NAPA Flate compressor part 2. Simplifying and upgrading the wiring.

[@jchancalifornia]

Thanks for keeping the vid real with your mistakes. It’ll help make my mod go easier without popping a vein! Love the ‘fishnet stocking’ on the cable- kinda sexy😂😂

[@IronsideAdventures801]

"Fishnet stocking" 🤣🤣 Here's a link to the wire loom a.co/d/8FLem3q

[@dannydivine7699]

#4 welder cable is way way more flexible than any of those chinese jumper cables And I'd make absolutely sure none of your wire are anywhere close to those cylinders inside there, the will get EXTREMELY HOT during operation!!!!! NICE Cables, Excellent work!!!

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Good welding cable is so much better than anything else you can get. It's designed to be nice and flexible and abrasion resistant.

[@rumblebee356]

Just got my NAPA Flate all modified. Thank you for the awesome videos....👍👍

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Thank you for the feedback. That's awesome. I'm glad it helped you out and you got it done. 👍

[@mikes4352]

Just picked up a Napa comp a few weeks ago. Thanks for posting your solution to make the unit better. I'm definitely going to use some of your tips.😊

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Glad you enjoyed it. I just did another one today. Instead of putting the hose on the compressor, he is putting the hose on the manifold. I threaded the I/M coupler straight into the manifold. Had to open up the plastic a little with a dremel but it might be my new favorite way of doing these.

[@prado.offroad]

Thank you for putting this together, one of the best compressor modification videos ive come across, has inspired me to finish my covid lockdown compressor build i started back in the pandemic.

[@IronsideAdventures801]

That's awesome. Get it done. Glad you liked the video.

[@BurnerJones]

It always surprises me with how optimistic stuff like this is with wire size. Even if technically it can handle the amps people always forget about voltage drop. Good video, I bet that motor is happier with the larger wire. I've got some of those huge 4/0 anderson connectors on my big diy lithium pack for running the winch and inverter. I need to get one of these compressors soon and toy around with it. I tried the a/c compressor into air compressor mod but it was really difficult to filter out all the oil it kept puking up, even with multiple catch cans filled with steel wool and a recirculating drain back into the intake.

[@dbird29]

Good job.I was waiting for the white board to come out

[@Fordgroup00]

👍 About the insulated jumper cables. Yep, my brother and I discovered that jumper cables now a days are junk, mostly if one isn’t careful when they get them

[@scottjohnson136]

Great video! Seems no simple project is always simple. Including problematic adds truth to your project. I am glad its not only my projects that are frustrating at times! Any reasonable way to add a fuse? Well done!

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Since there wasn't a fuse on it to begin with, I didn't see a need to add one but you could put an inline fuse holder on the power wire coming up from the motor. Then wire it the same from there.

[@jeffig730]

Great job, how about a link or part number on the relay?

[@IronsideAdventures801]

True MODS 12V DC 200 Amp Split Charge Relay Switch - 4 Terminal Relays for Truck Boat Marine a.co/d/3M6avip

[@vertisce2845]

And here I am just wanting to mount mine to my tail gate.

[@nicktingley9198]

Mine said m10 on the motor leads which is #8awg? I'm using #6 to to feed mine. Thanks for the great video.

[@ericklein5097]

M10 is a bolt size. Perhaps it said 10mm2 (squared not the number 2…a tiny 2 up in the corner) indicating conductor cross sectional area in millimetres squared. Essentially the metric version of AWG 10mm2 is 8AWG IIRC. 6 AWG would be better for a 90A compressor. At the very least use a cable with 90 or 105 degree Celsius insulation. Silicone has a 200 degree insulation and therefor would handle the amperage better but would need some kind of sheathing because it’s not very abrasion or cut resistant.

[@IronsideAdventures801]

It would be 10mm². That is right between 6 ga and 8 ga.

[@adventure_next6869]

So instead of having the one and off switch..could those two wires be used for a gang switch if long enough?

[@TodaystitaniumTurtles]

Great video, thanks! Thinking of doing the same mods to my compressor. How has that relay held up? I am thinking of mounting my compressor in the engine bay and am concerned about heat.

