So today I swapped EAS compressors. From my rebuilt to new. Stayed with Hitachi. During the rebuild I had a heck of a time removing the 8mm exhaust line. I read that it might be because the compressor gets so hot the plastic basically melts into the fitting and a software update reduces operating time or pressure or such to help. Anyway, I had the end drilled and a compression fitting in place. While it worked, I was not sure it would last forever and if I had to do a change out on a trip the non-compliant fittings would make a swap difficult.

Along with the rebuild, I put in new desiccant with a new metal cap. I forget the if I did my from valve block first or the rebuild first. But I think I did my front valve block well before the compressor work. Valve blocks seem to fail/leak because desiccant particles work their way onto the o-rings causing poor sealing. So the solution is to rebuild the blocks or at least clean them and replace the desiccant, usually at the same time. But I feel the proper procedure would be a compressor dryer rebuild with new desiccant then wait a couple weeks to purge some of the remaining particles in the lines before servicing the valve blocks. Now I feel that one should rebuild the dryer, disconnect all lines and purge and service the valve blocks.

And this is why. While the desiccant in this dryer is still pretty new, you can see are the particles that made their way back home. I opened up the old one to transfer the metal cap. I was a little surprised to see this as this is pretty much the same amount I saw when I first rebuilt it. The color is a greenish tint. My new desiccant is orange. And keep in mind the smaller particles are going to be more prone to being tossed up into the air and worked into the lines.

Maybe we need to rethink servicing these system. These particles seems to get everywhere. I also wonder if the dryer end filter should have some sorta rubber seal around the edges to prevent these particles from working past the tiny gap.

 

I replaced the compressor and the valve blocks all at the same time, but I didn't blow out the lines to the valves. I do often wonder if I made a mistake in doing this all at once... It's working fine, but who knows.