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Old 06-03-2009, 04:57 PM   #1
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Help - Air powered door...

Well my wife had our first baby, has healed up & was able to go with me to pick up our Thomas Transit Liner from the mechanic yesterday after they had it for over a month! WOOHOO!

When we picked it up from having maintanance & service done we noticed the main door opens but will not close. The owner of the shop said it is probably a bad solenoid that is causing the problem. The door is air actuated & has a joy stick on the dash to operate it. Does anyone have experience fixing these doors? I am not familiar with the sytem at all and am wondering where to start to troubleshoot it... Where would the solenoid be located? Any help is greatly appreciated!
Jonathan

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Old 06-03-2009, 10:24 PM   #2
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

Hey thanks Smitty, she is wonderful! I guess for the time being I can just bungie it shut like I did for the ride home...

How does one learn how to do repairs like this on Thomas busses? I guess they are either factory trained or maybe just from trial & error experience
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Old 06-04-2009, 11:09 AM   #3
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

to problem solve why your door isn't working, you need to follow the air lines from the cylinders that operate the door (probably from above the door) and follow the air lines back to see where they go.

try disconnecting a line or two from the air cylinder at the door. when you turn the controller to close the door, air should come out of one of the lines. when you turn the controller to open the door, air should come out the other line. If air is coming out of the line when you tell the door to close, you just need to follow the air line back, and re-do the same test at every component the air line is connected to ie: flow control valve, pressure regulator etc.

you could start from the opposite end. dissconect the air lines coming out of the door controller, then make sure air is coming out of the appropriate ports when you turn to door to open/close. You could hook the lines up backwards to see if the will open when you tell it to close and vise versa.

all of these things should help with problem solving. you may find you have a bad controller....or perhaps air is coming out of the controller, but another component is plugged....or somehow a pressure regulator is not turned up to enough pressure.

the other option is to make sure air is able to escape from the cylinders as well. when one side of a cylinder is pressurized, air has to be able to escape out the other port. this is probably handled by your fance door controller.
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Old 06-04-2009, 11:25 AM   #4
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

Hey thank you lapeer20m!

This is great info & I will follow your advice and see what the issue is!

Jonathan
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Old 06-05-2009, 12:35 PM   #5
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

when you say it will not close, will it not close at all (no movement) or just kind of close but still pretty floppy?
Could be as easy as flicking a switch, there is 2 settings for safety reasons i guess to these doors. there is a ball valve somewhere above your front window, it might be inside a cubert, turn that valve and see if it makes any difference. One setting will let you open and close the door with pressure so it closes it properly all the way for driving down the road, the other one will kind a slowly open and close no force applied so nobody gets hurt when stuck in the door, it also allows you to exit the door and then lock manualy from the outside.
You can see the green handle just to the right on the bulkhead opening in this picture.


hope this helps
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Old 06-05-2009, 04:38 PM   #6
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

Quote:
Originally Posted by swinada
when you say it will not close, will it not close at all (no movement) or just kind of close but still pretty floppy?
Could be as easy as flicking a switch, there is 2 settings for safety reasons i guess to these doors. there is a ball valve somewhere above your front window, it might be inside a cubert, turn that valve and see if it makes any difference. One setting will let you open and close the door with pressure so it closes it properly all the way for driving down the road, the other one will kind a slowly open and close no force applied so nobody gets hurt when stuck in the door, it also allows you to exit the door and then lock manualy from the outside.
You can see the green handle just to the right on the bulkhead opening in this picture.


hope this helps
swinada! you the man... I wondered what that lever did...
I am closer to the door working. What was happening is the door would open fine but when moving the joystick to close & just didn't move. When I move the ball valve lever to the right the door opens & closes but the problem then is, in the closed position there is an air leak somewhere behind the panel that the ball valve is mounted to... Might just be the ball valve? Now at least I have an idea what to look at & will take off the panel to check it out - once I get a break from changing diapers, talkin baby talk, being the human baby swing - yada, yada, yada!

Thanks again, Jonathan
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Old 06-11-2009, 09:48 AM   #7
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

Quote:
Originally Posted by case
Quote:
Originally Posted by ezbme
Now at least I have an idea what to look at & will take off the panel to check it out - once I get a break from changing diapers, talkin baby talk, being the human baby swing - yada, yada, yada!
Ain't bein' a Dad grand
It'sa ton o' work but I wouldn't trade her for my bus!!!
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Old 06-11-2009, 09:00 PM   #8
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

It could be a loose tube connection or a small leak in one of the lines. Most of those air valves use push fittings for the tubes, so repairing a bad connection could be as simple as reseating the tube...
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Old 06-11-2009, 10:13 PM   #9
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

Quote:
Originally Posted by GoneCamping
It could be a loose tube connection or a small leak in one of the lines. Most of those air valves use push fittings for the tubes, so repairing a bad connection could be as simple as reseating the tube...
I need to check the connections at the valve as that is def where the leak is. The pressure fittings are usually brass & beveled, correct? You think that if I just try to reseat the connection it may fix it?
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Old 06-13-2009, 08:37 PM   #10
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

Just use some caution. If you press the brass ring (edge that surrounds the tube) inwards and gently pull the tube it should slide out, maybe reseating will help, perhaps trimming the end slightly could help too. I've also seen some of these push fittings that have held tubes for so long not let go and wind up with a mangled tube from forcing it.

If you have an entire manifold and ONE SINGLE line gets messed up, you could wind up replacing the entire manifold...
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...Your living room has a steering wheel!
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Old 06-18-2009, 08:17 AM   #11
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Re: Help - Air powered door...

I may be having a change of heart about keeping the air door as I would like a simpler way of getting in and out of the bus...
Looking in the galleries I saw a bus that had the 2 doors connected & opening on a single hinge (Watson 1)... here is a link: http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Skooli ... 2.jpg.html

Anyone have any input, likes - dislikes about this setup? I would like to keep the original doors on the bus & think this could be a relitively easy conversion...
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