Brakemaster Air Dryer Model 68

[jmacstack]

Hello Forum, There is an air leak in the base plate around the screws of my Brakemaster Model 68 airdryer. There is some dirty oily residue also around the baseplate on the bottom of the unit. I have been doing some research and have found out that they no longer make the model 68. In fact Brake Master sold the company sometime ago. I looked into getting a rebuild kit....which I believe includes a filter and a new spitter valve. They don't make it anymore. It looks like I may be having to replace the entire unit with a new one. However, if it is in fact oil that is finding it's way through the air leak then perhaps the rings in my compressor are shot and that is a whole different situation. It would not be smart to install a new air dryer with a bad compressor. Can a compressor be repaired or will I be potentially replacing the entire compressor? I would so appreciate all thoughts, opinions and or questions. Jennifer

[rheavn]

Jennifer,
On my last coach I had a hose from the compressor to the air dryer rub a hole in the hose & the first thing I found was an oil leak. I was told some oil was not unusual & I just replaced the hose and never had another problem. So my opinion is that some oil residue would not be unusual, so just replace the air dryer.

jmho..........................

[Richard and Rhonda]

Jennifer,

The Bendix installation manual for the air compressors mounted on the Series 60 engines clearly indicates that the discharge line from the compressor to the dryer should have a downward slope to allow oil to drain back into the compressor.

There is mention if a couple of tests to perform on the discharge line to see if you have excessive oil discharge. Google around and you find plenty.

If you do decide to replace, the more recent designs use a replaceable cartridge that looks like a great big oil filter.

[jmacstack]

Thanks Richard and Steve for your input. The engine in my coach is an 8V92. I am in NYC all next week so I will be tackling this project when I return on the 8th. I thought I would contact Newell and see if they have any rebuild kits for that model Brakemaster. I will look into the excessive oil test. I have heard the newer models have a cartridge that you described Richard. The replacement cost on that cartridge is, $28.00
Thanks again and when I solve this I will post the answer. Jennifer

[encantotom]

hi,

i got the rebuild kit for my exact same airdryer at Fleetpride. i walked in and got it. i got the top plate seals and parts for the inside. a separate time last year i go the spitter valve rebuild kit for pressure blowoff.

i know i took michael down there to get parts for it as well when he was in town one time.

it will be alot more money to replace it than fix it. i think i had about 55 bucks in parts. and it wasnt very hard to do.

i have the pdf of the parts breakdown if anyone wants it send me your email.

i believe i have a post about it on the site

tom