 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Air Diff Lockers & Sub-zero winter |
 
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015   
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 The pipe contains..... Air which shouldn't freeze- if there is anything else in there you have bigger problems.
Glyn   |
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16th Oct 2013 11:32pm |
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| ibexman Member Since: 13 Dec 2008 Location: Essex Posts: 2945 
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17th Oct 2013 5:01am |
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| LR90XS2011 Member Since: 05 Apr 2011 Location: bickenhill Posts: 3645 
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Steve if you don't have a water seperator on the compressor you could indeed get condensation and hence water in the pipes to the diffs, this can freeze rendering your diffs useless. I maintain 200+ rail vehicles and we have a lot of problems with air systems freezing even with fancy air driers and separators. The first question is have you ever seen water in any of the pipework if not I would not worry too much. If you have you could just release some air from the end of the pipe run (at the diffs) to clear any water out prior to the cold weather . An old fashioned fix was to add a small amount of Methylated spirits into the air systems as it acts as an antifreeze, another would be to add another propriatory antifreeze. I suspect lagging would not help as the pipes would still freeze if water was in there it just wont happen quite so quickly as the temperature drops. DEFENDER 90 TDCI XS,
I hope everyone is well and your land rovers make you happy |
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17th Oct 2013 5:35am |
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| smb Member Since: 15 Jan 2013 Location: Cheshire Posts: 1232 
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Thank you LR90XS2011 for a sensible and KNOWLEDGABLE answer. Some people never paid attention in Chemistry!!!
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17th Oct 2013 6:13am |
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| willy eckerslike Member Since: 15 Jun 2009 Location: North yorks Posts: 1789 
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I've run air difflock in severe weather and deep snow with no issues, my compressor was under the drivers seat. Original Member Pie n Pea Club.
110 HCPU Tipper |
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17th Oct 2013 7:03am |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17450 
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I've never had any problems with the airlockers on my 86" in severe weather, despite it often being cold enough for ice to form on the floor of the cab. I do not have a moisture trap or water seperator on the compressor, although if I was to use it regularly and heavily in arctic conditions I would fit a blowdown valve on the bottom of the reservoir to blow off any condensate at intervals.
You are more likely to end up with water in the reservoir than the pipes, especially bearing in mind the relatively small volumes of air that the airlockers use, and there is of course (or should be) no net flow from reservoir to diff - you are simply pressurising the pipe to engage the locker and releasing the pressure to disengage. You are more likely to have icing issues if you run a tyre inflator or similar tool with a sigificant flow from the reservoir (but even this shouldn't affect the airlockers). Remember that the condensate which freezes forms when the (warm moist) air under pressure in the tank expands, giving up energy. In the airlocker application any such expansion is very brief due to the lack of net flow - there is no outlet to atmosphere at the diff end. In the unlikely even that any moisture did form, it will be in the vicinity of the control valve (which is generally right next to a warm compressor) not in the exposed pipework, and will blow out when you unlock the diff. |
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17th Oct 2013 8:06am |
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015
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You are talking about a small compressor with short lines in a controlled environment running low pressures which is on a very short amount of time.
Trucks, trains etc have huge compressors with multiple long lines at high pressure, are open to the elements and are running constantly. But, with the highlight of this thread I am now concerned, should I go out and sell my missus' Discovery 2 before the bad weather comes in? I don't want the suspension to freeze up
You asked a question- I gave an answer (be it in a sarcastic way) but it was the straight forward honest answer. I did well in Physics and Chemistry which resulted in me working in Engineering which has seen me repairing equipment with large compressors and air systems all over the world including Norway and Canada during the winter seasons. Sometimes it helps to keep things in perspective. Glyn |
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17th Oct 2013 8:16am |
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| SteveS Member Since: 05 Oct 2010 Location: Devon & Berkshire Posts: 388  
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Ran my ARB lockers at -40C with no problems - it is not something to worry about. I'd be more worried about plastic pipes fracturing at those temperatures. At the end of the day if you lose the lockers you will still get home
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18th Oct 2013 7:49pm |
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