Draining Air Compressor ?

[Ironhorse]

Just curious as to how often everyone drains the moisture/water build-up on their shop air compressor ? Just drained mine this afternoon, single stage 60gal. vertical tank. Drained a full two quarts from it. Seems like a lot, was sure I drained it at the end of summer last year. Maybe not? Usually try to drain at the end of summer and again in the start of spring even tho don't use it a lot during winter. Anyone have a schedule or particular time they do it? General shop usage, air tools, air nozzle, air impact on occasion, bead blast cabinet, airing tires and such.

[cableguy0]

Basically everything is a factor on how often it needs to be drained. How much it runs,how old it is, temperature, etc etc etc all affect how much moisture the compressor builds. If this is a home compressor twice a year is plenty. 2 quarts of water isn't a whole lot.

[truckdude239]

We drian ours at work everyday but they get alot of use our 60 gallon we bought used after install it woukd run 3 mins and be at max pressure. Bearly use it it run ann the time found the drain plug broke totaly removed the drain plug and it drained water for an hour and half been fine since just a mTter how howmuch it is used and the temps used in

[JointTech]

i drain mine when i remeber it. theres a big yellow magnet on it that says drain every 2 weeks. I drained it the other day and didnt tighten the drain back up very well so now it leaks. But I was thinking since I dont use it alot and turn off the breaker after im done I may just leave it. the leak still takes 2 days to leak out from 150psi. its like draing for lazy people.

[earl84]

Dang, truckdude, that was a lot of water!

[Tx Firefighter]

For me, it's somewhere between daily and weekly. I had to save hard to buy my big compressor so I try to take measures to treat it well.

[_Ogre]

harbor fright has an auto drain kit you can get for $10, it burps the tank every time it runs
my home shop i try to drain it weekly and have a line run outside for this,
right now the drain valve is frozen and hasn't been drained all winter
the real shop gets drained every day when we shut down for the night

[Ironhorse]

Thanks for the replys. May need to look into that auto drain setup. Sounds like would be a good deal. Used the compressor today for about two hours of bead blasting. Compressor keeps up pretty well, usually run it for 30/45 minutes and then shut it down to cool somewhat.

[ERASER5]

I replace the wied drain cock with pipe and a ball valve that sticks out for easy access. Make the job easy and you will do it more often. I can throw the valve with toe of my boot. Not squatting required.

[cdowns]

i live two blocks from the ocean so i do it daily

[truckdude239]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

I replace the wied drain cock with pipe and a ball valve that sticks out for easy access. Make the job easy and you will do it more often. I can throw the valve with toe of my boot. Not squatting required.

thats excatyl how ours are them cheap valves aren't worth anything