12V / On Board Air System

[Mamrak76]

I am wanting to upgrade my on board air system from my Viair 444 coupled with a 30 gallon tank. I have been looking at multiple options including 12-volt air, Oasis and even building a custom 12v one myself. There is a guy who took a compressor and a winch motor and made his own compressor. I have ample battery/alternator setup to power this.

I attached a pic of a home built one
Any suggestions?

 

[cvairwerks]

Probably would be helpful to explain what you want the system to do.

 

[Mamrak76]

Probably would be helpful to explain what you want the system to do.

So I use it for several things. My primary purpose is for air horns. I operate my vehicle as an emergency vehicle sometimes through heavy traffic in a metro area. My 30 gallon tank and viair 444 (over 10 years old now) works great. The only downside is the recovery time is a bit slow. It’s in the 5-7 minute from 80-100 back up to 140. Also I am considering adding a genuine Nathan K5LA for recreational purposes. I also use this to run an occasional air tool or pump up tires.

 

[cvairwerks]

Might look at this then: https://www.extremeoutback.com/product/extremeflow-belt-drive-compressor-serpentine-belt/

 

[csp]

What vehicle is it going into?

My Jeep CJ's use engine driven York AC compressors, which put out very impressive CFMs.

 

[Mamrak76]

What vehicle is it going into?

My Jeep CJ's use engine driven York AC compressors, which put out very impressive CFMs.

I have an f150. I was hoping to avoid going belt driven if possible. My undehood is a little tight as is.

 

[kelpaso1]

What vehicle is it going into?

My Jeep CJ's use engine driven York AC compressors, which put out very impressive CFMs.

Yep that's what I did when I owned my jeep. One thing I did was add a throttle lock so I could keep the RPMs at about 3000.

 

[bas157]

What about just adding another Viair to the system, they even sell setups that are 2 compressors on one tank? I was going to recommend York as well, that's what I've got in my CJ-7 for an air compressor, brother has one in his CJ-8 as well, but if you've got a newer F-150, that might not be an option.

 

[Mirage]

I ran an Air Zenith compressor (200 psi) with a 5 gallon tank on my old Xterra for a Grover 1510 Stuttertone horn (typical fire truck horn). Was quite happy with the performance of the compressor, they claim 100% duty cycle and I never once thermal tripped mine. I had a regulator and quick connect on the back bumper for tire inflation and air tools and ran it a lot on the trails in addition to the horn.

 

[Earp69]

Anymore info on the setup you posted? Mainly what compressor he used. Your going to love the k5 BTW when you get them hooked up. A pro tip, if you can point them at the ground there much louder and the sound travels in a 360 radius vs bouncing around in a truck bed or one single direction if pointed rearward/forward etc. Kind of tricky because the longest horn is pretty long but well worth it if you can make it work

 

[bas157]

That pic looks like a York to me, at least when comparing to pictures of a York on Amazon and Advance Auto.

 

[Mamrak76]

Anymore info on the setup you posted? Mainly what compressor he used. Your going to love the k5 BTW when you get them hooked up. A pro tip, if you can point them at the ground there much louder and the sound travels in a 360 radius vs bouncing around in a truck bed or one single direction if pointed rearward/forward etc. Kind of tricky because the longest horn is pretty long but well worth it if you can make it work

I have another seller who has a K3LA for sale
for a cheaper price. Any suggestions on the 3
Chime vs the 5 Chime?

 

[Mamrak76]

After some research I am considering cloning a 12-voltair compressor. Doesn’t look to complicated... any thoughts?

 

[joecon]

I have a 12volt air unit and it works great but is loud. I have had it for about ten years and have had no problems.

 

[Mamrak76]

I have a 12volt air unit and it works great but is loud. I have had it for about ten years and have had no problems.

Would there be anyway you could email me some close up shots of all the sides of the unit?
[email protected]

thanks if you’re able to do it. I am hoping to duplicate it

 

[joecon]

I will see if i can dig it out and take pictures.

 

[superduty1]

After 35 years of 4 wheeling and airing up tires, in my opinion, hands down, the two BEST options for on board air are:

1. A York compressor. This is belt driven.

2. ARB dual compressor. 12v.

 

[Mamrak76]

I will see if i can dig it out and take pictures.

Would you be interested in selling yours to me?

 

[Walkers]

I have a VMAC. I can air up my tires and the rest of the clubs tires before you can get your tank pumped up

 

[bas157]

Walkers, curious what model you have. Never heard of them, but after seeing the price and CFM, I can see why I've never heard of them, definitely commercial duty applications based on the pricing and CFM

 

[JSGAuto]

I mounted a york on my GMT400 tahoe. It worked great, but the oil was kinda of a pain. On the "new" silverado gmt800, I went with a puma 12v. It worked great. Went dual battery with an isolator...but then I got tired of it being in the bed. Now I just have a small cheap 120v one mounted in the race trailer. There is shore power...or gen power anyway..... They all have their pluses and minuses. It's all how/when/how often it will be used.

 

[Mamrak76]

I have started my quest to duplicate a 12 Voltair compressor. Any suggestions?

 

[HenryAZ]

I added an onboard air system to an FJ-40 I rebuilt about 10 years ago, complete with a small tank, and a manifold in the engine compartment. Piped a line with an air hose quick connect to the frame at the front for airing up. The system was built around this frame mounted compressor:

Extremeaire Magnum.

