On-board air, how to lube?

[loborph]

I recently converted my factory a/c in my '82 wag to on-board air. I bought parts from onboardair.com, found a 6gal 500psi tank on ebay, and now I air-up faster than I air-down. My question - How does one keep it lubed?

[Brown Bear]

Keep what lubed? the tank? Depending on how you did the oba, it may be a non-issue....actually, your problem may be reversed. How did you do the oba? Did you do the mod to the oil thingy in the pump? Did you put an inline oil grabber filter? if not, then you may actually be slinging alot of oil into the pump and down the line. the york was designed to put alot of oil down the line for the other ac components.

[loborph]

I had the impression that the freon kept the seals wet and lubed the a/c compessor. I followed the diagram in the ifsja tech articles and used the oba.com website for ideas. Starting from the 'top' - I have a filter before the intake, a hose 'out' to a check valve, pressure switch, in cab gauge, then on to the tank. I have found oil 'downstream'. Should I add an oil grabber and, back to my first question, how do i keep the compressor lubed? (i dont understand what you mean by 'oil thingy' in what pump?)

Thanks a bunch, ... I just dont want my compressor to seize.

[Brown Bear]

I'm not 100% versed on the setting up of a york oba....a quick google search can find alot on the subject....but from what i'm trying to remember right now, there is a hole in a gear inside the compressor that needs to be plugged to cut down on the oil. It prob won't stop all the oil, but it should cut it down, and this should also lube your tank enough as well. I'm not so sure that the tank really needs lubing. A bigger problem is getting the water out of the tank.

[Brown Bear]

here's a good site i found

http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbroncos/tech/ac_conv.html

[Retro93]

I'm making the assumption that you are using a York compressor. You should fill the compressor with 8 0z. of non-detergent 30WT. oil. This will keep it lubed. You can also add a pre-oiler to the intake port to add small amounts of oil to the sytem while it is running. To remove any oil/water that is generated by the system, you should add a o/w seperator in the outlet line. You should drain this from time to time. Fully automatic drain models are also available. smile.gif

[timmirvin]

So....if I wanted to have onboard air via a bumper....what is the minumum cubic inches I should have......?????

And what is the York on my '82 rated at....PSI???

[Brown Bear]

IMO, any cubic inch is good, but bigger is better. I've heard of alot of people who like bumper/tanks, but it makes me kinda leary....what would happen if you got into an accident???? maybe nothing, but i have visions of blowing myself into orbit....and that doesn't do me any good :D

[tomd]

Good info on this site:

http://www.ccicompressor.com/

Oil fix:

http://members.cox.net/cglabe1/Air/OilFix.html

[timmirvin]

Originally posted by Brown Bear:
I've heard of alot of people who like bumper/tanks, but it makes me kinda leary....what would happen if you got into an accident???? maybe nothing, but i have visions of blowing myself into orbit....and that doesn't do me any good :D Well I am still in the planning phase of Sherman's conversion into a hunting mobile. So knee-deep in the research part. But what I had in mind was to not have anything presurized unitl I flipped a switch...kinda like in my home shop. ie: if/when I needed air, with engine running, hit toggle switch that engaged the compressor clutch. But maybe that is not how it works.....

The subject may be a mute one tho, because the tubing I am intending to use for my bumpers is thick/heavy enough that if it were to be damaged to the point of leaking or bursting.....that would be the least of my worries.....know what I mean????

[quikclimber]

here are some other sites you might try:
http://members.cox.net/cglabe1/Air/OilFix.html
http://www.jeeptech.com/body/york/
both have alot of info. im thinking of doing this myself soon, just never seem to find the money.

[Sambo]

i have an OBA and i use 30wt non detergent oil,an\bout an inch in the bottom will be good!
and its still running 3 yrs later!!!

[scotty]

Originally posted by Brown Bear:
IMO, any cubic inch is good, but bigger is better. I've heard of alot of people who like bumper/tanks, but it makes me kinda leary....what would happen if you got into an accident???? maybe nothing, but i have visions of blowing myself into orbit....and that doesn't do me any good :D certainly a valid concern. however,as pressures go,130 psi or so in an onboard air system is relatively low.im not insinuating that one should not use caution when working around pressurized hoses or air tools,but if you make your bumpers out of some heavy tubing you will defiantely not have anything to worry about.

i use both my bumpers as air tanks,and i have hit trees really hard with the system at max pressure. no prollems at all. i hit a tree with about an 8" diameter trunk hard enuff to make it fall over,if that gives you any ideas.(disclaimer: no trees were intentionally harmed in the making of this post. we "tread lightly" whenever possible)

ive been running my york with no mods for quite some time now,and no prollems with it.

