Conpressor drain water collection

[jmgtp]

Hi everyone,
Long time lurker first time poster.

I'm having a bit of an issue caused by my air compressor. To save precious floor space in the garage I keep my conpressor in the basement and plumbed air to to garage with a RapidAir kit. The problem I have is when I blow down the tank all that moisture is causing a mildew odor in the vicinity of the compressor. I do use a water separate on the main pressure line and one at each drop with an online oiler and haven't had any water related issues with my tools.

The unit it a 30 gallon, twin cylinder oiled machine running on 110v. The tank collects quite a bit of water, I think maybe because it's in a basement and basements are sort of known for being a humid environment.

I use a ball valve on the drain. I'm struggling to come up with a way to collect the water versus allowing it to blow out into the atmosphere. If I plumbed in a water separator it would end up being higher than the lowest part of the tank. Would this still work given there is 100+ psi driving the water out? Or would water still collect at the lowest point?

 

[sberry]

Put a piece of hose to it, plumb outside.

 

[countryroad82]

sberry beat me to it! If you rig something up for the water to drain into, if you're like me, you're liable to either put off cleaning it out or forget about it all together until it's a big problem lol.

 

[sberry]

Old copper water line or truck air brake line, most anything would work. Fit it out thru the joist. You may be wise to use outside air, hook hose to the intake, old vaccuum hose of some type comes to mind.
I don't use auto drains. I have 3 vessels, doesn't hurt to walk over and look around and toss the valve on occasion.

 

[jmgtp]

The location of the compressor doesn't make routing it outside at all easy but it may be the most logical choice. Since it is in the basement that means it's below grade. The exit point of a drain line would be about 4 feet above the compressor drain and about 25 feet horizontally. My worry is while the air would drain perhaps gravity would allow water to pool. Again , with 100+ psi the water would probably be forced out but as the pressure continues to drop could additional water allow air to percolate through while it collects at the tank bottom? Is that a legitimate worry?

Forgive my typos, posting from iPhone.

 

[PoorOwner]

I just drill a hole in a Gatorade bottle and inside it has the blue shop rag fluffed in there. Insert hose

 

[PT Doc]

It is amazing how much oomph there will be behind the hose when you open the drain valve.

 

[Jazz1]

My compressor is in garage and my air drain is plumbed through the wall.

 

[lakeroadster]

I built a drain water collector using a used Folgers container, some Kitty Litter a shop rag and some rubber hose.

Cut a flap in the lid, place the shop rag on the top of the container, then put the lid back on.

Hold your hand on top of the lid, open the drain valve until you hear the liquid stop flowing.

The kitty litter absorbs the moisture and helps control mildew smell.

Easy Peazy and damn near free (zy).

 

[JJThrasher]

Do you have a floor drain or sink in your basement?