Hello folks,
Could someone please point me in the direction of the decent suppliers of the O-ring and Pump Seal kits? I know that there are numerous kits out there of dubious quality (fallen fowl of that in the past) but can't remember who the supplier of my last kits was that were actually fit for purpose.
Cheers for any help,
Smiler.
I got my most recent set from Mercia Air Ltd, trading as Original LandyAir, and that seemed to work fine, although that was for a compressor rebuild. The valve block O ring set they supply seem to be the orange ones which some have had problems with. X8R (ebay user x8rltd) do the black ones.
I bought mine from Original LandyAir as well. I have had my p38 now for 17 years now and I rebuilt my valve block 6 or 7 years ago and it has been OK since. Also several spare blocks I have got. They were originally trading as Symlise on Ebay. I have used their compressor seals as well.
I would not go to anyone else, as I know they work.
Also I have got a bench tester for valve blocks if anyone is near my neck of the woods (mid way between Chester and Northwich).
It consists of a section of wiring harness and a manual control box for operating the solenoids. I stick a pressure gauge in each port. It is easy to see if a valve is leaking.
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.
I might be looking to get a spare set-up sometime in the future for a little project I have in mind.
Ingenious, Dave
That's like Marty's door latch test kit. Homemade and massively impressive :)
It started off when I bought the Rovair switch box from a seller in the states over 10 years ago.
It came as kit of parts that you build yourself. Some soldering is required from memory. It is just switches in a box with an EAS connector on one edge. The idea is that you unplug the ECU under the seat and plug in the box. It needs a jumper on the EAS relay as well.
It has proven to be a very useful piece of kit. It allows manual control of individual air bags and valve block. I carry it in my emergency kit box.
I took it a stage further. I bought a section of harness that goes from the ECU to the valve block so I can now use it on the bench to test valveblocks off the car. I fit a pressure gauge into each port and it is really easy to check if any solenoids are leaking. It is an absolute pain trying to sort out a problem with the valveblock on the car, especially if it is one of the solenoids underneath.
I have also connected a p38 air tank and compressor connector to it (switched via an old starter motor solenoid), so I can test air compressors easily.
It was actually made in Australia and I contacted the guy last year and he said he had not made any for over 10 years. No demand he said.
It would be a nice project for someone else to take over. I have a list of parts and a circuit diagram somewhere. It used radio shack parts which are the same as used to be sold at Maplin before they went bust. Only difficult part is sourcing the edge connector and getting the case molded and then printed.
I have got a 3d printer that could be used to print the case but if a suitable project box could be found that would only leave the EAS edge connector to source.
Off on a slight tangent but a mate of mine has spent the last 3 years completely restoring one of the very last Long Wheelbase Classics. Prior to that it had been standing for 12 years but just before being parked up, it was converted to coil springs. He's now got hold of a set of air springs so he's decided to restore it back to original. I suggested he checked to see how much of the bits were still there and order up a rebuild kit for the compressor and valve block. On the Classic the valve block and compressor live in a box bolted to the offside chassis rail so he crawled underneath it today. Everything appears to still be there and it looks like all that has been removed is the air springs and a fuse or relay or both have been pulled to stop it from powering up. After phoning me to ask how to disconnect the pipes he set about getting the valve block out and on the bench. Upon disconnecting the pipe to the reservoir, he was gobsmacked to find it still had pressure in it. After 15 years!!!!
Upon disconnecting the pipe to the reservoir, he was gobsmacked to find it still had pressure in it. After 15 years!!!!
Result!
Well that should mean there will be no corrosion on the inside then 👍
He came over on Saturday to demonstrate his handiwork on the valve block and show me the remains of the innards of the compressor. The Classic valve block and compressor are very slightly different to those on the P38 as it lives in a box under the car. So where we have the outlet silencer screwed into the valve block, he has another hole for an 8mm pipe with O rings and collet so the outlet is mounted remotely. Compressor draws it's air in at the top through another port opposite the outlet, in fact, a P38 one could be modified as the casting has the bit where the hole would be, it just isn't drilled and tapped.
We bench tested the valve block and driver pack and it's all working fine, seems to be holding pressure and opening each valve when triggered (as best we could tell with cobbled together Schrader valves, lengths of pipe and a electric tyre pump) but the same can't be said of the compressor. It appears to have been full of water so it completely destroyed inside so he's got another on it's way and a seal kit to rebuild it. Then we checked the electrical side and found that one of the 4 fuses was missing. Put that in, hung my spare compressor on the cables and that fired into life too. The plan now is that once he has the compressor ready, he's going to refit everything to the car. I'm going to make up the cable so we can run the free EASUnlock software and we can then control it from that. Assuming we get air coming out of the right pipes when we trigger the solenoids, we'll remove the coil springs and fit the air springs in their place and hope it all works.......