ac compressor killing battery

[Threeesixxx]

I bought an already bagged, smogged, and registered 93 s-10 a while back forless than the cost of a new setup. The truck needed tlc and the welds were popcorn but they looked like they were good enough to work for a while.

Anyway the truck has been nothing but a headache.( You get what you pay for I guess). Well it started with the fuel pump going out. After replacing that the truck just started dying out. I rewired lots of old and frayed wires and was still finding my battery dead. So dead in fact that it ruined a yellowtop that I had. So I took the alternator to the auto parts store and they told me that it was good but not charging the way it should. I got the mechanic at work to look at it and he told me it was trash. I looked at a thread on this forum and upgraded to an ad244. (Thank you s-10 forum.) Well that seemed to do the trick.

It worked until yesterday. I try to leave for work and no start again. I have come to the conclusion that it is the transformed ac compressor that is trying to kick on cause the tank is low. Yesterday when I got in from work a neighbor wanted to see it lift and lower and I did it a few times. I ususally only lift to drive and drop once I'm there.

Am I on the right track? Bags are new to me but hydraulics I do know so I get the concept. Do I need a cutoff somewhere?

Thanks in advance for the help

[Hoosier Rick]

sounds like you need to wire the compressor so it is only on with key.

[layedouton20s]

So your compressors have power with the key off?

[Patawick]

Just like stated above, you either need to wire it so it only has power when the key is on, or add a kill switch to your current setup.

[Alan D Moore]

So you have a transformed ac compressor to fill your air tank for your bags? That sounds interesting. Pics maybe?

If your air compressor is cutting on while the vehicle is turned off that will drain a battery which may also mean you have a decent air leak too. The yellow tops are AGM type batteries so if they get below 10.5 volts they can easily be damaged and need a special charger. I have a simple relay wired to an ignition wire to prevent my compressor from turning on when the vehicle isn't on.

If you had a few frayed wires you may want to check for a parasitic drain which is time consuming but easy to do. If you don't own a “nice” multimeter you can use a 1 ohm 10 watt resistor and wire it in series with the negative side of your battery. 1 ohms makes the math easy the volts going through the resistor = the amps drawn. (ohms law) Anything above 50 ma is a possible parasitic drain. After you hook the resistor in series just pull fuses until the amps go down to find your possible parasitic draw. keep in mind that the 10 watts limits this resistor to 3 amps anything higher could possibly destroy it so don't turn anything on. I recommend the resistor idea because it is accurate and it's better to destroy a cheap resistor than a multimeter.

[rstadelmaier]

^^^^exactly what everyone else said. if a dome light left on could kill a battery overnight, i'm sure the clutch kicking itself on will too.

[JDrummond Service Inc.]

Yeah, this happens when I forget to turn the toggle off. The edc kills the batter pretty fast if the clutch is activated. I looked but I can't find out what kind of draw the clutch has. Put a toggle switch in between your pressure switch and edc and turn it off when it's not in use.

[bikerdc17]

hey i dont mean to thread jack but does anyone have more info on the ac compressor to air compressor setup. i want to know if anyone has don e it with the delphi compressor and what they used. ive heard of using an air tool oiler but that works with pressure. i need something that works with vaccum because the a/c compressor needs to oil from the intake(vaccum) side.

once agian sorry for the tread jack but it sounds like you have this set up and im interested.

[Lutz]

as far as i know certain yorks and sandens are the only ones that can be used due to the way in which theyre oiled.. look up edc or engine driven compressor

[Threeesixxx]

Well it looks like I need a kill switch on the compressor. I could wire it to the ignition but with all of the electrical problems so far its betyer to be sure that its cutoff.

thanks everyone for the input.

[clarkandrew45]

Quote: Originally Posted by Threeesixxx

I bought an already bagged, smogged, and registered 93 s-10 a while back forless than the cost of a new setup. The truck needed tlc and the welds were popcorn but they looked like they were good enough to work for a while.

Anyway the truck has been nothing but a headache.( You get what you pay for I guess). Well it started with the fuel pump going out. After replacing that the truck just started dying out. I rewired lots of old and frayed wires and was still finding my battery dead. So dead in fact that it ruined a yellowtop that I had. So I took the alternator to the auto parts store and they told me that it was good but not charging the way it should. I got the mechanic at work to look at it and he told me it was trash. I looked at a thread on this forum and upgraded to an ad244. (Thank you s-10 forum.) Well that seemed to do the trick.

It worked until yesterday. I try to leave for work and no start again. I have come to the conclusion that it is the transformed a/c compressor that is trying to kick on cause the tank is low. Yesterday when I got in from work a neighbor wanted to see it lift and lower and I did it a few times. I ususally only lift to drive and drop once I'm there.

Am I on the right track? Bags are new to me but hydraulics I do know so I get the concept. Do I need a cutoff somewhere?

Thanks in advance for the help

Apologize for the disturbance but i had been in the same thing several weeks ago and just a heads up and a share to everyone. i was on the high way and suddenly the movement became very slugsih and that was such annoying scenario in my whole driving. i contacted my Auto mechanic but found out that the compressor is that main culprit with the said issue.

[baggedout81]

You could run a pressure switch an a on/off toggle.I have my york ran this way.This way if i dont want it running i just hit the toggle.I'm also running the adjustable pressure switch (kinda like the older nason ones) an its "modded" to adjust to 325psi or higher

[Threeesixxx]

so I wired a kill switch and I haven't had any problems since. thanks again for the help. next is reding the rear setup.