Air dump valve location?

McDuff · 05-25-2010, 09:49 AM

I just got my coach back from some repair work, and I noticed a notation on the paperwork saying that the air dump valve did not close and they had to manually close it to get the air bags to fill. Would have been nice if they had told me about it earlier...

So, where would this valve be located on my UA 40E? And, what is involved in manually closing it? I'm in a wheelchair so can't go hunting. We leave in a week for Key West and I might need this info to tell wife or fellow camper if this happens to us on the road.

I would go back to the shop, but there is no way I trust them to have my coach back in a week, plus we have to load it anyway.

Oh yeah, it's an HWH auto system on a Spartan chassis.

Thanks.

AFChap · 05-26-2010, 01:51 PM

McDuff ...I don't know the answer and don't see anyone else chiming in. I'll ask on a couple of other sites and see if we come up with anything...

McDuff · 05-26-2010, 03:24 PM

Thanks AFChap, I was hoping you might be my "answer man", as I'm sure the locations could be different on different floorplans and chassis year.

Norm4015 · 05-26-2010, 04:26 PM

Call Spartan with your VIN number and they can tell you where the valve is located.

McDuff · 05-26-2010, 05:06 PM

Good idea Norm, I will try that tomorrow. Thanks.

C Zimm · 05-27-2010, 12:01 PM

Spartan can sure help you out on that. One thing that seems to be "not" widely known is that (at least on my HWH system) the air bags will not inflate unless I push the jacks "STORE" button. At one time I dumped the bags in order to reach during cleaning. It took many phone calls to techs before I ran across a clue on this forum. Is it possible that your shop dumped the air and then failed to push the jack store button?
I don't know if all HWH systems work in this manner but it's worth checking if you haven't.
Good luck on the fix.

AFChap · 05-27-2010, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Is it possible that your shop dumped the air and then failed to push the jack store button?

Excellent question!! I had forgotten that "feature". Since we do have a separate "dump" button on our UA's, that is very possible. I think I would call the shop and see if I can talk to the tech involved to see if you can determine if that is what happened. I have seen lots of view and no replies at all on the other forums.

EngineerMike · 05-27-2010, 12:26 PM

Yeah, I'd say the write-up is not great. The actual valve part of the air dump is a solenoid operated air valve, i.e. an electromagnetic coil receives 12V to energize the electromagnet that pulls (or pushes) the plunger that operates the valve; removing the 12V allows a spring to push (or pull) the valve shut.

So "manually" closing the valve is a lousy description of what had to be done. Could be valve stuck open & tech whacked it w/a hammer. Could be 12V didn't send or stop sending and the tech manually did something w/the voltage. In any case, the tech may also be able to tell you where the valve is in addition to more fully explaining what he "manually" did.

In my experience the solenoid valve will be located near the ride height adjusters.

Gary CA · 05-29-2010, 12:11 PM

McDuff: The air tanks may have a relief valve with a cable attached. The mechanic may have pulled on this cable to release the air, the cable could have bound-up causing the mechanic to crawl under the coach to close the valve on the tank.

Hopefully it is an easy fix for you.

C Zimm · 05-29-2010, 12:37 PM

Gary CA
I think you you just nailed it. That happens on occasion.

McDuff · 05-29-2010, 05:01 PM

Thanks for all the good ideas. Hopefully it will not happen to me on the road.

It is a good possibility that the tech(who never returned my call) did one of the scenarios above.

I have not had any troubles previously, so I will head on out worrying about other things.

Three weeks on the road, never have done this, so our heads have been spinning trying to plan out packing/meds/paying bills, you name it.

p.s. never did call Spartan, failure on my part.