Air Compressor Moisture

[pwdcougar]

Had a small Craftsman compressor and never had any problem with moisture. Now with my much larger compressor there is always water in the same set up line.

My set up:

80 gal compressor hooked up to 3/4" steel pipe. One drop down and ball valve right at the compressor connection. 15' horizontal from the compressor another drop down (from the ceiling down, 6'). Another 15' along the ceiling to a similar drop down and a Craftsman water separator/adjusting valve. Final connection is to my hose real. All the steel pipe is angled slightly toward the drop downs.

Should I try a different brand of water separator?


Paul

[franken]

I have about 50' of black pipe arranged so water can't collect anywhere but the tank, or the farthest end where the water separator is located. I never see water except in the tank after the air has cooled.

Maybe look at your pipe layout and see if there are any points where water can pool?

I wasn't able to visualize the layout from the description. Pics?

[pwdcougar]

It would be a crazy set of pictures because the compressor is in a back room behind my garage and the pipe goes around the perimeter of the garage.

Shouldn't the water separators take the moisture out? I even have a second one on my sandblast cabinet. I do know that the tank on the compressor gets pretty warm. Maybe my air isn't cooling enough on my pipe run?

Paul

[ERASER5]

Are you draining the water from the tank? Toss the petcock valve and replace with a pipe and ball valve placed for easy access. Dump the water often. That will go a long way to drying your lines.

[pwdcougar]

I drain it regularly but really should do the ball valve like you say to make it easier. For some reason the tank needs to be drained all the time. My old compressor only needed draining occasionally. The new tank is vertical and the old one was horizontal. Not sure why that would make a difference though.

Paul

[cdowns]

what I use is an old discarded 29gallon tank from my old pos oilless compressor // a 40 foot run of air hose to the tank then plumbed to the blast cabinet and paint stuff I find no problems at all with moisture in the air lines and I live less than a quarter mile to both the ocean and the river

[pwdcougar]

Originally Posted by cdowns

what I use is an old discarded 29gallon tank from my old pos oilless compressor // a 40 foot run of air hose to the tank then plumbed to the blast cabinet and paint stuff I find no problems at all with moisture in the air lines and I live less than a quarter mile to both the ocean and the river

That may be the thing for me to do. Find an old tank to put in further down the line to cool the air before it gets to the blast cabinet.

Craigslist here I come!

Paul

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by pwdcougar

All the steel pipe is angled slightly toward the drop downs.

you plumbed your drops to be drains, drains plumb out of the bottom of the header
drops plumb out of the top of the header, for a air drop there should be a T pointed up and 2 90* bends to the drop

Originally Posted by pwdcougar

Should I try a different brand of water separator?

air separators are only semi effective on warm air, warm air will drop some moisture in a separator but mostly it will pass thru
i suspect you are using your new compressor a lot more than the old compressor
maybe your in the bodywork phase of your project, the more you use the compressor the more water it will compress,
the warmer the air in the tank and the more effort you need to cool the air before using it

a simple cooling loop before your separator can help drastically, copper is best but steel pipe works

air in --> ____________________
____________________________l
l____________________________
____________________________l
l____________________________--> air out to spearator and drain

this is how i plumbed the air lines in our shop
while this is a commercial shop, all the principals still apply

[pwdcougar]

Ogre

That's a great diagram. I'll be re plumbing my set up this weekend. I have a can full of copper elbows and short lengths of pipe to use as a cooling loop.

