Albiemanmike
Well-known member
I know it has been beaten to death on here but I have been doing a lot of research recently about this and want to fabricate something to take care of the excessive moisture in my compressed air system. I don't have a piping system in my small garage which is only about 500 sq. ft. or so. It isn't small but it isn't really big enough to warrant a full blown piping system as i only run one hose off of the compressor to run anything air powered. Prior to finding all these threads about compressed air systems I had no idea of the complexity of these systems and as such the way I have my system setup it is no wonder I have a water problem.
I have an older 80 ga. Devilbiss 6.5 hp. 2 stage compressor which is no longer made. I just received a new Condor pressure switch/magnetic starter which has solved my pressure switch problems that was causing the compressor to not shut off and also the switch leaked. I found out from the company I got my new switch from that the switch on my compressor was a light duty item and wasn't designed to handle the 220v. current causing the switch contacts to weld together and not shut off. Thank god for the safety pressure relief valve. So I installed the pressure switch and now I am moving on to thinking about how best to fabricate some type of cooling arrangement for the air coming from the pump to the tank. I have read till I am crossed eyed all the things guy's have done and most of the ideas are ingenious.
I am trying to do this on a budget and not spend hundreds of dollars on this system. I liked the idea of using an automotive condenser but fear that it may cause to much of a restriction in the air flow. The aftermarket aftercoolers are just too rich for my taste although that would be ideal. So next I looked at an aftermarket oil cooler like the ones used here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40753&highlight=compressor+air+condensate These are nice solutions but all of the ones I could find on Ebay were close to $100. Does anyone have a source for an inexpensive oil cooler type cooler good for this application? My plan is to come out of the compressor head route to the cooler then out of the cooler down to some type of drain trap setup. I will plumb off of the drain trap setup above the actual trap and route that line back up to the compressor tank. Then my air comes out of the tank through a ball valve then to a combination pressure regulator/water filter and off of that to my air hose to feed my tools.
Do you think that a setup such as this will be sufficient enough to remove the majority of the water I am getting in my air line? I am also thinking about putting an auto drain on the trap coming off of the cooler output but there again we are talking significant money to purchase a good auto drain valve but I think that is somewhat mandatory for this setup. I have the HF auto drain plumbed to the bottom of my tank but I don't think it is really draining enough moisture to be of any benefit as it only opens for a second or two.
I was thinking maybe you could fabricate some type of DIY cooler using black pipe and fittings? Does anyone think that making something like that resembling and oil cooler without the fins would cool the air enough to condense the water vapor into a liquid? I was thinking this might be be a low cost way to have an aftercooler type cooler? Just some things that have been bouncing around in my knoggin'. Any input good or bad is highly appreciated.
I have an older 80 ga. Devilbiss 6.5 hp. 2 stage compressor which is no longer made. I just received a new Condor pressure switch/magnetic starter which has solved my pressure switch problems that was causing the compressor to not shut off and also the switch leaked. I found out from the company I got my new switch from that the switch on my compressor was a light duty item and wasn't designed to handle the 220v. current causing the switch contacts to weld together and not shut off. Thank god for the safety pressure relief valve. So I installed the pressure switch and now I am moving on to thinking about how best to fabricate some type of cooling arrangement for the air coming from the pump to the tank. I have read till I am crossed eyed all the things guy's have done and most of the ideas are ingenious.
I am trying to do this on a budget and not spend hundreds of dollars on this system. I liked the idea of using an automotive condenser but fear that it may cause to much of a restriction in the air flow. The aftermarket aftercoolers are just too rich for my taste although that would be ideal. So next I looked at an aftermarket oil cooler like the ones used here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40753&highlight=compressor+air+condensate These are nice solutions but all of the ones I could find on Ebay were close to $100. Does anyone have a source for an inexpensive oil cooler type cooler good for this application? My plan is to come out of the compressor head route to the cooler then out of the cooler down to some type of drain trap setup. I will plumb off of the drain trap setup above the actual trap and route that line back up to the compressor tank. Then my air comes out of the tank through a ball valve then to a combination pressure regulator/water filter and off of that to my air hose to feed my tools.
Do you think that a setup such as this will be sufficient enough to remove the majority of the water I am getting in my air line? I am also thinking about putting an auto drain on the trap coming off of the cooler output but there again we are talking significant money to purchase a good auto drain valve but I think that is somewhat mandatory for this setup. I have the HF auto drain plumbed to the bottom of my tank but I don't think it is really draining enough moisture to be of any benefit as it only opens for a second or two.
I was thinking maybe you could fabricate some type of DIY cooler using black pipe and fittings? Does anyone think that making something like that resembling and oil cooler without the fins would cool the air enough to condense the water vapor into a liquid? I was thinking this might be be a low cost way to have an aftercooler type cooler? Just some things that have been bouncing around in my knoggin'. Any input good or bad is highly appreciated.