[@IronsideAdventures801]

So far, no issues with mine or any that I've converted that I know of.

[@TodaystitaniumTurtles]

@@IronsideAdventures801 awesome, thank you!

[@photog1529]

I'm a little confused on wiring the relay. Would you mind specifying which wire went to which numbered terminal on the relay? I guess connecting the negative leads to the 30 and 87 terminals is what's crossing me up. Thanks.

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Don't get hung up on the numbers. If you are using the same relay as shown in the video with the two screw terminals and two spade terminals, the numbers don't actually matter. The heavy guage negative wire coming from the battery could go to either screw terminal. The heavy guage negative wire going to the motor would just need to go to the other screw terminal. Since you are working in a tight space, let the wire location dictate which terminal it goes to the easiest. The relay is just a switch and doesn't care which way the current flows through it. It just opens and closes the circuit. The same is true for the spade terminals. It doesn't matter which way the current flows through those either. Hope this helps.

[@photog1529]

Thank you...I appreciate the response. I'm running #4 wire from the voltage source, which occupies much of the limited space, but it all worked out.@@IronsideAdventures801

[@mrmotofy]

I just made a vid on how the relay works, how to test it etc.

[@truckieharbison2148]

I’ve been watching several videos on adding the relay. Some things I have read and watched say that you want the relay on the hot lead instead of the ground side. I’ve tried wiring it this way, but I can’t figure out how to include the thermal protection wire into the mix. Any thoughts? Also since making this mod, have you used your compressor enough to actually have the thermal protection kick the compressor off?

[@IronsideAdventures801]

I've done 3 Jeeps in a row all on 35s or 37s. It's never kicked in. I don't know how I would wire it with the relay on the hot side. Never bothered working it out because it was wired on the ground side from the factory.

[@jessevallantine825]

Have you seen the Thors lightning or M.O.A.B with the display and auto shut off once it reches desired pressure? It stops and checks the pressure while airing up just like an air pump at the gas station. Any thoughts on how to make a system like this?

[@Reqzabx]

So i cut out the circuit board and the thin original jumper cables. Im having trouble with the on/off switch not working. Im using a pressure switch, same 200 amp relay as yours, the original on/off switch. Theres 3 wires that come up from the compressor. Is this correct if i have the thin red wire from the compressor connected to the on/off switch, the othere side of the on/off switch is wired to the pressure switch. The other side of the pressure switch is wired to relay. The thick red wire from the compressor is wired to red part of jumper cables, and thick black ground wire from compressor goes to the relay and the negative on jumper cables. And a small seperate wire made on ground of relay to other side of relay. ??

[@IronsideAdventures801]

That sounds correct. 6 ga red wire, 6 ga black wire, and 12 g red come up from the motor. 6 ga red gets connected directly to red alligator clamp wire. 6 ga black goes to one of the screw terminals on the relay. Other screw terminal gets connected to to wire running to black alligator clamp. 12 ga red wire comes up to one side of pressure switch. Other side of pressure switch goes to one side of switch. Other side of switch runs to one spade terminal on relay. Other spade terminal has a short jumper that runs to screw terminal connected to black alligator clamp. If you run your jumper to the wrong screw terminal it won't work. Maybe check that. I run the power from pressure switch to on/off switch to relay. Relay has to be last. The order of the other two shouldn't matter but maybe try switching the order around. Good luck. I hope you get it figured out.

[@mrmotofy]

I just made a vid on the relay if it would help you

[@truckieharbison2148]

Just curious when you’re using your air compressor does the air compressor speed up if you start your vehicle that is running off of? I replaced the compressor leads with a set of six gauge jumper cables that have a voltmeter built in them. If I run the compressor just off the battery it shows like 12 1/2 V but if I start the vehicle, the gauge shows 14 V and you can hear the compressor speed up. Is this a problem?

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Totally normal. A fully charged 12v battery will have around 12.6 volts. Your alternator puts out around 14.4 volts. You can definitely hear the difference in how the compressor runs with the vehicle running versus not. You should always have the vehicle running for best performance if you can.