Paul

Originally Posted by _Ogre

you plumbed your drops to be drains, drains plumb out of the bottom of the header
drops plumb out of the top of the header, for a air drop there should be a T pointed up and 2 90* bends to the drop



air separators are only semi effective on warm air, warm air will drop some moisture in a separator but mostly it will pass thru
i suspect you are using your new compressor a lot more than the old compressor
maybe your in the bodywork phase of your project, the more you use the compressor the more water it will compress,
the warmer the air in the tank and the more effort you need to cool the air before using it

a simple cooling loop before your separator can help drastically, copper is best but steel pipe works

air in --> ____________________
____________________________l
l____________________________
____________________________l
l____________________________--> air out to spearator and drain

this is how i plumbed the air lines in our shop
while this is a commercial shop, all the principals still apply

[PGSigns]

Here is a link to where we just discussed this not long ago. Good info in it also.http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=643549
Jimmy

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by pwdcougar

Ogre

That's a great diagram. I'll be re plumbing my set up this weekend. I have a can full of copper elbows and short lengths of pipe to use as a cooling loop.

Paul

if you can slope your main header back towards the compressor and install a drain there
our shop uses 1'' black pipe for the header, my home shop is all 1/2'' copper
i find 1/2'' copper to be plenty big for a one man shop

i'm still debating if i have the filter/regulator in the right position
the line headed up the wall after the filter/regulator stays full of water
i should move it to the valve between the cooling (red) and distribution (green) lines
or install a drain after the filter/regulator i do have a T there

[haybale]

An old AC condenser works great. I made one into a dryer with a couple of old helium tanks for catch cans. Works awesome.

[pwdcougar]

Now that's a cool idea.

Paul

[tinydb84]

Does the condenser flow enough to use with a spray gun?

[jjzepplin]

Whoa! You fellas are smart! Love the condenser approach.

[franken]

My regulator is at the end of the stream and I wonder about a salvaged condenser's ability to take 175PSI... Not to mention the throttling down of the diameter of tube. This is area or the square of diameter in its impact on flow or CFM.
An example is 1" pipe flows almost double that of 3/4" pipe.

[ERASER5]

The AC condenser is on the high side of the AC loop. Condensers are proof tested to 600 psig. I ran tests at 450psig at the condenser daily for over 12 years. Pressure will not be the problem. Flow may or may not be a problem, so use 2 in parallel! Just kidding, but it would work.

Never ever try this with an evaporator. Evaps are rated much lower at about 200 psig. Standard practice is suppose to be 2X burst rate over your working pressure. Not that every one follows that. Guilty.

[haybale]

I run a harbor freight sandblast cabinet with it and get no moisture. I have a pressure regulator before the dryer set to 90psi and 15ft of 1/4in air hose to the blaster, when the blaster is flowing I drop to 80psi at the cabinet, That is more volume than an HLVP gun will ever need.

[theastronaut]

Here was my solution.

Its a dorm fridge with a 5 gallon bucket of water inside, and 20 feet of copper tubing coiled inside of the bucket of water. The cold water cools the air line so that the water vapor can condense and be caught by the water trap on the outside of the fridge. I've got it connected with quick disconects so I can move it if I need to. Works great! I haven't had any problems with contamination since I started using it.

[ERASER5]

OK, now I'm jealous. You've idea is a little cooler.

Badamp bom.

[pwdcougar]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Figured I would use what I have around and see if I could use all the idea and make something work. First I re angled all my galvanized pipe so it was draining toward a drain down point. Next I measured my available wall space by my compressor. Next I laid out a cooling/drip down line with my collection of old 1/2" copper pipe. This is what I came up with. All the pipes are slanted downward toward the ball valve on the bottom right.No moisture at all last night in the blast cabinet after 3 hours of sandblasting!

Thanks again!

Paul

[_Ogre]

looks good, thanks for the feedback.
the cheapest cooler is tube and a drain, imo
looks like approx 25 ft of tube, equals 500 sq in of cooling surface
now go buy 2 harbor fright auto drains
hook one on the compressor and one on the cooler drain

[muddstir]

Here's what works for me, i've used it quite a few times on real hot humid days and haven't had an issue of water since.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=603851

[_Ogre]

good idea for ''as needed'' application.
your reservoir outlet (black pipe) is a good idea for any system.
it allows a quart to accumulate before needing draining

i have a similar coil of copper in free air between my compressor head and tank
gets smoking hot, will blister the skin