[BoomBoom4216]

Hi guys,

As per subject heading looking to either convert a oem air con pump or other with more capacity to use as an air pump, rather than have to buy and install a air pump under the passenger seat or in the engine bay.

Can get the required brackets and belts to fit but need further direction.

Thoughts or comments from someone that's achieved this install?

Andrew

[got_bar_work]

You need a york compressor normal ones dont last long because they use the gas as a lubricant. Only way to do it is set up a inline oiler on the input and a separator on out put and keep recycling the oil. Its messy and you will will still be pumping oil into everything

[Gwagensteve]

got_bar_work wrote:

Only way to do it is set up a inline oiler on the input and a separator on out put and keep recycling the oil. Its messy and you will will still be pumping oil into everything

I'm not sure if this is something I'm allowed to talk about, but, from my experience, this is a total waste of time. The volume of oil required to make these vane compressors work is ridiculous. It's just the wrong application.

Axial Piston (Sanden) ex Jeep or York piston (Volvo, Mercedes, valiant,) are the go.

York are awesome. deliver around 9cfm and work for years without attention or modification. Heavy though.

[30ONA]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I'm not sure if this is something I'm allowed to talk about.

Yup, I just checked, not on the list.

[jdk81]

I have a suitable sanden out if an old sigma sitting in my shed.

It is quite large/heavy, plus the airtank and a buttload of fittings, it adds a lot of weight, I have to package it around p/steer and then where do I mount the airtank?

An ARB compressor doesnt look so expensive, and it is much smaller/lighter.

In reality, in that 1-2 instances where huge airflow may be needed, you can overly inflate a tyre and use it as pressure vessel (just need the right fittings).
I've done this a few times as im running some hunk of junk compressor.

[sideways]

Yorks are also a big, awkward size.

Sandens are everywhere but need to be modded. Some people fit oilers but it's common to mod them to take grease. That's what an endless air is.

Personally I think Yorks are the better solution with their real oil sump but a Sanden is going to be a million times easier to fit to a Suzuki and they're easier to find in Australia. You can also get sandens with more flow capacity than the biggest york.

I've been looking into this for my Landcruiser as I'm probably never going to fix the aircon and there's no where really practical to mount a decent 12v compressor.

[Gwagensteve]

I'd broadly agree with JDK - sure it's cool to have eleventy CFM, but really, it's quite a lot of $$ and work. I use an ARB twin piston compressor which was easy to mount, can readily transferred to another vehicle, and is plenty fast enough even for my 35 13.5's.

I have set up endless air on a G13BB and it was a LOT of work.

[henno]

Damn it. I think you just slapped my fluffy dreams with the cold fish of reality, Steve.

I was contemplating an endless air type setup on the new build but lots of work sounds like a drag.

[Gwagensteve]

If there's an off the shelf bracket kit I think it's 1/2 way feasible, but trying to run power steer and a sanden on Gregc's build (G13BB) was a nightmare that's still not really perfect. Belt alignment was a hassle, and to clear the exhaust the sanden had to be set low. this pushed the power steer high up at manifold level, which means it's hard to keep a head of fluid up to it

*slap*

Steve.

[Blkfxx]

Don't suppose you have any pics of Greg's setup handy, Steve?
Looked in his build thread but no engine bay pics.

[rustyzook]

Refrigeration mechanic here, AC compressors are not made to be used as an air compressor. You will run the bearings hot, you need to keep oil upto them, refrigeration oil will turn into acid with moisture and eat the bearings, sure you can change it, but it needs to be a thin oil which will be taken with the air and you need to then set up an oiling system, all for a compressor that will have a short life of abuse.

For the money you would spend, put a 12v air compressor in and be done with it. Don't stuff around with something that's not designed to do what you're asking of it.

[Toomanycars]

I once saw a VW engine that had 2 cylinders to run the engine and the other 2 cylinders were a compressor ...Probably a bit of overkill but worth considering...Best option is just to buy a compressor...