Had to go out to 3 of our trucks last night with frozen bloody brakes.Usually starts about middle of January but started early this year oh happy days!
Makes me laugh all the money that is pumped into emission reduction systems by truck manufacturers and they cant even put something as simple as a manual drain valve on a truck wet tank or even an alcohol injector to pull the moisture out of the air.The desicant driers they fit are ok in summer but as soon as the temperature drops below -5 they are about as much good as a chocolate tea pot.
Cant even warm the valves as they are cheap plastic webco crap units.
Can only wind off the brakes and drive the bloody thing back to a warmish garage and hope your VOSA boys are all tucked up in bed.
hutpik:
Hi Bking.Thats why we chock the wheels and leave it in gear with the brakes off overnight.
Yes or pull the red line and let the trailer hold the outfit but they can send a probe to bloody Mars you would think they could design an air system that works in ■■■■■■ pointing weather wouldnt you?
hutpik:
Hi Bking.Thats why we chock the wheels and leave it in gear with the brakes off overnight.
Yes or pull the red line and let the trailer hold the outfit but they can send a probe to bloody Mars you would think they could design an air system that works in ■■■■■■ pointing weather wouldnt you?
I blame the government, they want to probe uranus next
The Alcohol injector bottles worked fine, why change them.
hutpik:
Hi Bking.Thats why we chock the wheels and leave it in gear with the brakes off overnight.
Yes or pull the red line and let the trailer hold the outfit but they can send a probe to bloody Mars you would think they could design an air system that works in ■■■■■■ pointing weather wouldnt you?
I blame the government, they want to probe uranus next
The Alcohol injector bottles worked fine, why change them.
Maybe thats why Cameron is so set on gay marriage so he can send a probe up uranus to see if theres somthin up there he aint bloody taxed yet!
Couple of years ago on the A14 at Spittals came across a brand new MAN brakes locked on and a hell of a knocking noise coming from the compressor, driver had stopped in traffic and fault developed. He had spoke to his fitter and he said it was probably water frozen we put cones etc out behind and driver covered the grill at the front to stopped cold air being sucked in by fan so it warmed up 10 minutes later knocking stopped and air built up we stopped the traffic for a couple of minutes so he had a clear run to the layby just ahead and waited for his fitter. He was gone a couple of hours later any ideas if it was the compressor?
Back in about 1990 I got called out to an artic on the M4 with no air and spring brakes on. The hard shoulder was about 6 inches deep in slush and im laid on my back under the trailer trying to thore out brake pipes and looking for blocked lines. Totally futile I know, especially when I discovered that the owners had already lit a fire under the thing earlier in the day and melted / holed / pitted most of the bloody pipes on the unit and trailer!
Bking:
Makes me laugh all the money that is pumped into emission reduction systems by truck manufacturers and they cant even put something as simple as a manual drain valve on a truck wet tank
I don’t think I ever came across more than a handful of drivers who did drain tanks when they did.
Guinness Man:
Couple of years ago on the A14 at Spittals came across a brand new MAN brakes locked on and a hell of a knocking noise coming from the compressor, driver had stopped in traffic and fault developed. He had spoke to his fitter and he said it was probably water frozen we put cones etc out behind and driver covered the grill at the front to stopped cold air being sucked in by fan so it warmed up 10 minutes later knocking stopped and air built up we stopped the traffic for a couple of minutes so he had a clear run to the layby just ahead and waited for his fitter. He was gone a couple of hours later any ideas if it was the compressor?
The compressor draws air in through the engine air filter via an induction manifold tapping.If the air drier dump valve freezes up the compressor just keeps pumping way above its rated load and knocks like hell.Sometimes they shear of the drive because most trucks now dont have a govenor valve or emergency blow off its all controlled by the drier unit.Some compressors dont have a signal line and constantly pump air and when they reach 10 or 11 bar the drier diverts the air and the compressor runs"light" and just pumps to atmosphere.Your MAN driver might have been lucky and the ice plug in the drier broke up or the circuit protection valve elements freed off and allowed air into the tanks.
Bking:
Makes me laugh all the money that is pumped into emission reduction systems by truck manufacturers and they cant even put something as simple as a manual drain valve on a truck wet tank
I don’t think I ever came across more than a handful of drivers who did drain tanks when they did.
Would be easy enough to install an electronic solenoid valve that dumps moisture each time the engine starts or even a switch in the cab that could be operated by the driver.
when we got our latest horsebox (03 eurocargo) i went looking for the tank drains, took me a while to twig there wasn’t one. i consider that a huge step back from the old (1986-ish) cargo and even older (80-81 or thereabouts) ford d that went before it. and i don’t see why they cant just put manual drains on like they always used to…
when i got my first proper class one job, the boss showed my new lorry. he was showing me how this and that worked etc, but i think he wanted to see if i’d just get in it and start it without checking anything.
so to make the right impression i checked the oil, water, lights etc, then i drained the air tanks a little. what you doing he asked? getting rid of any water and other crap out of the tanks i said. he then said there’s no need it has an air drier.
i must have made a good impression because he ended up going round all the lorries doing the same thing.
it’s habit now.
no one every seems to check the trailer tanks nowadays.
it literally takes a few seconds, but can save hours and ££££.
