Bushranger Max Air II compressor connections

Submitted: Friday, Mar 25, 2011 at 16:11

ThreadID: 85215 Views:7472 Replies:1 FollowUps:1

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Member - Richard C (ACT)

Hi,
May be some one might be interested in my latest crusade.

I wanted to get an extension hose for my compressor. Went to ARB and they ordered one.

While there I noticed the ARB compressor nozzle (not sure if the right name but it is the bit that you connect to the valve).

The ARB nozzle looked a lot better and easier to use than the one I had for the Max Air. The ARB one has a clip on similar to what you see at some service stations .

I tested it out and found that the ARB nozzle would fit the Max Air hose.

Great I thought.

The problem is that the Max Air II has a male connector on the compressor and the Max Air hose consists of a female connector at one end and the nozzle wired in at the other end.

The extension hose I got had a female connector at one end and a male at the other. The female end is connected the compressor and the male end connects to the old air hose.

So this did not help if I wanted to get an ARB nozzle.

I thought it would be easy to get a couple of connectors eg female to feamle so I could connect the ARB nozzle .

Well this task proved impossible. Apparently both ARB and Bushranger use non-standard size connectors ( I was told ) and so I could not get what i wanted.

I could cut the existing hose and change over to more standard ones but was a bit reluctant to do that - just in case there was a problem.

During my travels I noticed that the Bushranger Auto Max, I think it is called, compressor has a different set up. The hose provided has a female connector at both ends. you plug one end to the compressor and then a nozzle in the other.

This was what I wanted. . I could now also get an ARB nozzle and connect it to the the hose from the Auto Max. I could also use the extension hose as well (I got this for my van) when required.

This does mean my old Max Air II hose and nozzle is now redundant - I call it a backup just in case some one in the family asks.

My final set up is now

Max Air II compressor, Auto Max hose with a female connector at both ends an extension hose with a male connector at one end and a female one at the other and a ARB nozzle. I have tried it all out and it seems to work OK.

I also have a backup hose and nozzle :)

So - was it worth it - probably not financially but when you get a bee in your bonnet about something it is hard to stop even when you know it does not make sense. When I started this saga I thought it would have been a very cheap option.

My only justification on the financial side is that the cost of the hoses I bought was similar to buying a good quality connector around $20-25. The ARB nozzle in my opinion is much easier to use so I am happy. I could have done it cheaper by just cutting the existing hose and replacing the end piece - ie if you could find a female connector that would fit an ARB nozzle but I could not find one and I was not sure it would all work.

Richard

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Reply By: Tim Owen - Sunday, Mar 27, 2011 at 09:36

Sunday, Mar 27, 2011 at 09:36

I have just been through the same challenge of trying to arrange to 'plumb in' my compressor to have outlets on either side of the vehicle with a Bushranger Max Air II.

In then end I got a 1/4" NPT:BSP nipple which replaced the existing male quick connect fitting mounted on the compressor, and then replaced all the fittings with standard RYCO ones - you could choose any of the other readily available fittings of your choice (NITTO etc).

Bushranger failed to reply to my email enquiries when I was trying to work this out - so they have a black cross next to their name along with a lot of other companies who have crappy customer service.

AnswerID: 449337

Follow Up By: Member - Richard C (ACT) - Sunday, Mar 27, 2011 at 12:23

Sunday, Mar 27, 2011 at 12:23

That would have been my next option - to replace existing parts. I didn't approach Bushranger direct but approached a number of other places including an ARB shop.

All were understanding but none had a solution as such.

It was just lucky that I had noticed the Auto Max hose had the female connection at both ends at the ARB store. When I went to the last store I was going to and mentioned it to theyoung bloke who was serving me that things happened. He rang bushranger or their distributor and found if that hose could be bought separately. He could so he let me have the one from the Auto Max and it cost a few dollars less than the extension hose I had already purchased. This was $25. This does mean I am committed to using either ARB or Bushranger gear but that is OK. I suspect you could have bought a cheaper and may be better nozzle than the ARB one but it is not bad and is very easy to use. The pressure gauge is fairly accurate as well.

It is annoying that people don't use common/standard size fittings fir these things - would make our life easier.

Richard

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