ARB Twin Air Compressor and Thermal Cut off in the Desert

[Draggin]

Hey folks

Has anyone had their twin ARB compressor cut off due to heat? I was wheeling Broken Arrow in Sedona AZ when it was like 104-107. The trail was a lot of straight up/down with 4 wheel low. I have it mounted in the engine bay so it was indeed HOT in there even with the hood up. I have it right in front of the passenger with one of the mounts sold in the forum. No tank. I got one tire from 14 psi up to about 45. The next tire started and it cut out. Checked the fuses and later it worked fine.

Not sure what the best solution is save bring a backup or re-locate it. Someone mentioned a 12 volt fan, but I'm not sure that would really work.

Any thoughts or experience with this?

Thanks!

 

[GripT4R]

My first thought was maybe mount in behind the the front bumper in the fog light area, and direct air through the grill to pass over the compressors? A switched fan (maybe from a small oil cooler) would move some air through that area too.

I never liked the idea of mounting them under the hood because they generate heat, and they heat soak from the engine.

 

[Draggin]

I never liked the idea of mounting them under the hood because they generate heat, and they heat soak from the engine.

Yeah I didn't think it would be an issue as I had one in there for my Jeep but only single vs the dual monster. Now I'm scratchin my head. Inside the vehicle is too noisy, under too dirty, and in the engine bay too hot. Grr.

 

[jrandom]

I have one in the same location. I have had lesser performance when it is hot out but never had it quit. I do always leave the engine running and hood open while I using it as the fan does move “some” air through the engine bay. I do agree the engine bay is not an ideal location. Under the driver seat right in front of the floor A/C port would be ideal drawing cool air, apart from deep water flooding.

The compressor itself does have a small fan in between the two cylinders, I would check to see if that is working correctly.

 

[wcjeep]

How often do you wheel with 104deg ambient temps?

 

[GripT4R]

How often do you wheel with 104deg ambient temps?

That is AZ about 6 months out of the year...

 

[<<<<]

ARB Twin has its own cooling fan (make sure it cycles on immediately with compressor on). If all checks out and the heat is limiting factor i'd inflate tires in short bursts vs continuous to let it stay relatively cool. Air tank even small 0.5 gal will help also to run it more consistently.

 

[Bumbo]

Probably not the answer you want, but I would look into moving the pump out of the engine bay because that’s probably the main thing putting you at a disadvantage here when running in triple digit ambient temps on a regular basis.

 

[teotwaki]

When I installed my ARB single I have to open the hood to attach the air hose and to switch the compressor on. (I didn't bother with having a switch in the cab as I did in my 4th Gen)

I think having the hood open helps a bit with cooling.

Make sure the wires to the battery are as short as possible. Any unneeded voltage drop can cause additional heating of the compressor. Also check the compressor's plastic connector to the power wires. Mine had a bit of corrosion which increased the voltage drop and caused the metal to heat up and melt the plastic. I replaced the connector with Anderson PowerPoles and wrapped it in waterproof Fusion tape.

My compressor is mounted here

Modified with the PowerPole connectors

 

[JAXJeremy]

Probably not the answer you want, but I would look into moving the pump out of the engine bay because that’s probably the main thing putting you at a disadvantage here when running in triple digit ambient temps on a regular basis.

this..I wheel in the summer, although not as much as I used to and run a viair unit mounted in the back of my offroad rig. Guessing our summertime temps are close to yours albeit more humid.

Can't recall how many DBs the viair puts out, but its not intolerably loud and it doesn't really matter anyway because I'm not sitting inside my rig when I'm using it..

also, having a 2 1/2 gallon tank plumbed in line with it makes a huge difference in run time.

 

[Bumbo]

Heat can do some pretty crazy things. Before I starting buying decent equipment, I had my one and only air pump catastrophically fail in 100F evening temps which was not even installed in the engine bay. When you start operating in those types of temps, you really need to take some additional precautions.

The Viar and ARB units are great, but all that additional heat is probably going to reduce the service life of the equipment. Internal lubrication probably thinning out and isn’t protecting as well, which then has an opportunity to increase friction which generates more heat and just compounds the problem. The longer and harder you run it, the worse it gets. Keeping equipment cool should be a consideration.

 

[Draggin]

ARB Twin has its own cooling fan (make sure it cycles on immediately with compressor on). If all checks out and the heat is limiting factor i'd inflate tires in short bursts vs continuous to let it stay relatively cool. Air tank even small 0.5 gal will help also to run it more consistently.

Good idea I'll check this and give it a try next time!

 

[Draggin]

How often do you wheel with 104deg ambient temps?

I try not to at that temp, it's no fun really. however broken arrow is stupidly close to gas stations and an out of town guest really wanted to.

It's that hot about 3-4 months out of the year.

 

[mteolus]

Just did Lookout Peak trail near Las Cruces, NM. 102 degrees. But it was fun. Definitely would have been better in the winter though. Only had my 4Runner and nobody else. Would have been safer in the desert heat with another vehicle. I didn't air down but I should have. Didn't have a lot of time.

I did realize 4.88 gears would have been much better with my 285's with the steep rocky trails in the desert. I still have my stock gears.

 

[wcjeep]

I try not to at that temp, it's no fun really. however broken arrow is stupidly close to gas stations and an out of town guest really wanted to.

It's that hot about 3-4 months out of the year.

I could handle that temp at 3 - 4 days. Months is too much.