A high ouput alternator is required, as the compressor draws 80 amps. 2.6CFM @ 100psi.

 

[Mamrak76]

I added an onboard air system to an FJ-40 I rebuilt about 10 years ago, complete with a small tank, and a manifold in the engine compartment. Piped a line with an air hose quick connect to the frame at the front for airing up. The system was built around this frame mounted compressor:

Extremeaire Magnum.

A high ouput alternator is required, as the compressor draws 80 amps. 2.6CFM @ 100psi

how has it held up over 10 years? Are you satisfied with the air recovery time?

 

[Mamrak76]

Got the pump/motor mounted

 

[Daveyclimber]

Extreme outback if you can make it fit and Oasis are probably gonna be the best there is out there for a reasonable cost. Or you could get a york compressor and make your own.

 

[The Cobbler]

Got the pump/motor mounted

curious what are you using for a motor? a starter motor won't last... it needs t be continuous duty rated . I'd like to find a constant duty motor with enough ooomff to build s 12 v compressor

 

[Mamrak76]

curious what are you using for a motor? a starter motor won't last... it needs t be continuous duty rated . I'd like to find a constant duty motor with enough ooomff to build s 12 v compressor

Right now I am trying an electric winch motor ($90) with added cooling. I am adding a fan and working out the supplemental cooling now. I don’t know the duty rating, it is supposed to be a warn winch motor... thoughts?

under no load the motor is pulling about 70 amps. Planning to do a loaded test tomorrow but before hand I am running for 20 mins unloaded as a break in period. Followed with an oil change. Will advise tomorrow the results as I will be monitoring the heat and amperage during both tests. The loaded test consists of filling my 30 gallon tank to 120.

on a separate note I did find some continuous duty rated 12v motors in the $300 range.

 

[The Cobbler]

interested in how it works out. I'd like to convert an oiless unit I have for shooting brads and stuff. don't need as big as a winch motor ( i think anyway)

 

[Earp69]

I have another seller who has a K3LA for sale
for a cheaper price. Any suggestions on the 3
Chime vs the 5 Chime?

The k3 are still loud, but not nearly as deep as the k5. Nothing beats a k5 other than my buddies kahlenberg d3 fog horns lol

 

[HenryAZ]

how has it held up over 10 years? Are you satisfied with the air recovery time?

I sold the FJ-40 after finishing the rebuild, about 8 years ago. At last report, (~5 years ago), it was holding up very well.

 

[Walkers]

Walkers, curious what model you have. Never heard of them, but after seeing the price and CFM, I can see why I've never heard of them, definitely commercial duty applications based on the pricing and CFM

I have a couple of the underhood 70 units. I bought them cheap on ebay. Both look virtually unused. The ebay prices are astronimical, but they never sell them. When things were first starting to shut down I found the sellers very amenable to a vastly lower price. I bought one complete system for a grand, and bought one missing the tank for $175.
I did discover that you can design a system around aftermarket parts for a couple hundred, but if you order parts through a VMAC dealer it is 5-6 thousand. I just bought an aftermarket idle controller that plugs into the OBD port, a pressure switch, some various switches and wiring, and an oil cooler.
I am considering adapting one to my old Scout 800, not sure if I ever will though. My truck is used in my contracting business.

 

[Mamrak76]

The winch motor was able to power the compressor unloaded for 20 mins without overheating. I did modify the motor to accept a ventilation fan at the rear. Will continue to update. At the end of the 20 min run the motor was about 120-130 degrees.

 

[Walkers]

Unfortunately you will never run it unloaded for use. Need to load it up and find the duty cycle.

 

[Mamrak76]

Ok so here are the loaded test results on a 30 gallon tank.
0-50 psi in 61 seconds = 13cfm
100-120 psi in 70 seconds = 5 cfm
0-120 psi in 4 mins 9 seconds average cfm 8.32

the amperage was around 100 amps starting out and around 145 amps at peak 120 psi.

the electric motor (fan not installed yet) after the 4 minute run was at 125 degrees.

my test wiring of 6 awg jumper cables was no where near sufficient. I think for permanent install 2 awg would fit the bill

thoughts?

 

[Earp69]

I like it, looks good and seems like good flow for a 30 gallon tank. But it just seems like a bulky setup, where do you plan on keeping it?

 

[Mamrak76]

I like it, looks good and seems like good flow for a 30 gallon tank. But it just seems like a bulky setup, where do you plan on keeping it?

That is one good part of my truck, I have a topper and I really never put anything in the bed of my truck except some tools. So it will be in the bed under my topper with my tank and auxiliary batteries.

 

[Mamrak76]

Unfortunately you will never run it unloaded for use. Need to load it up and find the duty cycle.

What do you think about my results and the duty cycle of the motor? I did find a 1hp continuous duty cycle motor that I could replace this one with if need be. It’s approximately $250

 

[Walkers]

I would load it up and run it and see what it does first. Track it with your heat gun. I would guess that 180 to 195 would be acceptable temps

 

[smackey05]

Very cool. I've been wanting to add one of these to my truck for mountain biking so I no longer need to carry around a pump with me.