Hey Peek I feel your pain lol
My biggest problem is when I am sandblasting have wanted to try a home built dryer
The cabinet shop I work does a lot of spraying and has very little in the way of air dryers just an auto matic drain inline , but all of the lines run up around the shop with the spray booth at the end
I have seen a home built system useing a copper pipe sloping upward on a long wall with a bunch of tees spaced along the bottom with drain valves
I guess the moisture is suposed to condensate better with the copper then run back down the slope and be caught in the tee drains
I might have to give it a try :thumbsup:
My biggest problem is when I am sandblasting have wanted to try a home built dryer
The cabinet shop I work does a lot of spraying and has very little in the way of air dryers just an auto matic drain inline , but all of the lines run up around the shop with the spray booth at the end
I have seen a home built system useing a copper pipe sloping upward on a long wall with a bunch of tees spaced along the bottom with drain valves
I guess the moisture is suposed to condensate better with the copper then run back down the slope and be caught in the tee drains
I might have to give it a try :thumbsup:
Are you running anything right now? I bought some big bowl/water trap from NAPA years ago thats inline. Works better than the one piece regulator/filter units but its actually the same design with the stone(?) filter just twice as big. its got a petcock drain on the bottom so I just hit that alot.
Its no dryer system but it does help a lot. I still run disposable desiccant filters when I paint though.
Also is it a new unit or does it have some life on it? if its got some run time it may be time for a tune up. I just did the reedplate and filter on mine and moisture has been cut WAY down as its not working as hard. I'm gonna start changing the intake filter more often, I kept checking it, blowing it out and it never looked "dirty" but a new one seemed to help.
Its no dryer system but it does help a lot. I still run disposable desiccant filters when I paint though.
Also is it a new unit or does it have some life on it? if its got some run time it may be time for a tune up. I just did the reedplate and filter on mine and moisture has been cut WAY down as its not working as hard. I'm gonna start changing the intake filter more often, I kept checking it, blowing it out and it never looked "dirty" but a new one seemed to help.
Black pipe works best for getting the moisture out, the hot air coming out of the compressor quickly cools and condenses in the cold metal pipe but like Rob said you want it to slope down a little and have a drain valve at the end. I use black pipe in my shop and have a water separator (I think it's a Milton?) right before my blast cabinet and it works real well:thumbsup:
3/4 Water Separators - TP Tools & Equipment
3/4 Water Separators - TP Tools & Equipment
Try running the main pipe line out of the compressor straight up in the air about five or six feet high,then across angled upward a little bit, then down to your air hose connection. If you put a water trap inline , it needs to be about 25 feet away from the compressor.
This way the water pushed out has to go uphill before it gets to the hose.
Basically what Bigrob said.
This way the water pushed out has to go uphill before it gets to the hose.
Basically what Bigrob said.
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What MarkG said...if you want to take it to the next level here is what I made for painting based on the TP tools site. The filter is good to 100cfm and a little pricey but much less than good quality water separator/filter like autobody shops use.
Moisture or compressor oil blow by will not get past the Coalescing Air Filter.
The one I made is portable so I can have good clean air no matter what the compressor set up is.
Metal Piping Kits - TP Tools & Equipment
1/2'' Coalescing Air Filter - TP Tools & Equipment
Moisture or compressor oil blow by will not get past the Coalescing Air Filter.
The one I made is portable so I can have good clean air no matter what the compressor set up is.
Metal Piping Kits - TP Tools & Equipment
1/2'' Coalescing Air Filter - TP Tools & Equipment
Wow You guys know your stuff I will just pick one and give it a try. My compressor is only 2yrs old and not much time. Some one put a auto air condensor in the main line with a fan behind it and cooled it down alot going into the tank on you tube and looked interesting but dont want to do that yet. :thumbsup:
the IR makes tons of heat too, which equals water condensation when it cools.
I have piping that runs vertically with drains at the bottom, this piping is also in front of my shop fan exhaust so there is wind across it always, it cools there and collects water there. the 100' lines stay pretty well easily manageable with a small dryer at hose connection on wall.
I have piping that runs vertically with drains at the bottom, this piping is also in front of my shop fan exhaust so there is wind across it always, it cools there and collects water there. the 100' lines stay pretty well easily manageable with a small dryer at hose connection on wall.
you dont have a rust issue inside the pipes contaminating the air flow?
I used sched. 80 pvc ran outside of the building and copper but holy hell, have you seen the price of copper lately? rediculous in itself, much less having to buy all the fittings and such as well, just a simple copper manifold to connect 3 uprights side by side cost over $100!
I used sched. 80 pvc ran outside of the building and copper but holy hell, have you seen the price of copper lately? rediculous in itself, much less having to buy all the fittings and such as well, just a simple copper manifold to connect 3 uprights side by side cost over $100!
The incandescent filters are now the way to go, but are also very expensive. That's what I had in my body shop. Pipe ran about 30ft from the compressor, than a Sharp water separator half way between, and into the incandescent filter. Never had any water problems, and we worked a 3 man shop with spray guns and air tools running all day every day. Just keep your filters clean and drain your separators frequently.
i rarely have problems with water but when I do I just run a fan pointing at the compressor and it keeps it cool enough to clear it up. thats the main problem If you keep the compressor cool you dont get the rapid temperature change. I did make a water trap out of copper but i havnt tried it yet because i dont really need it. Ill have to take a picture of it. looks like a weird science expeariment :laugh:
I've had the black pipe set up for a few years and no rust issues:shrug:. I went with the black pipe because it was recommended by the manufacturer of my blast cabinet (TP Tools). I have it running from the compressor in the center of the shop, up to the ceiling and over one bay then back down and along the wall. With the pipe, all of the fittings (unions, ball valves, 90s etc) it was a couple hundred bucks, but the water separator and regulator were a bit more.
I'll try to get some soon:thumbsup:
heres my contraption. air goes in the top down the swirly pipe to about 3/4s down the tube. then the tube is packed with copper wool. its like steel wool but copper and courser. I forget what I got it from. So the air goes up through that and out the top to a coupler. theres a good amount of room on the bottom and a valve for the water drain. Should work in theory :shrug: but i havnt used it yet. I did put pressure to it and no problems.
