Accuair problems

[tk-mpl]

I am having problems with both my accuair e-level systems. I have the full e-level system in my 1961 Belair as well as my 1968 C10. The system in my Belair is having issues with the touch pad cutting out all the time, I think it's the cord. I tried my touch pad from the truck and it still cuts out, which that one doesn't cut out in the truck. I also tried the connector at the back of the touch pad with the same results. Now my truck seems to be operating fine, but has an excessive draw. It kills the battery within a couple days. I remove the fuse for the ECU and the battery lasts weeks. Just wondering if anyone has had similar problems with their e-level system?
Thanks
Trevor

[tk-mpl]

Nobody...?

[Ghostwhite]

I don't have E-level yet but I do have the accuair switchspeed on my toyota and because of how its wired the compressors will kick on over the course of a few days due to some minor leaks I haven't addressed yet.

Are you sure you don't have any leaks that may cause your compressors to kick on depending on how its wired? What pressure switch are you running? Have you hooked up an ammeter to see how much draw there is? Is your accuair ECU hooked to keyed power and constant +12? Have you tried swapping ECUs between the two to check if the draw is an internal problem or an install problem?

The cable and touchpad issue does seem like a bad cable, can you easily pull the cable out of the truck to test direct to the car ECU?

[tk-mpl]

Both systems are wired as per accuair's spec, which is keyed power. So the compressors would never come on when the key is off.. Both vehicles are assembled with full interior so swapping components is hard. Accuair got back to me and I will do some circuit testing and get some numbers for them. Once I'm back from work I'll check it out.

[1hihum]

I have an issue where one bag seems to air done out of the blue while driving. It says it's still in the #2/3 position according to the controller, but it's clearly not. I spoke with Travis from pro performance and he seems to think it's an air leak, but I have yet to find one. Let us know if you find the cause! I'm always interested in learning.

[68is4me]

Lets us now what you find. I am also curios as mine also goes dead after a few days. For now since it is just a work in progress, I just leave the charger on it.

[tk-mpl]

I was able to test the red circuit for amp draw. With the meter inline of the fuse there was a 449mA draw. The compressor actually kicked in for a second as well, which I don't think that should happen with the key off. So I guess we'll see what accuair is going to do about this.

[Ghostwhite]

Are you running the accuair pressure switch?

[Hart_Rod]

How old is your ECU? I had to have mine replaced because it would not save any manual programming that I would do. Anyway, in for the answer on this one.

[tk-mpl]

The whole system is accuair so yes it is an accuair pressure switch.

How do you know how old the ECU is? I purchased the system a 2 years ago, but was only on the road for last summer. Is there a build date on it?

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by tk-mpl

The whole system is accuair so yes it is an accuair pressure switch.

How do you know how old the ECU is? I purchased the system a 2 years ago, but was only on the road for last summer. Is there a build date on it?

They are numbered, but I'm not sure how the determine what the date is. I purchased mine in 2010, but didn't get mine installed until early this year.

[smbrouss70]

Now you have me worried Rob, I purchased my accuair in 2010 or 2011, and I am about to throw it on the Blazer. I hope mine works. How much was it to replace the ECU or did they just do a swap on it?

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Now you have me worried Rob, I purchased my accuair in 2010 or 2011, and I am about to throw it on the Blazer. I hope mine works. How much was it to replace the ECU or did they just do a swap on it?

They swapped mine out. I think they will take care of you if you have a problem.

[Hart_Rod]

Updates?

[tk-mpl]

They want me to send in both ECU's and the cable and touch pad from the Belair. Just waiting for a good time to have both vehicles disabled. I ended up having to replace the battery in the truck and it has actually been good. So I might just send in the Belair stuff and keep an eye on the truck for the summer.

[jsweeney57]

I had an issue with my accuair e-level system where the compressors would kick on when the key was not on. They wouldn't shut off either. Sent the ECU, touchpad, and cable back for testing. All tested good. Found a questionable ground off the ECU and seems to have fixed the issue. Now the system takes forever to calibrate again... and the touchpad heats up real bad while trying to calibrate. That's where I left off yesterday haha.

[drfloyd]

Wow, sure glad I opted to not bag my truck after reading all of this from these 2 posts. Looks like they have some serious issues that maybe delayed because folks are just getting around to installing systems they bought several years ago. Good luck guys.

[68is4me]

Originally Posted by drfloyd

Wow, sure glad I opted to not bag my truck after reading all of this from these 2 posts. Looks like they have some serious issues that maybe delayed because folks are just getting around to installing systems they bought several years ago. Good luck guys.

The Accuair system I have works great. I wouldn't go any other way. Accuair has a lot more good reviews than bad.

I also had the problem with battery draw and compressors that come on with the key off. When I called Accuair they said it will always have a draw and if it sits for over a week recommend installing a battery tender. As for the compressor coming on with key off he also said that if the battery was low when the key is turn off sometime the ecu will still have the compressor demand still active and might indeed start the comp with the key off. I just keep the battery charged and have had no issues since.

[Willie Makeit]

Originally Posted by drfloyd

Wow, sure glad I opted to not bag my truck after reading all of this from these 2 posts. Looks like they have some serious issues that maybe delayed because folks are just getting around to installing systems they bought several years ago. Good luck guys.

if you made the determination to not use bags based solely on these two threads then you are 100% correct, bags are not for you.

[72MARIO]

I have also experienced the battery drain problem. Now I just keep the battery tender on the suburban. It's been at least 2 years now of driving and I have had zero issues. I took my time a routed everything neatly. Also my controller is mounted not sliding around on the seat. I thought that the cable would eventually fail if left on the seat.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 68is4me

The Accuair system I have works great. I wouldn't go any other way. Accuair has a lot more good reviews than bad.

