draining water from compressor?

[superspec]

how often should this be done? im sure it is dependent on how often it runs but for the typical DIY person in the garage. ive got a 45-50ish gallon tank that ive had for several years now and ive never emptied it but i also dont really notice any water coming out of my tools either. if i had to guess it would probably avg 1-2 cycles a month over the past say 3 years.

anything i should know other than to make sure i purge the air before pulling the plug?

 

[softailgarage]

I drain my daily, but its 60 gallon and pretty much "on" all day, every day. when I had a portable, I drained it as I was using it and stored it with the drain open. You want to drain it with it on and pressurized so the water can be blown out. the 2 #1 things to do with a compressor...#1 oil, #2 drain

 

[Davefr]

how often should this be done? im sure it is dependent on how often it runs but for the typical DIY person in the garage. ive got a 45-50ish gallon tank that ive had for several years now and ive never emptied it but i also dont really notice any water coming out of my tools either. if i had to guess it would probably avg 1-2 cycles a month over the past say 3 years.

anything i should know other than to make sure i purge the air before pulling the plug?

The manufacturers suggest you do it weekly but that's overkill for your situation. At 1-2 cycles/mo I'd drain it every 60-90 days and adjust your schedule depending of how much water comes out.

I'd also add an extension pipe and valve to your drain hole. That will make it easier to drain and the water will reside in the pipe vs the tank.

 

[Gary S]

I drain mine everytime I use it. I don't use it often, so I don't want water sitting in the tank. I last used it a couple of weeks ago. I ran it all morning, and when I finished, I got less than a 1/2 tsp of water out of it. Depending on your humidity, you might get a lot of water, or almost none.

 

[1948]

i drained the tank at the shop the other day, and i dont think it has been drained in over 40 years lol it was nearly 40 gallons worth full, and full of rust chunks. (obviously i wasnt the one using it for the past 40 years)

 

[sumner52000]

Do all compressor tanks have drains? Mine is pretty old and I haven't seen a drain.

 

[superspec]

I drain my daily, but its 60 gallon and pretty much "on" all day, every day. when I had a portable, I drained it as I was using it and stored it with the drain open. You want to drain it with it on and pressurized so the water can be blown out. the 2 #1 things to do with a compressor...#1 oil, #2 drain

how much pressure? i think mine is just bolt, not really a vlave but i could be wrong. 140psi could really make a bolt hurt i would think haha.

 

[dirttracker18]

If you use it rarely then just drain it when you are done.

If you have never drained it before then do it cautiously. My dad was bad for not draining his tank and the valve rusted shut. I had to remove the valve and neglected to make sure all pressure was out. When the valve popped out a rush of high pressure air along with associated rust particles hit my hand imbedding rust into my skin.

I was young and stupid and that would never happen now but a good warning.

I can pretty much gaurantee that if you have not drained it in years then there is a significant amount of water sitting in the bottom. All the moisture in the air will settle once in the tank as it sits during temp changes.

Drain it now and do it everytime you are done with it. You can get an automated unit that will blow out a small amount of air to help with water issues but just draining it is better.

 

[jjjrmx5]

Do all compressor tanks have drains? Mine is pretty old and I haven't seen a drain.

Drain has to be there somewhere unless it has ain inverted bottom based air outlet and motor run that needs to run to an outlet ball valve and moisture collector somwhere inline and below the most southern point of the compressor tank.

Not likely and less than correct if done that way.

All in all, yes, the moisture in the condensed air in the tank has to go somewhere via a drain valve. Or it sits there till the tank fails due to interior corrosion.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Ha! ha he! I read '' DRINKING'' water from the compressor......Maybe after being locked in the compressor room for a few days...eewww

 

[nickleone]

auto drains are available.

Nick

 

[jonese]

i drained the tank at the shop the other day, and i dont think it has been drained in over 40 years lol it was nearly 40 gallons worth full, and full of rust chunks. (obviously i wasnt the one using it for the past 40 years)

yikes

 

[stripped]

I leave the drain on mine open until I use it and then afterward make sure that it's empty again. I worked in a shop where the compressor was on a timer. It started about 2 hours before the shop opened and auto drained just before we started work. It drained again at lunch time and at the end of the shift. We had water traps with drains all over the shop too.

