Usually when I drain the tank on my air compressor, I get a noticable amount of water from it, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 cup. I just drained it, it had been about 6 months since the last time, and hardly any moisture came out. I did it a couple of times.........nothing? Any explanation?
No moisture in air compressor tank????
Aug 12, 2003
4 Replies
I drained my for the first time ever the other day, and got virtually nothing. I was curious about that myself. Just a few drops. One thing I was curious about; there was still a little pressure if you pulled the bleeder plug, but little moisture and no air pressure when I opened the drain spigot.
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I thought the moisture *built up* in the tank. Plus, here in Western Pennsylvania, there has been no such thing as a dry day.
Warm air will hold more moisture than cool air. If you run the compressor on a hot, high humid day there will be a lot of high humidity air inside the tank. After the compressor has been shut down, the air inside will cool & the moisture will come out of solution & settle to the bottom of the tank. The moisture doesn't build up inside the tank, it condenses in the tank.
Actually the moisture condenses immediately as the air is pressurized. I've always wondered why they don't put a fitting and a plastic collection jar under tanks to collect the water. On a humid day I can see water quickly collecting in my filter.
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