Ot need an air dryer, on the cheap Options

[pete-stevers]

I know an expensive air dyer is a g note and up....that is outta the question!
I was thinking of running the airline through forty feet (or more )line of soft copper in a drum of water to condense any moisture and then running the air through a couple of air tanks conected in series with a spigot in the lowest tank and then through a couple of filters...
it is super moist here in bc and i hate water dripping out of my tools or spraying out of my paint gun
any suggestions are welcome
and remember cost is the main factor in this "new age of fiscal responsibility"

[IronHillRestorations]

Get a canister style dryer with replaceable dessicant.

[pete-stevers]

how often does the filter need replacing, and how does the filter despense with the excess water build up?
and the air still needs to be cooled before such a filter will be effective

[IronHillRestorations]

My set up has a fairly standard filter/regulator/dryer with a two stage dessicant water filter, and then if I paint anything I've got another filter dryer that I use that's got what looks like brown toilet paper dry element.

This works, but if I did more I'd opt for one of the nicer new dryers that work well, not cheap though start around $400 iirc.

[sixnotfour]

on the cheap
harbour freight has a china copy, first stage and then get the on the gun
dispossable dessicant water filter.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...Itemnumber=1118

[pete-stevers]

Thanks jeff (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) 29 bucks is almost to cheep....

[sixnotfour]

Thanks jeff 29 bucks is almost to cheep....

remember cost is the main factor in this "new age of fiscal responsibility"

being a 914 owner, you never know the limits, when someone says cheap.

[Joe Owensby]

If you are in a high humidity area, your first idea is not all bad, especially if you have a small compressor that has to run a lot to keep up with whatever you are doing. The main thing to remember is to have a way to remove the water after it condenses. The condensed water will flow downhill. Provide a way to capture it after it condenses.

Then, after you get rid of most of the water, have one of the secondary filters installed to capture the remainder. There is a filter made by Motorguard that uses a roll of toilet paper to collect the water. I think it may still be available at McMaster Carr. Believe it or not, it works pretty well, and replacement elements are easy to come by. Twenty or so years ago, I designed packaging machinery for cold food packaging rooms, and water in the compressed air was a big problem. The Motoguard was a pretty good solution at the time, because the mechanics in the plant could understand to replace the toilet paper. Nowdays there are better desicant filters with automatic drains, etc. but these cost a lot more. The other think we did on our machines in the packing plants was to have the air supply from the main air header come off the top of the header and loop down the the machine instead of just coming off the bottom of the header. This helped prevent the water in the air line from going to our machine, the water just flowed down the header to the next downward drop. Again, use gravity to your advantage.

[sww914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
how you run the air lines is very important. Make sure that gravity allows the water to drain down towards the compressor in the main line and that there is a petcock a foot or two below your outlet on your vertical drops.

[Mark Henry]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
how you run the air lines is very important. Make sure that gravity allows the water to drain down towards the compressor in the main line and that there is a petcock a foot or two below your outlet on your vertical drops.

Heh heh- heh heh....he said "petcock" heh-heh (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[pete-stevers]

just got off the phone with the "tool guy"
and he said beware of the cheep....chinese desiccant filters as he has heard of them fragmenting into the airline and ruining tools...

so far i am going to run a long condensing coil in a 35 gallon drum fo water into an tank with a petcock on it and through a colvescent filter, desiccant filter, and regulator, and may run a further motor gaurd filter at the tool...if needed