 

[dirttracker18]

i drained the tank at the shop the other day, and i dont think it has been drained in over 40 years lol it was nearly 40 gallons worth full, and full of rust chunks. (obviously i wasnt the one using it for the past 40 years)

I often wonder about the safety aspect of compressors that do not get drained. They obviously rust from the inside out but at what point do they fail and could it be a catostophic failure?

40 years sounds like a lot of time to rust and still no failure?

I guess the other point is that you are now running rust particles through your tools.

 

[CARS]

The State's boiler and vessel inspector comes to my shop every 2 years to re-certify my air tanks.

He uses some sort of sonic devise on the bottom of the tanks to tell if they are getting too thin. There should be a minimum thickness spec on the tank's tag.

 

[1948]

I often wonder about the safety aspect of compressors that do not get drained. They obviously rust from the inside out but at what point do they fail and could it be a catostophic failure?

40 years sounds like a lot of time to rust and still no failure?

I guess the other point is that you are now running rust particles through your tools.

yeah, the compressor is pretty much a joke the way its all rigged together. part old, part new harbor freight garbage. it will be the first thing to go when i get the shop rolling. i think if it was going to blow out it would crack or a pinhole would start. it has a compressor room tho so if it does go no one should get hurt.

 

[SGKent]

I've noticed in some other threads folks here have added ball valves etc to drain their tanks. Our two tanks have a radiator petcock on the bottom that is a pain to get to. Are folks just taking that out and putting an elbow and small pipe in or are that unscrewing the big plug that the petcock goes into? I'm thinking that big one has to be a pain if the threads are rusted. I am concerned that an elbow and hose might get broken off from the leverage but kinda wondering what others are using to make it easier to access the petcock valve.

 

[G_P]

Just remove the petcock and put a 90 degree elbow into the bottom of the tank then run a ****** out from the elbow with a ball valve on the end. You can add a hose to the valve as well and just leave it coiled under the compressor then uncoil it and run it out the door or into a floor drain to drain it so your not blowing rusty/oily water all over your floor.

 

[SGKent]

Just remove the petcock and put a 90 degree elbow into the bottom of the tank then run a ****** out from the elbow with a ball valve on the end. You can add a hose to the valve as well and just leave it coiled under the compressor then uncoil it and run it out the door or into a floor drain to drain it so your not blowing rusty/oily water all over your floor.

Ok that is kind of what I had in mind. The only question is, is the pipe strong enough so that the leverage working the ball valve won't break the foot long ****** / pipe or are y'all using steel pipe instead of copper?

 

[rwhite692]

I drain mine (120 gallon upright) often, I'd say every other time I use the compressor.

I live in a pretty dry region of California, and even so, I get a pretty good amount of water. I imagine in a more humid area, I'd have a lot more.

As SGKent said....I just have a 3/8" ball valve attached to the tank bottom, and a poly hose running outside, under the garage door (not shown in this pic)

Years ago, I tried the automatic drain valves, The problem I found with those was that they did not stay open nearly long enough to get all of the water out of the tank, and the mechanisms within them would eventually get fouled with junk, and they would quit working.

 

[szyg6h]

Good ideas- gonna add a drain pipe, let the water drain onto the pipe, rather than rust out the tank.
Is the something that a guy could add to the tank? ....to make the water less corrosive, and nasty?

 

[shannonw]

Florida humidity i get tons of water (i assume it contributes). I broke down and picked up an electronic auto drain off ebay, did like the post above so i didn't have to reach under, ran it towards the wall so no one could step on it, put a ball valve before the autotimer (in case it gets clogged i can cut the ball valve)..also cracked the ball valve about 1/2 way to cut down on the noise.

