Air Drier

[edl]

Hi All

short of an air drier, what can i do to get some of the water out of the compressor air?

i have it so it is plumbed up first, with a drain leg at the bottom of that first up hill

i have an air/water separator in line

i live in an extremely humid climate - when compressor runs for a while, i get water drops exhausting out of my tools!

 

[unslow1]

I'm from IL so it's also very humid here. I was in one guys shop and he had a timer and blow off valve. He said it was to keep the water from getting in the air gun while painting cars. That is the only time I've ever seen that. Everyone else I know uses the common water separators. That might be something to look into. I would imagine a commercial supplier for body shops would be the place to look.

 

[Dingleburry]

Desiccant?
Coalescer?
Run your lines like this?

 

[edl]

thx - short of the dessicant this is kinda what i have going in terms of layout...

saw a CL add for a "great lakes" air drier (the smallest one) for $300...hmmmmmm...anyone have experience with this brand? - new it is about $900 (from what i can tell)

 

[PT Doc]

It's good for how many cfm?

 

[pierre]

Do you have an after cooler between your compressor and tank? Those go a long way to help moisture drop out in the tank before it even reaches your filters. Water separators are more effective like this too. With a well sized cooler and fan air entering your tank will be at ambient temps. Ever try touching your pump discharge line?

 

[engineer2]

An aftercooler will help a lot, but even at room temperature your compressed air will be at 100% humidity. Drop the pressure and more moisture will condense out. Probably OK for well-oiled air tools, but no good for painting. You can get a disposable desiccant drier if you need to spray paint.

Keep any eye out on CL for a used refrigerated air dryer. They don't come up very often. You only need a small one, maybe 10-15 cfm.
Don't get an industrial desiccant dryer. Those need to run all the time to work.

 

[edl]

after doing some research, it looks like the HFT air dryer has good feedback - found a 20% off cupon...will give it a try

as for my compressor, yes, it has an aftercooler that the air passes through before it goes into the tank - but it is basically the tropics here...need more uumph

 

[ovrrdrive]

I have one of the HF models. I have several water control measures in place before it so I don't think it does much for me, but I can fell the temperature drop in the air coming out of the hose. I made a thread on it.

 

[edl]

thx ovrrdrive