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View Full Version : Fixed install of an ARB Twin compressor to a 5 seater



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20th July 2020, 11:18 AM
I have a five seater SE 2019 SD6. I bought an ARB Portable Twin Compressor with an air tank at a 4WD show earlier in the year. It was at a good price and I could not resist... On a recent trip I decided I would rather have it permanently installed in the car to save space in the boot and to move the weight further forward. As I have the SD6 there is no room under the bonnet to mount it and I figured it would run much cooler in the back anyway. I spoke to ARB and they said it would be fine to mount in in a body cavity.

I decided to go the easy route and place it under the false floor of the boot. This proved to be extremely simple to do. All I had to do was unbolt it from the case and then cut a small opening in the foam liner under the false floor and feed the cable and the air hose after protecting them. The whole thing took about 30 minutes to do. I had already cut the power cable and put in two 175 Amp Anderson plugs so I could connect it to my auxiliary battery or my starter battery but still plug the alligator clips on to the end of the cable if I needed to blow up someone else's tyres. I had also attached a short length of 6B&S cable with a 175 Amp Anderson plug and 80 Amp fuse to the starter battery so I could plug in the 175 Amp Anderson plug on the compressor cable and run it directly from the starter battery with the engine running - it pulls around 65 Amps at full pressure. The end of this cable sits near the jack for easy access. I had also bought a 90 degree adapter for the hose at EnZed.

So, in sequence, to add the pump:



Undo the eight screws holding the compressor and air tank into the case.
Remove the false floor in the boot.
Place the compressor in the foam insert in the space under the false floor.
Unplug the power cable from the compressor and encase the power cable in corrugated tubing.
Plug in a length of air hose.
Encase the female end of the air hose in corrugated tubing for about 500 mm.
Cut a small hole - about 50 mm x 35 mm in the foam where you want to pass the hose and cable through.
Pass the compressor end of the power cable through the hole.
Put some foam lagging over the air hose near the end of the corrugated tubing and a second piece loose on the air hose for Step 12.
Pass the female end of the air hose from the compartment into the space under the starter battery and run it up to the jack area.
Slide the lagging over the corrugated tubing and into the hole to hold it in place and pad the hose and cable.
Coil the excess hose up and keep it together with some 25 mm double sided Velcro.
Unplug the air hose and run another section of lagging over the male end of the air hose up to the coil. Plug it back in to the compressor.
Position the two pieces of lagging - the one in Step 7 and Step 11 above - along the air hose to the coil in Step 9 above.
Place the coil in the pocket in the foam and arrange the two lengths of lagging so they pad the hose where it is going to enter and exit the pocket.
Plug the power cable back in to the compressor.
Switch the compressor on.
Put the false floor back in.


Now all you have to do is remove the jack cover and plug in your air hose and inflator then plug in the 175 Anderson plugs. The compressor will fire up and fill the air tank in the time you take to uncoil the hose and unscrew the first valve cap.

Once the lockdown is lifted - whenever that might be - I will go to EnZed and get them to shorten the air hose so I do not need the coil.

Some photos:

Overall:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200720_110207.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/06d350b5-70d8-4647-ab5d-e78d03d70fb7)

The compressor in place:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200720_110211.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/78c6d5c5-ffa4-4d71-9664-d86435929e03)

The air hose and power cable passing through the foam liner:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200720_110220.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/73159936-c885-4456-8899-1887a82ab5a8)

The extra hose tucked in to the pouch in the foam:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200720_110236.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/0480000f-3f43-4413-809e-ac5dbce7f300)

The hose end and the 175 Amp Anderson plug, ready to attach, in the jack storage compartment:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200720_110513.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/323d0203-9456-4a7e-83ad-a53c6723b8ba)

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

PS The compressor is much quieter now, especially if the boot is full!

Numb Thumbs
20th July 2020, 03:22 PM
I have now attached the compressor and air tank to a 12 mm ply base which will stop it being able to move. Now I just need to wait until I can get the air hose shortened...

