Alright I have questions regarding air compressor filters/seperators/driers. I have a 5hp 26gal Husky compressor for the shop. I have a water seperator/filter on it right if the outlet inline to my regulator. Problem is I still get moisture in the rubber hose when in use my bench top blast cabinet. How do I fix this? I can't run pipe as my house is a rental. The garage has a PVC line run in it with quick disconnects. Where do you guys get you compressor stuff as I haven't found local place. Also my output is 1/4". Any help would be great so I can solve this.

Thanks
Magna

 

always thought the separator needed to be down the line a ways - the real moisture develops as the compressed air cools off - in your case, after the separator

 

I have the same problem at work. My air/oil separator is in my spray booth about fifty feet from the compressor. It does a wonderful job on the oil but not so great on the water. I have been told from the professionals that set all this up to get the remaining water out I will need a refrigerated water separator which will cost several thousand dollars. Well, I'm not spending that kind of dough so I use the desiccant inline filters from NAPA. They are around seven dollars each and last around a month. I attach them right to the spray gun and have no problems at all.

 

I put a seperator/filter right on my blast cabinet. I was having the same issue with the gun plugging up from moisture, that did the trick. I've bought them at tractor supply, Home Depot and sears before. Napa has them as well as lowes if all else fails you can order one from most suppliers like Eastwood etc.

 

Here's a pic of a unit I built to dry the air in my bead blaster. Works very well in high humidity, easy and fairly cheap to make. I need to rehang it after moving my blaster. Sorry the pic is sideways, darn ipad..

 

Here's my setup, works like a charm.

 

An air dryer off the compressor works great, or the cheapest was is the separator purge units drop mounted in several locations over the length of the hard plumbed air line.

 

Should probably switch to 3/8" as well. IMO. Also, I assume you drain your tank after each use?

 

Probably works good in low humidity..that dryer by itself didn't come close for me..

 

Yep I drain the tank everytime after I am done with it. Maybe if I run the compressor to the PVC pipe already in the garage and then add another filter in between the PVC access point for the hose and the blast cabinet will be enough. Not upgrading to 3/8 since the output from the compressor is 1/4. One day when I get a bigger compressor that runs off 220.

 

It works well all of the time. I run a dryer off of my compressor, this one picks up the rest at the cabinet. I only really needed it for humid conditions, in dry weather the main dryer off of the compressor worked fine.

 

You need an air line drop to condense out the water. Use black iron pipe, as the mass of the iron pipe helps cool the air and condense the water.

 

Also note in Joe's diagram the drops for each airline come out of the top of the header pipe. Condensed water falls to the bottom of the header and ends up at the drain at the lower end of the system. PVC is a serious no no. It WILL explode. I work for An industrial Compressor manufacturer. We will not let our tech's into a plant with PVC. I have witnessed the results and when it blows out it sends shards of plastic out like spears.

 

Well it looks like I'll have to try dc2x4drvr's idea since I'm not making anything permanent in the garage due to renting. That setup combined with the filter on the compressor should hopefully solve my problem. That will be my Home Depot project this wk.

 

I agree PVC is not a good idea. Galvanized pipe works fine also with a good filter and drier setup. With a large compressor I like to run a 2" header and 3/4 down pipes, it allows more accumulation.

 

That's right Eric. The bigger the header the better. It acts as more storage and is just like adding a bigger tank to your compressor. Galvanized is much better than black iron and copper is better still. Black iron rusts inside from the moisture. Over time it gets smaller and smaller like a clogged artery and slows down the velocity of the air. Another thought when designing a system: For every 20 degrees you reduce the approach temp to the compressor you reduce the moisture content of the air by 50%. That is why your compressor makes more water in the summer compared to the cooler months. Keep your compressor in a well ventilated area.

 

I ran into this on accident and it is a good thing because I am considering piping my workshop. The diagram makes total sense to me, BUT the standpipe that comes out of the compressor states a minimum of 25', 50' optimum. Now in my shop, my ceiling is about 12' so if I ran the first pipe out of the compressor (outlet is about 4' from the floor, so actual max is 8') would this be a waste of time or do I just build a similar setup and understand that I am not getting maximum moisture collection in the down-traps? I was thinking that maybe I could run the initial standpipe down to the floor, then back up creating a trap there too to make up for the lack of optimum height. My plan is similar to Joe's picture above, 3 drops, 2 inside, 1 outside.

The compressor is used mostly for painting so I am going to install dryers/filters at least. It is not used daily but there is heavy use on weekends. I drain the water valve about once a week, never go past 2 weeks.

Compressor Specs:
33gal, 2hp, single stage, non-oil motor, upright

Ambient temperature/humidity in shop (enclosed, insulated, semi-climate controlled):
Temp inside; winter ~50 (heater off), summer ~80 (no A/C), relative humidity outside; winter avg ~80%, summer avg ~40%

So with all that, am I over-engineering things?

 

Keep in mind the 25' minimum the drawing refers to is the total run to the first drop. It does not matter if it is up, down left or right. In your case you run 8' to the ceiling and go a minimum of 17 ' to your first drop. If this is not possible keep the drop for the paint gun as far from the compressor as possible in the line. Very important to drain the water daily. Not only does this get the moisture out of the system but if you are using black iron pipe the moisture creates rust from the inside out. I have seen 3/4" pipe diameter reduced to 1/4" in less than a year! It doesn't matter how large a compressor you have if you are trying to push a lot of air through a 1/4" hole you are wasting time.

 

You may want to try www.garagejournal.com , they have a lot of information, drawings, etc on this topic. Use the search function.

 

Well here is what I came up with at home depot. I used 1/2" galvanized pipe. There is about 14ft of pipe the air goes through before the 3/8" threaded filter at the end. From the compressor there is a small filter then a quick disconnect where I run a rubber hose to the quick connect on the pipe. right off the second filter I have a quick disconnect to attach the rubber hose I'll be use the tools on. Its hanging from one of the roof cross supports with a tie down strap. Hopefully get to test it tomorrow after the sealant on blast cabinet is cured and then reassembled.