[timmirvin]

Thanx Scotty.....

I am just beginning my research and thought process on this.....

How do you have your bumpers connected to each other??? Stainless vs rubber/inside frame vs between???

Where is your air connection???? somewhere in the middle/on one bumper/engine compartment/on one or both bumpers.....assuming it is a quik connect

Does yours automatically pressure the bumpers up when the engine is running or do you have a switch inside the vehicle???

Where is your gauge for how much pressure you currently have???

Is your rig set up to regulate output pressure??

OK, OK, I will stop asking so many questions... :D :D

TIA

[Sycho15]

Yorks have their own oil resevoir, so you don't need a pre-oiler and then an oil-seperater and all that jazz like you would using a Sanden or similar compressor. An oil/water seperater is still a good idea though.

You can air up your tires right from the York if you don't have an air-tank installed yet. If you are using the York to pressurize a tank, then set a pressure switch on the tank to kick the York on and off at the desired pressures (i.e.- the York kicks on when the pressure reaches 125psi and kicks off when the pressure reaches 150psi). Of course, having a master on/off/auto switch in the cab is a good idea.

The great thing about metal tanks is that if they leak, they do it without exploding. Not so with PVC- that stuff usually blows itself right apart (which is why it should definately be mounted under the vehichle, ideally protected with a metal skidplate, if you decide on a PVC tank). Personally, if I used a PVC tank I would at least fiberglass it for extra strength.

[CowKiller]

i got an old air tank off a semi, fits perfect between the framerails on the cherokee. i put it up where the spare tire should have been. i was gona make up a skidplate for it, but then the chero dies.

[scotty]

tim my setup is basically this:

http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Misc-Pictures/OBA2.bmp

there is a quick connect at each end,i ahve a pressure gauge on the dash,and everything is connected with standard 3/8 air line.

very soon im planning on adding the nerf bars to the equasion to act as extra air storage or hold water that is pressurized by the system. smile.gif very useful for spraying the mud out of tire beads,alternators and radiators

further questions? smile.gif

[ April 25, 2003, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: scotty ]

[AMC258]

is it possible to use any other air conditioning compresser for air? How about the stock unit on my 84 GW? If so, are there any links that would help?

Thanx

[Brown Bear]

The stock unit on your 84 is a york ;)

[AMC258]

Actually it's a Sangen, will it still work?

[Brown Bear]

You've got a Sangen? Did you put that in, or did someone else? Yes, the comp would work for oba.

[AMC258]

It was in there when I brought it home, I thought it was stock, it even has an AMC part number. Thanks for the info, another project to try to get to.

[Sycho15]

Sanden wasn't stock until '90-91 I believe. Those will require an in-line oiler before the compressor and an in-line seperator after it. Run hoses so they cycle the same lubricant between the two. It's a lot more work, and I think the Yorks put out more air anyhow.

[scotty]

my 85 had a non-york.dont know if it was a a sanden or something else. i used it forever,and i think it actually built up pressure alittle quicker thanthe york ive got now. it had a bad bearing,and i ket waiting for it to blow up,but it never did. i finally put my york on when i swapped in my new engine

[fullsizejohn]

Obviously an older thread but a quick question.
Just looking into this OBA for my 79 j-10.
I still have my original a/c compessor and everything works fine.
So it seems that with just a few fittings and a tank, I should be able to go OBA relatively simple. Right??

[misfittom138]

Obviously an older thread but a quick question.
Just looking into this OBA for my 79 j-10.
I still have my original a/c compessor and everything works fine.
So it seems that with just a few fittings and a tank, I should be able to go OBA relatively simple. Right??

Yeah, it's no too difficult. I'm still debating it on the waggy. Working A/C sounds good, but so does onboard air. Hmmmm....

Almost anything you could need is here:
http://www.kilbyenterprises.com/replacement-parts.htm

[Chevelleguy]

You can have both A/C and OBA. You have to make a new mounting plate that will hold 2 Yorks standing up side by side. There was a thread on it here last year with pics.