Best Air Dryer/water separator

[SkinnyPedal]

Looking for suggestions.
Need a good Air Dryer/Water separator with 3/4” inlet/outlet for $100 or less

Thanks for any help and product reviews.

 

[SkinnyPedal]

Bump. Small hobby shop.

 

[Elsinore13]

How far from the compressor will it be mounted? Will the air still be hot once it passes through? I have an auto drain on my 15hp screw compressor that runs the air through an intercooler/aftercooler? before it goes into the tank and then through the auto drain separator. From there it passes through a tank mounted refrigerated unit of sorts then into the shop airlines. At the paint booth I also have a large 2 stage dessicant filter.

How big is the compressor, how are the air lines and drops laid out and what are you using it for?

I'm currently running new air lines (copper this time) and am in search of a good oil separator. My old lines have shown signs of oil contamination and none of the water separators seem to remove oil. Best recommendation I have had yet is to run the air (after the refrigerated unit) into a y and through two Motorguard Paper Filters before going into the shop air lines.

 

[matt_i]

Look at ebay for Aro, Numatics, SMC, Parker, I-R, Wilkerson, Watts, Speedaire, MasterPneumatic, to name a few.

Used, or NIB industrial surplus would be my choice. A cyclonic filter doesn't wear out. The drain valve or float could get touchy or leaky but the mechanical removal process will continue to work assuming all of the original parts are still in the assembly. In a hobby shop for all the time, you could just block the drain and remove and dump the bowl from time to time.

I wouldn't touch anything flashy and new that screams minimum price point, just my opinion.

My other opinion is if you want "best" you need 3 stages....cyclonic, coalescing, and then dessicant. Refrigerated is an option too but requires more expense, probably not justified for a hobby shop.

 

[Bretny]

Make your own air cooler before the tank. Basicly a maze of copper pipe with a drain on one low corner.

 

[md21722]

The best air dryer/water separator I have is an auxillary tank plumbed in series with my air compressors. The extra tank acts an expansion device and cooler, and drops an enormous amount of water - better than any coalescing filter you will find for less than 100 bucks. I have my coalescing filter and regulator mounted after the auxiliary tank and all I get in the filter base is some rust specs from the lines. If I were to re-plumb to put the coalescing filter on the output of the actual air compressors, the coalescing filter would catch some water, but a bunch would go right through it and condense at the tool.