P38A EAS Manual Control Box

Made this to make EAS garage activities easier. Connects direct to Driver Pack & Compressor, with croc-clips to connect to battery. Doesn't need ignition on, or ECU working.

• Big button switches power to compressor, plus there's a relay inside linked to the pressure switch to shut off the compressor when the tank is full.
• Four buttons for corners, plus Inlet & Exhaust.
• 12V air-solenoid to use in place of EAS Pump, enables running system from garage compressor.

Already used it for checking valve block & driver pack on the bench, plus I can now easily raise & lower my project P38 as required while working on it.

White cable is battery power in. Thick black cable is pump & driver pack power. Thin black cable for driver pack trigger signals.


Found the correct female EAS multi-pin connector on eBay complete with new sockets, etc.



12V air solenoid in place of pump.

You and @martyuk would do well to swap notes I think.

Marty has a double compressor setup on his and an airline in the boot. Very handy.

Thought about 2nd compressor, or higher rated one, but that's for another day.

This box was originally about bench testing, but recently while working on my Autobiography. project it became a pain having to keep connecting Nanocom, and turning on ignition. Now I can just keep it connected to the EAS while I'm working on it, and just connect power when I need Up or Down on the car.

It even self levels nicely by pushing 2 or 4 corner buttons and leaving the Inlet & Exhaust off !!

I think he only went double because they were lying around. He mentioned another brand but cannot remember the name. I am very bad with names.

probably these http://www.viaircorp.com

Yes, I have been toying with the idea of putting a Viair compressor in - but at the cost of about £150 for a suitable replacement - it is well down the 'to spent money on' list.

I put in a second P38 air compressor in tandem with the stock RR one in the EAS box. It's wired off it's own permanent live from battery (in my case the aux battery in the loadspace, so I can run it from Nanocom with engine off and not drain the main battery) thru a 30A fuse, and a relay which is triggered by the power wire from the stock compressor (wired on the vehicle connector side, so stock compressor can be unplugged to run just the second one from aux battery if needed).

The second compressor ground I crimped a ring terminal to and added it to the ground stud in the left wing (just in front of the EAS box). The ground for the second compressor relay goes through the thermal switch of the compressor - so if it does trip, then it shuts the relay off until it's cooled down.

On the air side, I've just added a 'T' into the blue air line in the EAS box, and then the second compressor feeds into this through a NRV (handy if you need to remove it for any reason - you can still run the standard one without leaking air out the T piece).

Mounting - I made up a piece of steel plate, which bolts to the M6 studs in the left wing (for the ABS pump on a LHD) and this then has M5 threaded rod standoffs on it to mount the actual compressor to.

Charges up the tank a bit quicker, and as Grrrrrr mentions, I've got an air line 'T'd off the tank line, and this ends up in the loadspace for inflating tyres etc. On inflating an empty tyre, once the tank air is used up the dual compressors will hold about 50PSI constant. And the best bit is that when they inevitably wear out the seals - they are cheap to replace, given the number of EAS rebuild kits there are out there!

I have some pictures of the dual compressor setup somewhere if anyone is interested...

And Pete... love the tester/manual operation unit... I've been planning on making myself a full bench test rig, with compressor, small tank, pressure guages and controls, but haven't gotten around to it yet... it's also a fair way down the 'to do' list, as I don't do much in the way of EAS refurb work... door latches and window switchpacks seem to keep me busy enough as it is!

Marty

In case anyone needs them, here's where I got the connectors:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/3-Way-Comp...012775011&_sid=59531901&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Will be bookmarking that, as it's cheaper than where I usually get econoseal connectors from!!

In case anyone is interested, below is the circuit for the manual EAS box.

• 12V & Ground are connected to battery using large crocodile clips (Pins 10+11 and 12+13)
• Corner & Inlet & Exhaust valve operation simply uses small pushbuttons to apply 12V to the Driver Pack inputs. (Pins 1-6)
• Pin 7 feeds 12V to one side of pressure switch
  
• Pump Relay gets 12V via pressure switch. Other side of relay is 0V, so relay is normally de-energised.
• Pump is connected to the NC side of relay, so starts with "pump switch". When full tank pressure is reached, the pressure switch energises the really, which cuts off the pump.
• The switched side of the relay also feeds Diaphragm valve via Pin-8, so this is active when the pump is running.

Only downside of this approach, is that if the Inlet or Exhaust valves are operated while the pump is running, the air goes the wrong way through valve block !! Cable lengths are long enough for me to use the box inside the car while driving if required !!

Also works using a 12V solenoid valve instead of the pump, for valve block testing or pumping car up & down without the engine running.

Ok if you are repairing EAS full time i suppose or you like playing. Bit of overkill for the average Joe. Get a Nanocom.

got a Nanocom but the menus are not ideal for quick manual up/down. I built this for quick manual adjustments when working on job that require both above & below the engine.

Was very useful when doing radiator recently, because I could drop the front so short-arse me could reach everything . . . .then front up high again to access the thermostat & rusted radiator bottom bolts. No messing with jacks & stands.

pwood999 said:

got a Nanocom but the menus are not ideal for quick manual up/down. I built this for quick manual adjustments when working on job that require both above & below the engine.

Was very useful when doing radiator recently, because I could drop the front so short-arse me could reach everything . . . .then front up high again to access the thermostat & rusted radiator bottom bolts. No messing with jacks & stands.

Click to expand...

Vehicles with air suspension are not good to go under unsupported. Jacks or stands for support in an unforeseen situation are a must. If you had seen jacks drop with no stand in place trapping people as i have, you would not even think of not using them.

agreed . . . . I raised the car to max using front EAS only, and then lowered chassis onto axle stands, hence nice & safe & solid, plus easier access to bastard rusted & seized radiator bolts. Much quicker than getting trolley jack out.