Life on air: Don't forget to drain it

One of the most popular questions I hear about air suspension is, “What type of maintenance is involved?”  Well for the most part there is not really any maintenance to keep your system running.  However one of the most important things you can do to keep your air suspension working properly is to drain your tank on a regular basis.

Why would you want to drain air out of your tank you ask?  Simple, air is not the only thing being stored in your tank.  When you have an air compressor heating air that is then being stored in a tank, the air cools off.  Once the air cools off, you then have condensation which means now you have water in your tank.  Just in case you haven’t guessed, water in your system is a bad thing. Even worse if you have a steel tank because water laying in the bottom it will start rusting the tank, turning the water into an orange sludge.  Over time this sludge will find it’s way into your valves and bags which could cause major issues.

What can happen when you don’t drain your tank on a regular basis.

That is not orange Kool-Aid boys and girls.

This mess could all be avoided with a simple drain cock on the bottom of your tank.  Try draining your tank once a month, unless you run your compressors a lot or you live in a humid climate then you may want to drain your system a little more frequently.  Just be careful when you drain your system, especially if you have a custom trunk or interior, because the water will spray out of the tank with quite a bit of pressure.