ARB twin compressor not cutting it?

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Dparo said:
Bumping this...has anyone had their dual compressor have one of the motors intermittently drop in and out?

I'm using all of the supplied materials and the Slee second battery kit so the battery and compressor are right next to each other.
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I had one of the motors go out when a stud sheared off on the arm that rotates the motor. Called ARB and they sent me to new motors to change the original out. I am assuming they had issue with the original batch (first gen?) and this was how they rectified the issue. I no longer have that particular compressor but a buddy does and still running strong. I have since bought and used two others and no issues at all.
 
In the spirit of this thread curious of any ARB Dual compressor alternatives - I know they're popular but finding the price tag a bit hard to swallow. Looking for something to mount underhood the same way
 
The Napa air compressors put out almost twice as much as an ARB dual and cost about 1/4 the price. The quality control is variable, but with some modding it works pretty good.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_MTWM10215C

The Moreflate TenSix is almost the same, but with some improvements

MORRFlate TenSix™ Portable 12v Off Road Air Compressor - Gen2 • MORRFlate - https://morrflate.com/shop/air-sources/portable-compressors/morrflate-tensix-12v-compressor/

With either of these you need to run quad inflators to really take advantage of the airflow.
 
ducktapeguy said:
The Napa air compressors put out almost twice as much as an ARB dual and cost about 1/4 the price. The quality control is variable, but with some modding it works pretty good.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_MTWM10215C

The Moreflate TenSix is almost the same, but with some improvements

MORRFlate TenSix™ Portable 12v Off Road Air Compressor - Gen2 • MORRFlate - https://morrflate.com/shop/air-sources/portable-compressors/morrflate-tensix-12v-compressor/

With either of these you need to run quad inflators to really take advantage of the airflow.
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I couldn’t find any info on duty cycle on the Napa unit, granted if it’s fast enough it doesn’t matter. But that’s what set the price point for some Viair’s years ago when I looked into them.
Those compressors look like a great bang for the buck, but might be hard to mount under hood or if room is tight.
 
Quite a bit pricier than the above options but cheaper than the ARB, I have had an ExtremeAire compressor under the hood since 2007. I've only had to change the foam prefilter on it a couple times.
100% duty cycle
4CFM at 0psi
1.5CFM at 100psi

ExtremeAire High Output 12 Volt Compressor | Extreme Outback

www.extremeoutback.com www.extremeoutback.com

I've since rewired it to tidy it up with wx resistant plugs. I have a 125psi cutoff switch mounted in the manifold. The brass colored extension is the one-way flow control. Solenoid and 100A breaker mounted on firewall.
Compressor-refresh.JPG

I mounted a 2.5gal hotdog tank behind the rear axle.
AirTank (1).JPG
 
FWIW that looks to be the same compressor as the slightly lower priced Puma PD1006 that is also rated at 3/4HP. With a notable upgrade to the compressor's side plate. The Puma part is a simple sheet steel stamping where the ExtremeAir's looks to be aluminum plate of some thickness. Only reason for this to matter is because of the pipe thread mounting of the intake filter. The additional thread depth there is very welcome, but for the price difference I can make the plate or weld a bung onto the sheet metal plate.
 
Dparo said:
Bumping this...has anyone had their dual compressor have one of the motors intermittently drop in and out?

I'm using all of the supplied materials and the Slee second battery kit so the battery and compressor are right next to each other.
Click to expand...
I experienced the same thing, and for me, it was because of two main things:
1. My dual compressor was connected to my secondary battery
2. The connection between my primary and secondary battery was just the IBS relay.

Explanation:
1. My secondary battery was never getting the full voltage or amperage that my primary battery was getting due to both the length of wire from my primary to my secondary battery and then again the length of wire from my secondary battery to my compressor. This resulted eventually in my secondary battery dying due to sulfation and eventually a dead cell because it never reached a full 100% charge from driving even on long trips.
2. Because my secondary battery was already getting a lesser voltage and amperage current from the alternator, it did not receive enough power to keep the dual compressor running without short cycles off until voltage would jump again, and continuing to starve one of the motors on and off until I turned it off fully.

