Minamizing water from compressor

Just got the new air compressor and would like to know what others use to reduce the chance of water in airlines without breaking the bank$.

Reply to
Woodchuck
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Well, the first thing that comes to mind is to use a dehumdifier in your shop to keep the air that compressors going to take in dry to start with.

Other than that, I th>Just got the new air compressor and would like to know what others use to

Reply to
Lazarus Long

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 14:06:04 -0400, "Woodchuck" vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I refer you to a post about 3 days ago:

Subject: Air comp ? OT sort of

Covers it very well.

***************************************************** Marriage. Where two people decide to get together so that neither of them can do what they want to because of the other one.
Reply to
Old Nick

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 14:06:04 -0400, "Woodchuck" calmly ranted:

Drain it daily, or more frequently if you use several dozen tankfuls a day. Run hard lines on an angle so you'll have water traps at the lower ends to drain it inline. Use inline water traps and filters like the $20 HF #42035 cleaner.

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Reply to
Larry Jaques

build yourself a condenser unit.

david

Woodchuck wrote:

Reply to
David

I replied to a similar post just the other day with the following information:

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The big problem with the design of small air compressors systems is that they don't have a way to properly cool the compressed air that is exhausting from the compressor so that the moisture will condense out of it. If it was allowed to cool before you tried to use it the moisture would condense out and the air would be dry. The water could then be separated and you would have the dry air that you want. Unfortunately the air compressor manufacturers have never addressed this problem in their designs. They must all live in Arizona or some other desert climate. This is really a problem for the rest of us who must live and spray paint in the more humid parts of the world.

As a compressor runs and raises the pressure of the air, it also increases the temperature of it. The moisture that is in this air will only remain a vapor if the air remains at this high temperature. As it cools in the tank and your air lines this moisture condenses out of it and becomes a problem. Also, since warm air rises above cooler air, this warm humid air stratifies and floats above the cooler air in the tank. In most cases the compressor design puts the air outlet from the tank right next to the air inlet from the compressor so any air that you draw out of the tank is still hot (and full of moisture) when it leaves the tank, but cools as it flows through your lines. As it cools the water condenses out of it causing the problem that you are experiencing. It would be more desirable if the air outlet from the tank could be located toward (but not at) the bottom of the tank. This would give the hot air that is entering the tank time to give up it's heat through the tank walls and the moisture time to condense out of it and fall to the bottom of the tank before it reached the outlet point and your air lines.

If the design of your air compressor had included a means of cooling the compressed air before it reached the tank, then all of the moisture vapor would be condensed out of it and would fall to the bottom of the tank where it could accumulate to be drained at your convenience. Then all of the air in the tank would be cool and would have given up it's moisture long before it left the tank and entered your air lines no matter where the tank exit was located.

I modified my air compressor several years ago to correct this and have had no water problems since. I had to do this because I now live in North Carolina where the humidity is frequently so high that we get thunder showers almost every day in the summer months. I couldn't use my air compressor to do much of anything but use it as a great water pistol. I can now do sand blasting and painting and I never have any water problems any more.

Here is the fix:

I connected an old air conditioning condenser coil that I got out of an old import car (don't remember the make or model) in the hot air line that ran between the compressor outlet and the tank. The trick is to find a coil that is about the right size with flare fitting connections and an adequate tubing size to handle the air flow out of your compressor (mine was 3/8). Since the running pressure of this part of automotive air conditioners is typically in the 3-400 pound range these coils are more than strong enough to handle the working pressures of home air compressors, so safety shouldn't be a concern. I mounted this coil so that the fan in the compressor pulley pulls air through it, cooling down the hot air that is coming out of the compressor before it reaches the tank. You should connect the compressor outlet to the top connection of the coil and the tank inlet to the bottom connection. Once the air has been cooled, the moisture condenses out of it and it falls to the bottom of the air tank. The entire tank will now stay at ambient temperature and it won't matter where the outlet connection is located, so long as it is above where the condensate collects. You will still need to drain the tank frequently, in fact, a little more frequently than you used to. The dry air in the tank will never again have enough moisture in it to condense in your air lines.

I still use one of those "orange ball" filters at my spray gun, but I do it more as a safeguard for dirt and debris since it never sees water any more.

Reply to
Charley

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Reply to
bridger

With the number of questions that have come up in the group about compressed air systems I will offer any assistance I can. I work for a compressed air company that sells and installs compressors for Atlas Copco. I routinely service compressors and air systems from the small 1 1/2 HP units in HVAC systems to 400 HP units that fill a semi truck. I also install and design air systems and such. However to ease the number of posts I would ask that people write to me using my email address.

Carl Stigers

Reply to
Carl Stigers

Whatsamatter Carl? Don't you want to educate the rest of us? The purpose of this newsgroup is to SHARE information. Are you just shy?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Mitch,

A friend of mine built himself a shop ( if you consider 50'x76' just a shop and not a factory... LOL) He used 3/4" copper from the air compressor and then T'd off that into half inch at each outlet. With a large shop he needed the volume of 3/4" pipe. You said you have a small shop, so 1/2" would more than do you.

Now with that said there is a couple of things I would suggest if you go copper.

  1. Make sure you put a short piece of high pressure air line between the air compressor and the copper line. The vibration of the compressor will surely stress out your solder joints and they WILL fail.

  1. Make sure you get a high quality copper pipe ( I believe there are different grades of copper... some are thicker ???? ) When buying it, tell the salesperson the air pressure you will be applying.

  2. At each outlet, make sure you secure things so they don't move seeing as you are going to be putting a lot of pressure at those areas when you connect/disconnect lines.

Now if you want to do it REALLY RIGHT....

  1. Make a measured drawing of exactly where, how long and how many outlets you want.

  1. Get in touch with someone who installs HVAC ( Heating/Ventillation/Air Conditioning ) take your drawing to them and have them cut/thread some natural gas (black 1/2") pipe to the measurements on your drawings. They can do it right at their shop and it will only take them a few minutes. Also ask what he charges for the tee's/joint's you need, it may be cheaper than Home Depot. Don't forget to label the pieces with masking tape as to where each goes.

  2. Take all the pieces home, get out your trusty pipe thread tape and pipe wrenches and put it all together.

  1. Make sure you SECURE all outlets as mentioned above, and don't forget to isolate the pipe with that short piece of air line to cut down on vibration transfer through the pipes/joints/walls.

  2. To check either copper or black pipe for leaks, mix some dish soap and water in a spray bottle and put it on each joint. Bubbles will quickly appear if there is even a small leak. Fantastic spray cleaner also works really well, it bubbles as good as soap on leaky joints.

Hope this helps

Todd

PS: Instead of going to an HVAC person, you can also buy black steel pipe at Home Depot in pre-determined lengths already threaded on both ends.

Reply to
Todd

Mitch,

I forgot to mention the reservoir tank. I would suggest buying yourself a small ( 10 gal ) air pig that is used to pump up tires etc. They are built to handle the air pressure you speak of, plus they already have the fittings on them to attach airlines.

You never mentioned if you live in Canada or the US, but if it's Canada and you are anywhere close to a Princess Auto, they have tons of different shapes/sizes of air tanks. You can pick/choose the style/type you want. Upright is best if you want to save space. Just to give you an idea of their prices, here's the website

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Oh, and just a friendly warning.... if you do go to Princess Auto, don't blame me if you overspend. Every time I go into the place I come out broke.... but with lots of tools ;-) Of course the same can be said about Lee Valley and Home Depot.....

Todd

Reply to
Todd

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