where is the leveling compressor

[John Hennessey]

After reading another thread I realized that our coach gets out of level and I never hear a compressor run to re-level it.  We have a 2003 Marquis.  Can anyone tell me where to look for it?

[Gerald Farris]

John,
I am not sure were Monaco located the electric compressor for the leveling system on the 2003 Marquis, however the compressor on my 2000 is located on the inside of the right frame rail in front of the front axle. On later model coaches Monaco moved the compressor to a location above the rear suspension, but I am not sure what year it was moved.

The biggest problem with the electric compressors for the leveling system is that the factory used a compressor that was not sealed. Therefore water and dirt that splashes up from the road will cause very early failure of the brushes and armature in the motor. So if your motor is bad replace it only with a sealed motor, and never use the original equipment replacement.

I used a Viair 380 when I replaced my compressor. A word of caution though, if you use a high volume compressor like the larger Viair units, power the compressor with a relay and only use the factory compressor power wire to trigger the relay. The larger Viair compressors draw 20 amps, and that is above the wiring capability of your original unit.

Gerald  

[Robert Mathis]

The compressor on my Contessa is inside the frame rails, just behind the front step. If it is running a lot, you probably have an air leak, or leaks. The fittings used are prone to failure, and the plastic tubing gets hard and doesn't seal very well. The fittings on mine are a "push in to release" type fitting where when you insert the tubing, it is supposed to seal automatically. I had to relace several fitting and some tubing to get everything to seal again. Most. but not all, of my leaks were between the compressor and the check valve on the tank. We did find some leaks in the leveling system itself, above the rear axle. If you notice the system re-leveling often, you probably have some leakage downstream of the control-valves, if not, the leaks are probably before the tank.  Another problem area can be moisture in the system. On mine, there is no dryer, and the tank has to be drained manually.

[Jerry Carr]

I have the same problem on our 06 Pat. the location of the pump is just ahead of the rear wheels between the frame rails (pass. side) you will find one electrical connection and one air connection. The pump is held in place with 4 bolts and will come out with no problems 5 min. job.

I did remove my pump this week and found that it was packed with dirt. I cleaned it out but had no luck getting it to run again.


I called Beaver coach sales in Bend and they want over $1000. to replace it under warranty (with the same HWH motor) They would however
enclose the unit in a box to prevent the road dirt from getting to the motor for a cost I would guess the cost of the box to add $100/$200.


I did check on the viair 380 pump with amazon it's $190. the pump from HWH is smaller and runs $600. The Viair unit needs 18 amps for start up
the original HWH unit has 15 amps of fuse, so Gerald is correct you would need a 20 amp circuit and a relay to run the Viair pump.


On the original HWH pump it has all kinds of stuff that would need to transfer to the Viair pump I am not sure about all the stuff but I
know one part of it is a water separator plus all the electrical control hook ups.

One point the Ken (Beaver Coach Sales)  made with me is that if you make the change you will void any warranty you may have with HWH

I am still thinking about doing the change, to be honest with you I am not that mechanical and don't fully understand the relay hook ups.

Roy Muller suggested that I run a new wire 12 gage from the battery with an in line 20 amp fuse then use a relay like the one he installed on my headlights.

I would like to change it out but I think it may be a little more then I want to tackle.

  

[Gerald Farris]

 Jerry,
Since the HWH system only came with a 12 month warranty, I do not see that any Beaver coach (none have been produced in 3 years) should be concerned about preserving that warranty.

The conversion from the HWH (probably a Thomas) compressor to a Viair compressor is a simple job. Mount the new compressor on the mounting plate (will probably need to drill new holes). Run the flexible high pressure output hose from the new compressor to the water separator (one new brass fitting may be needed, but probably not). Then run a 10 gauge wire from an adequate non-ignition switched source that has a 30 amp inline fuse to a relay (minimum 30 amp, but preferably a 40 amp relay) 12V terminal. Run the 12V out wire as the power wire to the compressor. Run the original compressor power wire to the relay trigger terminal. Run two ground wires to the relay and the job is done. It took me thirty minutes to complete the installation.

The reason that I chose 10 gauge wire and a 30 amp fuse instead of 12 gauge wire and a 20 amp fuse like Jerry suggested, is because the Viair compressor is operating so close to the limits for the 20 amp circuit that nuisance fuse failures are quite possible.

The Viair 380 compressor has a 100% duty cycle at 100 PSI, has a sealed motor to prevent water and dirt intrusion, produces twice as much air as the factory compressor (levels quicker), and cost 1/5 the amount of the original compressor. I can not see any up-side in using the original equipment compressor. To me this is the only reasonable way to repair a problematic installation.

Gerald  

[Jeremy Parrett]

Gerald,
  my electric levelling compressor has not run since I bought the coach !!!  
Can you supply me with the correct part number for the Viair unit please.
      Thanks,   Jeremy

[Gerald Farris]

Jeremy,
Before you replace the air leveling compressor, you should be certain that it is defective. The Viair compressor that I used is a 380C model that has a maximum working pressure of 200 PSI with a 100% duty cycle at 100 PSI.

There are several other models that you may prefer as a replacement however since the system never reaches the 200 PSI working pressure that the 380C is rated for. In fact the higher volume 450C model my be a better choice because the system never exceeds the 150 PSI that it is rated at. The 450C is also rated at 100% duty cycle at 100 PSI. However the 450C is larger so go to the Viair web site at    http://www.viaircorp.com/OnRoad/cmodel_compressors.html      an check the dimensions of the larger unit before you purchase it.

The full line of Viair compressors is available on Amazon.

Gerald

[Jeremy Parrett]

Thanks Gerald.  Will do.

[Jeff Watt]

Old thread, however I thought I’d offer an update.

My compressor needed replacement as it was basically dead. The compressor was located on a tray, with angled sides, mounted on the driver side just ahead of the front axle - very near the electrical compartment. With the genset out it wasn’t too bad for access, however because the unit was attached by corroded Phillips head bolts, removal was a bit longer than the 1/2 hour Gerald managed.

No room to put anything like a screwdriver so I had to improvise with a Phillips end held by vice grips. Eventually three bolts were removed. Used a template for the 4 screw holes for the new Viair 450C (room for it and just ~ $200) because of the angled sides on the mounting plate, a bit tricky to get the bolts in and tightened, but did prevail.

I used a 40amp Viair relay ($5), 10g wire with a 40amp fuse and because it was near the electrical bay, pretty easy to find power and ground. Also, the unit has a remote air intake attachment so I ran the line up to the front cap and mounted the remote air intake above the headlight assembly - should be reasonably dry spot.

The compressor works well, takes maybe 30 seconds to refill, although I have to do some sleuthing as it runs about every 1.5 hours. I’m thinking, based on the lean that resulted before replacing compressor, there is a small leak on driver side front - either line to the bags or the bags themselves but that seems unlikely.

Jeff