How often should the compressor be running?

Hi Everyone,

How often should the EAS compressor be running on my P38? I was sitting in traffic the other day, and noticed that it kept cutting in.
The cycle is:
~5 seconds on
~20 seconds off
~5 seconds on
...

This feels like too much to me, but as a newbie, I'm not sure!

Since replacing the valve block and compressor last month, time taken to get up to ride height from access is great (about 5 secs), but I have this feeling that I have a leak somewhere now . The car does tend to "settle" overnight - not all the way down to access, but it always rises a bit when I start it.

Thanks for any advice...

Davy

I'll time mine tomorrow and let you know.........

Sounds similar to what mine was like.

I think it is something to do with when the system checks the pressure on the line. I can't remember exactly but the design means that the pressure drops when it is checked so the compressor runs - as I recall you can add a small accumuator tank near to the compressor to stop this happening, but I can't remember the details, check Google!

Matt

Running intermittently is not a problem, if it runs for 15-20 minutes solid, you're heading for a hard fault. If it settles you might have a leak, but it's likely a bumpy parking spot. Park it in "offroad" height and hit the inhibit switch. If it doesn't drop, its most likely just the uneven surface you're parked on.

The pressure switch is basically T'd off of the tank line. It's a simple on/off switch. When the system raises, the small line from the tank to the block causes a significant pressure drop, even if only a little air is used the pressure switch will trip, and start the compressor. It will only run a short time following normal self leveling. A new compressor will fill the air tank from empty in about 6 minutes, a rebuilt compressor will take about 8 a dying compressor will take over 15 minutes.