Most efficient compressor cooler!

[nine4gmc]

(A) I have six sticks of 1/2" finned copper tubing I got from my scrap guy. He said it came from a hot tub iirc, anyway I want to use it to cool the air from my compressor and help remove moisture from the system. My question is should I put this setup between the pump and tank, or tank and airlines. Obviously it would be easier to connect it to the tank out and just drain the tank more often but if I can prevent more moisture from reaching the tank by placing it between the pump and tank, I'd rather do that. I'm thinking I can mount this to the belt shroud on my Husky 80 gal single stage 3 cylinder compressor. My concerns of putting it between the pump and tank are the smaller line bottle necking the system.



1. The fittings on the pump head are 3/4" I think and the tubing is 1/2" if that matters.

Part Duece. The ball valve on the drain tee at the out would be extended down closer to the floor.

3. The tank out is 3/4" and would be stupid easy to hook up there but I think I would benefit more having it before the tank.





Take the pic and my crude drawing and use your imagination for the rest.

 

[nine4gmc]

(B) like this but before or after the tank? What would be more efficient?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nine4gmc]

or "C", F'it... the ball valve and quick connect fitting coming out the tank has worked for a quarter century. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

 

[Schurkey]

How much pressure is that copper tubing w/fins rated for? How much pressure does the pump compressor put out?

 

[nine4gmc]

Copper fins were used scrap, unknown psi but I'm thinking it's thick and spiral finned so should be 155 or more, compressor is rated at 155 psi.

 

[Corndoggeh]

Can you strip a bit of the fins on the end so you can measure the pipe thickness? Its extremely important to know if the pipe is designed to handle the high pressure. Not only for safety reasons but also so you don't waste time making the setup only for it to leak/burst.

 

[nine4gmc]

Absolutely, it'll be tomorrow though. Looks like standard copper pipe though at a glance, it doesn't look like it's thinner than regular pipe.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Yeah, I would check the pipe first to make sure it could handle the pressure, and also inspect the inside of the tubes.

"A" would probably be easier to solder... "B" would probably work better though.

I would put it between the pump & tank, that way you can have a drain like your pictures, but also the tank will capture extra moisture too.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

How much pressure is that copper tubing w/fins rated for? How much pressure does the pump compressor put out?

That stuff is not from a hot tub. It's from a heating system and typically it isn't much thicker than DWV. I wouldn't put any real pressure on it...

Tommy

 

[Firebrick43]

If the compressor is 3/4 and the tubing is 1/2 you probably do a combination of A and B. A will be to restrictive. If everything is parallel like b flow will not be equal as fluid will take the path of least resistance and there fore less cooling. Assemble them so three tubes are is in series and those two assemblies are in parallel.

 

[Paul R. Haller]

Here is my compressor cooler. You can not use your depiction B as drawn for the cooler. The compressed air will take the path of least resistance. It needs to be a single path to force the air through the entire cooler then back to the compressor tank. See my attachment.

 

[Corndoggeh]

Why do you all have such big and bulky coolers? Heck, a small fan could reduce the amount of copper your using big time by using a boxed array as well.

 

[Paul R. Haller]

I wanted to be sure to remove all the water. I do auto painting. The larger the cooling surface the better the condensation process to remove the water if the cooling tubes are cool. It could also be mounted to the fan shroud to be smaller but the air that's thrown off the compressor is hot so, I opted for this set up. Because it's mounted vertically the water all drains to the valves at the bottom of the cooler for easy removal and because it's mounted against the wall it takes up little space. That said, it was a lot of copper and valves, not to mention a lot of soldering. It does work well and while I have water and particulate filters at the painting station, I never get any water there and also 0 water in the tank.