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Old 02-26-2016, 02:37 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
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Anybody know what this air valve does?

I'm in the process of cleaning up the wiring and disconnecting the all the excess school safety stuff. I came across the valve in the picture and can
t figure out what it is for. The two airlines in the pic run from the door switch on the drivers control panel, the black one goes to the release valve and then from there to the door. The silver one goes to this mystery valve and then runs to the door. Even though the valve (or solenoid) is disconnected the door still works! Any ideas?



The wiring in this bus is a real mess. This is what it looked like before I started:



I removed a bunch of wiring so far (a lot of it went nowhere!), and amazingly the bus still starts! This is where its at right now:


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Old 02-26-2016, 03:05 PM   #2
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It's not a valve, those are pressure sensors. Would be to sense if there is or isn't air presant. Switch would either turn on or off at some predetermined pressure. Brake lights and air pressure buzzers use that kind of switch.
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Old 02-26-2016, 04:12 PM   #3
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Ok, that makes sense. Now all I need to do is figure out where it was connected to!

Thanks!
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Old 02-26-2016, 07:46 PM   #4
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Air powered stop sign. Not all of them are electric powered.
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Old 02-26-2016, 09:28 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal View Post
Air powered stop sign. Not all of them are electric powered.
The connection for the air powered stop signs and the "buttwhacker' are towards the bottom of the panel on the right side.
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Old 02-27-2016, 08:32 AM   #6
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The yellow rectangular unit in the bottom right of the picture is the 8-way light controller.

I wonder if the switches in the air line might be part of that system.

When the master controller switch is turned on the stop paddle and red crossover lights are required to operate whenever the door is opened and to turn off when the door is closed. When the door is opened and the red lights come on the amber lights are supposed to turn off.

I think one switch turns off the ambers when the door opens and the other turns on the reds at the same time. And when no pressure is sensed when the door closes it turns the reds off.

The only other purpose I can think of to have a pressure switch in the door control circuit would be to turn on and off the step well light.

Those are the only purposes I can think of for a pressure switch in the door control circuit.
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Old 02-27-2016, 08:46 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach View Post
The yellow rectangular unit in the bottom right of the picture is the 8-way light controller.

I wonder if the switches in the air line might be part of that system.

When the master controller switch is turned on the stop paddle and red crossover lights are required to operate whenever the door is opened and to turn off when the door is closed. When the door is opened and the red lights come on the amber lights are supposed to turn off.

I think one switch turns off the ambers when the door opens and the other turns on the reds at the same time. And when no pressure is sensed when the door closes it turns the reds off.

The only other purpose I can think of to have a pressure switch in the door control circuit would be to turn on and off the step well light.

Those are the only purposes I can think of for a pressure switch in the door control circuit.

I think you might be exactly right. I think in looking at the pics that one of the terminals was wired back into that 8 way flasher box. Thanks!

There was such a tangle of wires in that box it was unreal, all kinds of extra speaker wire spliced from one circuit to another, resistors wired in line on one of them. There was some kind of safety system that would buzz until the driver went to the back of the bus and pushed a button. I removed all that wiring along with the module and harness, now all I need to do is tidy up all the stop sign related air lines and clean up the loose wiring!
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Old 02-27-2016, 11:58 AM   #8
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Whatever the air line is, its not from the factory!
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Old 02-27-2016, 12:56 PM   #9
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I removed all of those in my bus, basically the same setup. It is to automatically turn off / on the red / yellow flashers I believe. That whole yellow box on the bottom and all associated wiring can be removed and it'll clean that compartment up some.
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Old 02-27-2016, 05:30 PM   #10
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maybe some sort of way to lock the door after you exit the bus? wonder if there is some button to push from outside that puts air to the door to lock it when the bus is off and your wandering?
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Old 02-27-2016, 05:49 PM   #11
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There's no valve there. It's a T-fitting with two sending units.
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Old 02-27-2016, 05:50 PM   #12
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Piersg, that was one SERIOUS rat's nest in that compartment.
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Old 02-27-2016, 09:19 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptSquid View Post
Piersg, that was one SERIOUS rat's nest in that compartment.
It really is! Slowly but surely I'm trying to get it under control. Luckily most of the rats nest is what needs to be removed. The original bus wiring is intact and in good factory shape, its just the add on school stuff that is crap!
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Old 02-27-2016, 09:25 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches View Post
I removed all of those in my bus, basically the same setup. It is to automatically turn off / on the red / yellow flashers I believe. That whole yellow box on the bottom and all associated wiring can be removed and it'll clean that compartment up some.
Thanks for confirming that. I followed your conversion pretty closely as we have almost identical buses (I've got a 3116 Cat in mine), and you really did a nice job! One question I have is how hard was it to put the original interior roof panels back up? I'm debating doing that or replacing them with some sort of paneling alternative...
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