[@truckieharbison2148]

I assumed it was normal, I just wasn’t sure if the circuit board somehow regulated the volts to keep them at a constant 12 volts. I didn’t figure 14.5 volts would hurt anything but thought I would ask.

[@KurNorock]

I took mine apart to install a pressure switch and found that the "manifold" was cross threaded into both heads. I tried to clean up the threads with a tap and replaced the aluminum manifold with copper pipe. But there just isn't a lot of thread engagement so I'm skeptical how long it'll last.

[@IronsideAdventures801]

They are definitely hit or miss on quality control. I had one I did for a friend that I couldn't get 2 of the head bolts out. Ended up having to rotate the manifold enough to drill and tap with it still on the compressor. The good news is that they do seem to work well even with the QC issues. I know a number of people running them for years in one version or another and they are still going strong.

[@BittnerBuddenbrock]

What about the original thermo switch which is supposed to cut out when the compressor gets - for whatever reason - too hot???

[@IronsideAdventures801]

As far as i know, the thermal switch is on the motor and will shut off power to the lead going to the circuit board. Thermal switch, pressure switch, on/off switch are all inline in this configuration. I haven't tested it because I don't want to intentionally overheat my compressor. Also, the main cause of overheating with these compressors is letting them run against a closed valve. The pressure switch prevents that particular situation from happening.

[@ericklein5097]

The vast vast majority of jumper cables are copper coated aluminum and I see a lot of people using jumper cables on these. CCA is equivalent to a copper cable 3 or 4 AWG smaller….so using a 4AWG CCA isn’t an improvement to an 8AWG copper cable. And yes I saw that you realized the jumper cable conductor wasn’t actually 4 gauge. Just thought I’d add that in. The cable on the unit has to be pure copper otherwise it would not handle 90 amps any day of the week

[@IronsideAdventures801]

This is good information. Thanks for adding it to the discussion. From your information, it sounds like if using good pure copper leads, you could do 8 ga. That also means my 6 ga cables are over sized. I'm good with that too.

[@Reqzabx]

How come you didnt use the original on and off switch?

[@Reqzabx]

I cant get my on/off switch to work. Also do you have a close up picture of all your wiring?

[@IronsideAdventures801]

It was simply in the way of the new relay. It was easier to drill a round hole for a new switch. I've since learned I can cut the mounting tab off the relay to gain a fraction of an inch and get it to work with the factory switch.

[@stevensmith9219]

This may sound dumb, but could we get a wiring diagram for this? I can’t seem to wrap my head around it. I tried wiring mine up and got nothing, idk what i’m missing

[@docallaghan4]

i made one up when i did the compressor mod. its nothing like a normal wiring schematic since i’m not an electrical guru (i made it in excel if that says enough) but it shows exactly where each existing and new wire goes. if you still need it let me know your email and i’ll send it to you

[@stevensmith9219]

@@docallaghan4A week after i made that comment my father and I figured out a wiring schematic that works, you’d figure all these people who make these videos would show a quality schematic to help us out. It’s kinda hard to see what he’s doing, and explaining it doesn’t work for everyone.

[@docallaghan4]

i thought he did a great job explaining the modifications

[@IronsideAdventures801]

I really tried to make it as easy to follow as possible. I see that i need to do better. Thanks for the feedback, though. I really do appreciate it. I'll try to keep it in mind with other videos.

[@jasonjohnson5975]

@@IronsideAdventures801you did a great job, I’m just not familiar with wiring a relay (relay virgin).

[@Busterblader13]

No fuse needed with such a large amp draw on the battery?

[@IronsideAdventures801]

You could add one to the vehicle side of your wiring system if you wanted. The wiring for this is similar to a winch though and there is rarely any type of fuse on a winch system.

[@mrmotofy]

Worried about a Chinese board in there, so put in a Chinese relay LOL

[@IronsideAdventures801]

Much easier to replace a Chinese relay than troubleshoot and fix a Chinese board. 2 spade connectors and 2 nuts. Out with a bad relay in with a new one. Can do that with a circuit board. Not to mention I can completely bypass all of that and hot wire it with a multi tool. Can't do that with a Chinese circuit board either.