Anyone installed radiator for portable air compressor?
- Thread starter Bmw4life
- Start date
Derale 15300 Tube and Fin Cooler Core,Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XONT3E?
Something else that works well is a 2nd tank.
Something else that works well is a 2nd tank.
Something like this would be idea to avoid dealing with flares and bending copper
firebirdparts
Well-known member
I observed some time back that Ford used 1/2" tubing on some of their a/c condensers. So that's what I use. Could be bigger, but that's the size of the line I spliced it into.
metalmagpie
Well-known member
For sure the hardest part of installing one of these is bending the copper pipe. If you can make robust flex tubing that would really work well. BTW if you find a solution for flex tubing that includes 3/4" ID please let me know. I would love to plumb one of these into a big vertical compressor I recently put together.
atch
Well-known member
I wonder if the pipe size won't flow sufficiently could you mount two (or more) with manifolds at inlets and outlets.
Your cooler should be rotated so the inlet is on the top and the exit is on the bottom. As you have it now all of the water that condenses out will simply pool in the bottom of each loop in the cooler. The air pumped out by the compressor now has to percolate through that water to get to the tank and will naturally pick up some of that water. Coincidentally, the cooler you used is great for fluid but much less so for air. The 13315 is a superior choice due to its single loop serpentine design. This permits all of the water to flow downhill as it prefers. If additional cooling is needed, just use multiples. I recently undertook this same project with this cooler and the air leaves the cooler AT ambient. With the condensate separator lower than the exit of the cooler the water that comes out the tank now is measured in drops.
Thanks for the advice! Somehow I missed the notification for your post.
I understand I need to rotate the radiator 90 degrees to the right.
I thought double loop radiator was better as the air had to travel more, giving it more chance to cool and drop moisture.
But I see this one would be better
Derale 13315 Series 7000 Tube and Fin Cooler Core.
Now that I've got everything set up, not sure how critical it is to rotate the radiator.
For longer sandblasting sessions, I would like to add fans to the radiators.
I found cheap 12v 80w 12 inch fans for $50. And I was wondering what do people do to connect them?
I was thinking of connecting to the switch on the compressor, so they run when the compressor is on. But the compressor is 220v, so I thought using this transformer.
Or
I understand I need to rotate the radiator 90 degrees to the right.
I thought double loop radiator was better as the air had to travel more, giving it more chance to cool and drop moisture.
But I see this one would be better
Derale 13315 Series 7000 Tube and Fin Cooler Core.
Now that I've got everything set up, not sure how critical it is to rotate the radiator.
For longer sandblasting sessions, I would like to add fans to the radiators.
I found cheap 12v 80w 12 inch fans for $50. And I was wondering what do people do to connect them?
I was thinking of connecting to the switch on the compressor, so they run when the compressor is on. But the compressor is 220v, so I thought using this transformer.
Or
The cooler you originally used is great for fluid, but sub-optimal for the purpose of drying air. Even after rotating it so the entry and exit are located correctly, the design of the cooler itself will still trap liquid water which the air you are attempting to dry must then percolate through. Whether you keep the one you have or get the 13315, both need to be oriented so the air enters the top and exits the bottom, then goes through the condensate separator (which needs to be lower than the cooler exit), and then into the tank.
You indicated previously the cooler was dropping the air temp from 120 to 25, which sounds like roughly ambient for Canadian July. If the air leaving your cooler is already at ambient, there is nothing to gain from adding a fan. If the air is still not sufficiently dry for your purposes, you need to add a refrigerated air dryer and/or dessicant dryer to your system.
You indicated previously the cooler was dropping the air temp from 120 to 25, which sounds like roughly ambient for Canadian July. If the air leaving your cooler is already at ambient, there is nothing to gain from adding a fan. If the air is still not sufficiently dry for your purposes, you need to add a refrigerated air dryer and/or dessicant dryer to your system.
john.k
Well-known member
Where I worked had huge tube and fin coolers for compressor delivery ....6ft square ,and fans driven by 20 hp motors...........plus big air tanks ,I would drain over 200 gallons of water from the tanks every morning.............so the coolers certainly took water out of the system.