For infrequent home use the auto timers run too often you only have choices of every 0-45m for X seconds so i'm going to plug that into yet another cheapo wall timer that takes a 3 prong plug. If i used it every day i'm sure i'd remember to manually drain it, but infrequent i'm equally sure i wouldn't =) hopefully this will help.

 

[webdog]

I drain mine once or twice a week normally but sometimes go as long as two weeks, the compressor is always powered and usually runs 2-3 hours a day when using the plasma table.

 

[darkzero]

I drain mine (120 gallon upright) often, I'd say every other time I use the compressor.

I live in a pretty dry region of California, and even so, I get a pretty good amount of water. I imagine in a more humid area, I'd have a lot more.

As SGKent said....I just have a 3/8" ball valve attached to the tank bottom, and a poly hose running outside, under the garage door (not shown in this pic)

Years ago, I tried the automatic drain valves, The problem I found with those was that they did not stay open nearly long enough to get all of the water out of the tank, and the mechanisms within them would eventually get fouled with junk, and they would quit working.

I also drain mine every day at the start of the day when I use the compressor (mostly on weekends). I rarely need to use the compressor during week days enough for it to turn on. I keep my tank pressurized all the time.

is the pipe strong enough so that the leverage working the ball valve won't break the foot long ****** / pipe or are y'all using steel pipe instead of copper?

I originally used galvanized pipe with a brass elbow since that's what I had laying around. I was warned not use a galvanized elbow as it would eventually rust through & break off. Would probably take years before it would happen though. I wasn't using a galvanized elbow but I figured I might as well change the galvanized pipe to brass since I was a little concerned about electrolysis. Only used the galvanized pipe for a month & it was already starting to show signs of rust but still probably years before an issue would arise.

 

[KCarGuy]

I also have a 120 Volt Auto Drain system setup on my compressor.
It has been working for at least 2 years now, without any issues.
It can be set for how often it fires (mine is every 30 minutes)
and it can be set for how long it stays open (mine is 20 seconds)

I mounted a 1/2" pipe that goes through my wall and then 90's down to the ground.
and have a 3/8" hose between the auto drain and the Pipe.

I never worry about it, it doesnt make me jump anymore, and it scares off any critters outside my garage! Love it!

 

[chris142]

We run our copmpressor all the time. Sandblasting stuff, air tools etc. I drain it every friday night and only get a few ounces of water out.

 

[Falcon67]

I use a brass elbow on the bottom of the 60 gal upright, some brass pipe, 1/4" ball valve, etc. The exhaust sticks out the back wall. Once in a while, I bleed the tank. I may dig a little hole and put some gravel in that, then turn the pipe into the gavel pit. Scares the hell out of the dogs when you crack it.

 

[SGKent]

I use a brass elbow on the bottom of the 60 gal upright, some brass pipe, 1/4" ball valve, etc. The exhaust sticks out the back wall. Once in a while, I bleed the tank. I may dig a little hole and put some gravel in that, then turn the pipe into the gavel pit. Scares the hell out of the dogs when you crack it.

That sounds most reasonable. I was thinking I didn't want the rust, oil and water sprayed out into the garden and pointing down would launch mud. The gravel pit solves all. Maybe I will point it into the French drain and scare the heck out of kids on halloween who are walking by the sidewalk out front where it empties. Put a sheet ghost and crape paper ribbon over it or something

 

[Bruce Amacker]

If you don't care about draining the water directly under the compressor, an air brake truck manual (cable) drain valve is about $8 and works great. Remote cable, no bending over......

 

[SGKent]

If you don't care about draining the water directly under the compressor, an air brake truck manual (cable) drain valve is about $8 and works great. Remote cable, no bending over......

I saw one of those and it looked interesting but the shed floor is plywood and we are concerned about rotting it. I guess we could slide an floor oil pan under it to catch the spray.

 

[71flh]

Mine has (old compressor) instructions on the side that say drain condensate daily. Of course this is a commercial grade compressor. Yes, I'm bragging because I love this compressor so much. I have a 3 compressors (like bears) story too

This doesn't mean drain all the air out; it just means let the water out, which takes a few seconds.