Air Pressure Drop

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by farmerjohn64, Jul 11, 2020.

  1. farmerjohn64

    farmerjohn64 Road Train Member

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    Hi,

    I picked up a lumber load a few days ago and after I got loaded and went to put it in drive my air pressure dropped from 120 all the way to the red almost immediately and I have no idea why; the guy who loaded me walked over after I finally made it to the scale, unintentionally holding people up for about 5 minutes and I explained to him what was going on, but then he cut me off and said he knew “exactly” what’s going on and he’s complained to Western’s corporate office about this, said he’s had “nothing but trouble” from us guys; he didn’t grace me with his knowledge on the subject and the problem subsided once I pulled up to the final securement area by only dropping 20 psi and then back to normal (I fooled around with it until it stayed at 120).

    Anyone have any clue what might’ve happened? It’s never done this before and the only thing that was different is the presence of substantial debris such as wood chips.

    Best regards, John
     
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  3. SoulScream84

    SoulScream84 Road Train Member

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    All I can think of is that during your loading process all the air in your bags was gone, and once you supplied air again it took a minute to fill the system. I highly doubt a forklift operator knows enough about anything to supply any knowledge, and if he did call the company about a "problem" they probably told him to pound sand.
     
  4. farmerjohn64

    farmerjohn64 Road Train Member

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    It did that about 3 times in a row, I released the brakes and reved the engine to build the air pressure back up each time; that was weird as hell,
     
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  5. kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Does your trailer dump the air bags when you pull the red knob and set the trailer brakes? If so then your bags and trailer air tanks have to fill back up when you release the brakes. Stop setting the trailer brakes while getting loaded.
     
  6. farmerjohn64

    farmerjohn64 Road Train Member

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    Hmm I’m not sure, I’ll have to check that, but it was the red valve (trailer brake) that kept giving me problems; the secondary air tank
     
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  7. Qbf594

    Qbf594 Road Train Member

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    The forklift guy is likely a douchebag.
    Get the rpms to around 1300 or it'll take forever.
    Don't pull the red unless you're dropping a trailer or parked on Mt Everest. That's how I do it....
     
  8. AModelCat

    AModelCat Road Train Member

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    Yeah if you've got to charge an empty trailer reservoir you'll easily lose 40-50 PSI in the matter of about 5 seconds.
     
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  9. farmerjohn64

    farmerjohn64 Road Train Member

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    Yeah he did meet the DOT requirement of douchebag; I never heard of only setting one of your brakes, but I’ll try that for now on
     
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  10. Qbf594

    Qbf594 Road Train Member

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    Wait. Wyoming. Saratoga?
     
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  11. farmerjohn64

    farmerjohn64 Road Train Member

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    That’s about how fast that sucker went down
     
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