes this happen? I'm not sure where to begin with troubleshooting. If it were a leaky bag I wouldn't be losing pressure from the tank. If it were a leaky inflate solenoid, I'd be losing air into the tank. But why is the tank dropping so fast? If it were a leaky vent solenoid the tank pressure would hold.
I put a pretty big aftermarket pump in it, so it inflates from 0 to level in less than a minute. I'd still like to find the source of the leak though.
When I first got my MH, in the winter of last year, the left rear air bag wouldn't stay inflated. It would leak down to empty over about 24 hours. When spring rolled around and I finally got the rig on the road, the leak had evidently repaired itself. The rig stayed level and the air pressure gauge stayed steady (except for a slow leak that I know I have at the pressure switch).
Well now that the cold weather is here, it's up to its old antics. I parked it last night and it was fairly level. I got inside this morning and felt it was way out of whack. The left side was on the ground and the air pressure had dropped from 120 PSI to 30.
What is it about the cold that makes this happen? I'm not sure where to begin with troubleshooting. If it were a leaky bag I wouldn't be losing pressure from the tank. If it were a leaky inflate solenoid, I'd be losing air into the tank. But why is the tank dropping so fast? If it were a leaky vent solenoid the tank pressure would hold.
I put a pretty big aftermarket pump in it, so it inflates from 0 to level in less than a minute. I'd still like to find the source of the leak though.
Well, I spoke to Eldon. He's was a big help as always. He explained that when on "manual", the air system is pretty much isolated at the height sensors. So basically bags are cut off from any other part of the system. The good news, then, is that the bags aren't leaking. The bad news is the leak could be just about anywhere else. He suggested getting under there with soapy water to find it. That's a project for another day. If I can keep it stable on "manual", I'll just keep doing that for now.
Thanks! So far it's holding fine on "manual". I remembered the guy's name at Jetco - it's Eldon. I knew it was a unique name of some sort. I'll have to send him an e-mail.
It is a nice system. If this is the only defect in mine, I might just leave it alone. I'll switch it to manual when I park.
It is a nice system. If this is the only defect in mine, I might just leave it alone. I'll switch it to manual when I park.
olfarmer wrote:
When it is cold, parts like connection fittings etc. will shrink. That is probably why it leaks when cold. It could be difficult to find but I would try using soapy water in a spray bottle and spray everything you can get to. You could call JetCo in Humboldt Iowa and ask for someone familiar with the system. I talked to a very sharp guy there once that knew a lot about how the system works. Good luck! BTW Jetco built the system and is still in business but they no longer build them for motorhomes, just trucks, but they do keep some parts.
On edit, I see you are already familiar with JetCo. Sorry for the repeat info. I was satisfied with the compressor I got from them but don't doubt that Amazon was much cheaper, I didn't even know about Amazon back a few years ago when I bought the compressor from JetCo. lol
No problem. I talked to someone there that was knowledgeable, too - had to be the same guy. I don't think they're trying to rip anyone off - they found a pump that works and resell it. It's great that they support the system at all. I wouldn't have known anything about pumps myself, but I had been looking into airbags for my limo and did quite a bit of research. I figured I could do a little better than their pump, but theirs I'm sure works just fine.
So the plot thickens here a little bit. I switched it to "MANUAL" yesterday morning just before I put up my original post. The bag is holding and pressure is holding (except for the slow leak I mentioned).
It's a little perplexing because the system shouldn't be doing anything with the key off - whether in AUTO or MANUAL. Why it would only leak down in the AUTO setting is a mystery to me. The only explanation is that it is trying to make adjustments without the compressor running, which would quickly deplete the tank. But, again, it shouldn't be doing anything key-off. Plus on MANUAL, no adjustments are required - the bag isn't leaking down. I dunno. I might call JetCo, though I'm not their favorite customer after I complained about their compressor.