The Fix:
1. I have since wired my twin compressor to my main starter battery, and this resolved all issues with my twin compressor starving for power and my alternator can crank out enough power at idle, and the factory wire loom that comes from ARB is enough to supply that power and keep it running with 100% duty cycle.
2. Slightly unrelated, but to properly maintain a secondary battery, you need something like a red arc DC/DC charger that will increase the voltage and make sure that the secondary battery is getting a full charge while driving.

Notes:
1. I did have the voltage mod done so that my alternator would crank out 14.8 V to charge my starter battery at least successfully, but my secondary battery was not getting that sort of voltage in my previous setup.
2. My batteries were a group 31 AGM Odyssey Extreme starter battery and a Interstate group 35 AGM battery as my secondary battery.
 
Had the same thing happen on my twin a while back. One motor cutting in and out, other one running fine. Drove me nuts for a while.

Turned out to be a corroded connector on the individual motor lead — the ARB twin has separate power runs to each motor, and the included wiring isn't exactly marine grade. Wiggle test while it's running is your first move. If it drops out when you flex the wire, that's your culprit.

Second thing to check is the ground. I've seen a loose or corroded ground cause exactly that symptom — motor 1 runs, motor 2 gets flaky. Separate ground point for each motor is ideal; sharing a common ground through a marginal connection will cause issues under load.

Also worth pulling the relay and checking the socket for pitting. ARB uses a standard automotive relay but the socket contacts can oxidize and give you intermittent behavior. Swap the relay, or at minimum clean the pins with some electrical contact cleaner and a terminal pick.

If all that checks out and you've got solid wiring, sometimes the thermal switch on the flaky motor is going. They can start to trip prematurely before the real thermal cutout point. ARB sells them as a service part — not expensive.
 
Be careful with separate grounds. Carried to not much of an extreme you can end up with the motors operating at slightly different voltages due to different ground path resistances. A motor will run fine on a PWM circuit, but they don't like running on below rated voltage. Too much resistance in the ground path for one motor will cause it to suffer.

I killed a second battery in a past vehicle because of this. Both batteries were grounded to the engine block, but not at the same bolt. One on the DS and the other on the PS. There was enough resistance between the two grounding points that it had a large self-discharging problem. Now when I ground multiple parallel batteries they are grounded to the same bolt. I think ARB did it correctly in grounding to one bolt. If that bolt is not good enough then add a grounding wire or move to a different bolt.
 
thecapedcapper said:
After making the post I saw those around a bit, I wonder if they'd hold up ok. They're available on aliexpress as well for a little less. Working on other stuff for my truck but might give it a go one day.
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I'm 95% of the way there to pulling the trigger. $1000 for the new brushless option from ARB with the only modest increase in CFM at 30 psi, has me feeling like it's worth a gamble, considering I only need this like 4 days a year.
 
I have a red arc duel battery set up. Both the winch and duel arb compressor are mounted to the red arc over ride that links both batteries via a blue sea 500 amp manual switch. Only way to energize either the winch or compressor is via the manual switch in the engine bay. Otherwise, starter battery gets fully charged before house battery gets any attention. Ran 4 gauge to the rear for refrigerator and (yet to be determined) accessories.
 
Patassa said:
I'm 95% of the way there to pulling the trigger. $1000 for the new brushless option from ARB with the only modest increase in CFM at 30 psi, has me feeling like it's worth a gamble, considering I only need this like 4 days a year.
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I got the knockoff model from Amazon, used it to fill up my and my buddie's landcruiser after he saw how much faster my system was than his. For $250, might be one of the best upgrades I've made on my hundy. It does draw some serious amps though, looking to upgrade my wiring and maybe step up to a higher amp alternator soon.
 
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