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200720_154458.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/f3790eaf-bd79-4920-ab7b-faaed9018c58)

I had to rebate the feet on the air tank into the ply by about 3 mm to keep it low enough to not interfere with the false floor.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

IndusD4
20th July 2020, 07:35 PM
What air hose did you use? I'd recommend using a section of braided metal hose near the compressor as the orange air hose that came with my ARB compressor split at the connector near the compressor. The connector gets very hot when using the compressor and the hose gave up at the 8th tyre.

Ron

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20th July 2020, 07:45 PM
The air actually travels through the air tank which might help cool it down some, but then it has to do a 90 degree bend as well. I am using a rubber air hose I had lying around. When I can finally get to EnZed I think I will have a chat with them about what to use and buy accordingly. A good quality braided hose makes sense. I have two orange ARB hoses to connect at the jack for running to car and camper tyres, plus anyone else's I can reach.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

OldGuy
20th July 2020, 08:11 PM
In a previous vehicle I hard mounted my arb twin, I found I did not need the tank even to re-seat a tyre bead. (Not a LR one.)

Had a switch on the dash and ran the hose connection out to the rear, worked great. Now looking at how to transfer it th the D4

Regards
Geoff

Numb Thumbs
20th July 2020, 08:26 PM
It came with the tank, which is aluminium and weighs very little, so I figure I might as well use it.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

Numb Thumbs
20th July 2020, 08:28 PM
I might try to work out the wiring and have a switch on the dash. Then I can leave it connected to power.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

OldGuy
20th July 2020, 08:38 PM
I might try to work out the wiring and have a switch on the dash. Then I can leave it connected to power.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

Yes it is one of those nice to have things, just hit the switch when you get out of the car and with the inbuilt pressure switch it is just done..

Numb Thumbs
21st July 2020, 02:57 PM
Finally got the switch at the dash wired. Had to run five wires from the boot to the dash. The fun part was getting the original switch out of the compressor assembly. I tried a different switch but no go.

All now working. I leave the 175 Amp Anderson plugs unplugged until I will be needing the compressor. I don't want the blue LED on all the time.

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

Numb Thumbs
23rd July 2020, 09:17 AM
I got EnZed to make up a 1400mm heavy duty, rubber air hose for me. Ordered yesterday and arrived at 0800 today. Not bad for the times of Covid!

I encased it in corrugated tubing, shrink wrap and foam lagging to protect it. It has tidied up the install and given me back a 4 metre air hose extension.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200723_100738.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/4b7482e2-2ad8-4497-942a-282da462d0cc)

The air hose and 175 Amp Anderson plugs are easily accessed from the jack storage.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20200723_094958.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/f711ae24-bece-44f6-a901-80e3a31a0bcb)

Now, hopefully I will be able to try it out - if this lockdown ever ends...

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)

Numb Thumbs
27th May 2021, 09:29 AM
I have been doing some playing around with the original setup.

I have moved the switchgear:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20210328_150300.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/ad93f0d3-fa18-443a-8954-4ba476b5e84b)

From the left, the switch for the compressor, a master power switch for the compressor - applies power to a 100 Amp Solid State Relay and powers up the ARB Pressure Controller - the Redarc Tow Pro Elite and the switch for the ballast resistors to tell the ca=r I am towing something it cannot find itself.

I have increased the high pressure air storage - more than doubled the original 4 litres - by adding another pressure tank I had in the garage.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20210527_095855.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/2cd7fe13-08ad-47df-9e2e-3511d8b66f83)

This now gives me around 10 litres or more of air at 150 psi when I start to pump the tyres back up. It also gives me a pressure relief valve, which the ARB tank does not have.

I also moved the air hose to the passenger side for easier access. The bag in the photo is an ARB hose bag which holds 3 x 6 metre hoses, a one metre extension hose with a T piece on the end, an ARB digital inflator, a digital deflator and all the fittings I need.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/hh78/drj153/20210527_103128.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/drj153/a/3c73c6e9-cc96-4243-bac4-f960510868cd/p/05b0cc83-382a-47bd-bb44-476fc1aa6cb1)

Cheers
Numb Thumbs ;)