I also had the problem with battery draw and compressors that come on with the key off. When I called Accuair they said it will always have a draw and if it sits for over a week recommend installing a battery tender. As for the compressor coming on with key off he also said that if the battery was low when the key is turn off sometime the ecu will still have the compressor demand still active and might indeed start the comp with the key off. I just keep the battery charged and have had no issues since.

Originally Posted by 72MARIO

I have also experienced the battery drain problem. Now I just keep the battery tender on the suburban. It's been at least 2 years now of driving and I have had zero issues. I took my time a routed everything neatly. Also my controller is mounted not sliding around on the seat. I thought that the cable would eventually fail if left on the seat.

This is concerning. Always have a current draw? My dually w/the factory GM TBI ECU + stereo equipment + manual air-ride set-up could sit for a month & will pop off when the key is turned on.

I would like to switch to an automated system on my current build (couldn't afford it while building the dually & don't have the desire to pull it apart just for the automation). But, I don't want to deal w/unnecessary electrical issues because of it.

Why is there always a draw?

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

This is concerning. Always have a current draw? My dually w/the factory GM TBI ECU + stereo equipment + manual air-ride set-up could sit for a month & will pop off when the key is turned on.

I would like to switch to an automated system on my current build (couldn't afford it while building the dually & don't have the desire to pull it apart just for the automation). But, I don't want to deal w/unnecessary electrical issues because of it.

Why is there always a draw?

I was told that if you have the remote control key fob option (air up/down, with key off), that there is a 40 milliamp draw.

[AccuAir_Reno]

There are some great questions and great comments in this thread (BigMike and his Chia Pet example is my favorite).

- The e-Level system currently pulls 0.038 amps when the ignition is OFF (assuming the orange wire is actually wired properly to ignition). This current is required because we chose to leave the processor on all the time in order for the key-fob remotes to always work. This may evolve to shutting off after 24-48 hours in the future to get the current down to 0.002 amps or less.

- 0.038 amps is not enough to kill a good battery over any reasonable amount of time (months). But, when you have air compressor(s) that pull 26 amps a piece, keeping a good battery is hard to do. You can think of running your dual compressors like cranking your starter. Once you run your compressor(s) for a while without the engine running (not a great idea) your battery is going to be depleted. Alternators don't always top-off the battery charge especially at idle.

- When parking your truck for an extended period (even a week) the best thing for your batteries is to plug into a battery tender (40 bucks at any auto parts store). This will top-off your batteries from the compressor abuse and help them last as long as possible.

- In the early 2000s gel cell batteries were awesome. You could beat them up (draw them down to 9 volts or less), then charge them back to normal and they would hold it. This is no longer the case with the gel cells we have used. These days we use conventional lead acid batteries that have a good warranty and seem to get the best results.

A few of you have hit the nail on the head about air suspension in general. If you buy crappy product, then you are going to get crappy results. If you buy a great product and install it like crap you will still get crappy results. Me and my guys go to the end of the earth to help people through their installation mistakes. Unfortunately, the common attitude when people are having a problem is "your product is broken". Its best to keep in mind that we 100% test 100% of the product that we ship out the door (a rare investment in this industry). Its also good to remember that we have over 30,000 e-Level systems on the road at this point (thanks to many of you guys). No product is perfect and sxxt happens, but spend the time to do a good install, be patient if you are having a problem, and then enjoy the benefits.

Cheers

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by AccuAir_Reno

There are some great questions and great comments in this thread (BigMike and his Chia Pet example is my favorite).

- The e-Level system currently pulls 0.038 amps when the ignition is OFF (assuming the orange wire is actually wired properly to ignition). This current is required because we chose to leave the processor on all the time in order for the key-fob remotes to always work. This may evolve to shutting off after 24-48 hours in the future to get the current down to 0.002 amps or less.

- 0.038 amps is not enough to kill a good battery over any reasonable amount of time (months). But, when you have air compressor(s) that pull 26 amps a piece, keeping a good battery is hard to do. You can think of running your dual compressors like cranking your starter. Once you run your compressor(s) for a while without the engine running (not a great idea) your battery is going to be depleted. Alternators don't always top-off the battery charge especially at idle.

- When parking your truck for an extended period (even a week) the best thing for your batteries is to plug into a battery tender (40 bucks at any auto parts store). This will top-off your batteries from the compressor abuse and help them last as long as possible.

- In the early 2000s gel cell batteries were awesome. You could beat them up (draw them down to 9 volts or less), then charge them back to normal and they would hold it. This is no longer the case with the gel cells we have used. These days we use conventional lead acid batteries that have a good warranty and seem to get the best results.

A few of you have hit the nail on the head about air suspension in general. If you buy crappy product, then you are going to get crappy results. If you buy a great product and install it like crap you will still get crappy results. Me and my guys go to the end of the earth to help people through their installation mistakes. Unfortunately, the common attitude when people are having a problem is "your product is broken". Its best to keep in mind that we 100% test 100% of the product that we ship out the door (a rare investment in this industry). Its also good to remember that we have over 30,000 e-Level systems on the road at this point (thanks to many of you guys). No product is perfect and sxxt happens, but spend the time to do a good install, be patient if you are having a problem, and then enjoy the benefits.

Cheers

Is the key fob remote deal a must or can the set-up work w/o it? I have no need for such a feature.... especially one that results in a draw on my electrical system.

[smbrouss70]

Reno, I am about to install my E-level setup on my Blazer. Could I just run the power wire to a "Key-On" source, so that I don't have to remember to flip a toggle switch?