Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 12, 2025 ...

Routine airbrake maintenance

April 11, 2011, 07:30:38 pm

I was talking with a long-time truck driver the other day and he said we should do the following:

+ Drain the entire air system daily.

+ Always drain the air tank at the left rear of our coach completely after every day's use.

I have been periodically letting some air out of the rear tank, but nothing on the scale of his first two points.

What is correct?

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Re: Routine airbrake maintenance

Reply #1 – April 11, 2011, 08:06:21 pm

With the air dryer fit on your coach, draining the tanks (actually, just cracking the petcock open to see if anything other than dry air comes out) is really just a "report card" on the condition of the air dryer.

Draining completely is a silly waste of time and air.  Again, all you are looking for is any contamination.

Brett

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Re: Routine airbrake maintenance

Reply #2 – April 11, 2011, 08:13:18 pm

Thank you, Brett.  His procedures really sounded like overkill to me, but after 18 months of ownership and driving I still have much to learn.  That's why I wanted to check it out here to get the real 411.

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Re: Routine airbrake maintenance

Reply #3 – April 11, 2011, 08:16:28 pm

The purpose of opening the drain valve is to remove any condensation and oil from the system.  Once the tank has stopped venting water and/or oil you can close the valve.  If you completely drain all air from the tank you will just put more water and oil into the tank the next time you start the engine.  If you see any increase in the amount of condensate and there is an air dryer in the system it will tell you the following: 1. Air dryer needs servicing; 2. Excessive oil blow-by from the compressor.  It's a good indicator, in part, of how the air system is performing.

Keith

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Re: Routine airbrake maintenance

Reply #4 – April 12, 2011, 09:15:13 am

Keith,

Actually, if you see ANY water or oil from a drain (not just any increase), the air dryer needs servicing/replacing.

Brett

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Re: Routine airbrake maintenance

Reply #5 – April 15, 2011, 03:47:07 pm

Hi Brett,

True, but some systems use the first tank or "wet" tank to collect condensate if there is no dryer.  I should have made my reply more specific to the Foretravel system which has a desiccant dryer.

Keith

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