Need air compressor help-moisture in the air hose

[NYBODYMAN]

I have a 60 gallon Ingersoll Rand SS5 compressor, RTI filter, and Flexzilla air reel/hose. I understand that compressed air gets warm and creates moisture. I also believe I understand that there should be more air line between the compressor and my air hose but I am not exactly sure how to go about this. I am currently using my compressor for body work (DA sander, grinder, etc as well as priming parts). I am definitely getting moisture in the air hose as it comes out when I use my blow gun. I regularly drain the compressor and filter throughout using the compressor for the day but it's not enough. Looking for advice on how to remedy or at least remove as much moisture as possible. I have seen the Rapid Air kit and was wondering if using that to extend my air line prior to the air hose reel would work. Attached are some pics of my set up.

 

[nadogail]

Perhaps you could consider adding an Automatic Drain Valve on both your tank and regulator.

 

[ycgoat]

You can buy an electric air dryer but they are too expensive for my limited budget. There are a handful of DIY solutions;

Run the air through an intercooler, such as a copper coil in a bucket of water.
An old car condenser coil. A length of metal pipe. All set ups need a drain at the low points

I am about to break the line between the compressor and tank and run through a series of vertical copper tubes with a drain at the bottom

 

[ycgoat]

https://m.youtube.com/hashtag/compressedairdryer

 

[Pileit]

Have been battling this for 36 years. just had a 1500-dollar aircondition one **** out after 3 years. The small filters and seperators work ok unless blasting, plasma cutting or painting. Going to try this route. Have 2 units. 1 between compressor and tank and one after tank. A friend has the rapid air one and it helps. Think copper and larger surface area may help. Hoping. Good luck.

 

[Walkers]

Get the rapid air kit, plumb it around the perimeter of your shop, then at the end install a water trap, then your hose reel.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Get the rapid air kit, plumb it around the perimeter of your shop, then at the end install a water trap, then your hose reel.

This was my thoughts. Get the Rapid Air kit, snake it on the wall, put another filter, then the hose reel. I just want to hear others input and sounds like you have same thoughts. Thanks.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

You need to turn your hot steamy vapor into droplets that can then fall to the bottom of your receiver to be removed when you drain the condensate out. The only way to do that is with a good intercooler, whichever way you decide, to make or to purchase, you have no real option other than that...well expensive after coolers aside.

 

[Pileit]

https://www.rapidairproducts.com/shop/fastpipe/fastpipe-cooling-kits almost ordered this but thought copper would transfer heat and condense better. Our whole shop air system is plumbed with rapid air 3/4 pipe. I really like their products.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

https://www.rapidairproducts.com/shop/fastpipe/fastpipe-cooling-kits almost ordered this but thought copper would transfer heat and condense better. Our whole shop air system is plumbed with rapid air 3/4 pipe. I really like their products.

Wow! This looks like just what I need. I would assume 3/4" would be sufficient for my application. Question: Where should I install any filters/traps in conjunction with this system?

 

[ZRX61]

Simple solution: 50ft of copper pipe between the tank & the separator. A lot less than the $350 Rapidair system (but steal their design & turn it 90deg so the long runs are *almost* horizontal)
Tank > 50ft of copper pipe (with ball valve drains) > filter/trap > airline > tool

You can use two long runs along the garage wall instead of the 4 shorter vertical ones in the Rapidair system.
Short vertical piece to join the two long runs.. 90Deg elbow on the top run, T on the lower one with a ball valve.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Simple solution: 50ft of copper pipe between the tank & the separator. A lot less than the $350 Rapidair system (but steal their design & turn it 90deg so the long runs are *almost* horizontal)
Tank > 50ft of copper pipe (with ball valve drains) > filter/trap > airline > tool

You can use two long runs along the garage wall instead of the 4 shorter vertical ones in the Rapidair system.
Short vertical piece to join the two long runs.. 90Deg elbow on the top run, T on the lower one with a ball valve.

I actually just found it for $289 here:

RapidAir F28072 3/4-Inch Fastpipe Cooling Kit

Buy RapidAir F28072 Direct. Free Shipping. Check the RapidAir 3/4-Inch Fastpipe Cooling Kit ratings before checking out.

www.aircompressorsdirect.com

 

[Pileit]

After our homemade copper tubing condensor we will have a water seperator and filter with regulator.

 

[Pileit]

I don't claim to be anything more than a sidewalk engineer. With that qualification i have no idea if the rapid air cooler kit would have enough thermal conductivity to do much, that's why i went with copper. I looked at a chart and if i understood it correctly you would need over 200 feet of pex to transfer the heat of 50 foot of copper. Our 1st copper cooler will hopefully keep our 80-gal tank drier. The second one will be hooked up via 3/4 high pressure flex hose from tank through copper cooler to anothr flex hose then to our 3/4 rapid air pex al pex that runs throughout shop.

 

[tester19]

How much was the 50' of copper??
.
.
.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

I use this same model on our shop Quincy QR 25- 325 and it works great. These run around $289 new, this one is used but looks in great shape. Mount it to the rear of your belt guard to get air flow over the fins and you're good to go.

AKG Cool-Line C-1835BG Aftercooler | BMI Surplus

Akg Air Cooled Aftercooler, Max HP 10, 35 CFM C-1835BG | Zoro

Order Akg Air Cooled Aftercooler, Max HP 10, 35 CFM, C-1835BG at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.

www.zoro.com

 

[TJMtl]

I have the copper snake on my wall, it never has anything in it when I open the drains. The aftercooler (factory installed on my Saylor-Beall) on the other hand has eliminated the droplets in my air. I even eliminated my dessicant filter because it's not required anymore.

 

[Pileit]

How much was the 50' of copper??
.
.
.

I bought awhile back and with all elbows and fittings around 350.00

 

[niget2002]

I use this same model on our shop Quincy QR 25- 325 and it works great. These run around $289 new, this one is used but looks in great shape. Mount it to the rear of your belt guard to get air flow over the fins and you're good to go.

AKG Cool-Line C-1835BG Aftercooler | BMI Surplus

Akg Air Cooled Aftercooler, Max HP 10, 35 CFM C-1835BG | Zoro

Order Akg Air Cooled Aftercooler, Max HP 10, 35 CFM, C-1835BG at Zoro.com. Great prices & free shipping on orders over $50 when you sign in or sign up for an account.

www.zoro.com

I've seen where people have modified heater cores from a car to do the same. I was looking at using this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XONT3E/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

Can't beat that deal niget, AND it's made in the US! Just need -8 adapters to flare or compression and a couple of angle mounts and you're good to go. I would check the max PSI rating to be safe.

EDIT: I read that they are rated @250 PSI.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I've got this. An oil cooler, a couple water traps, a coalescing filter, and a desiccator. Gives dead, dry air. So dry that the second water trap has to get rinsed out occasionally to keep the seals moist.

 

[imagineer]

Debunking the Franzinator

So there a several (very several) threads about water condensation, and the Franzinator in particular. There has not been, to my knowledge, any thorough analysis of what actually needs to happen to make dry air come out of a hose, or what the end-all, be-all best way to do it is. So, I'll show...

www.garagejournal.com

I'm sure there are even numbers of folks that will say it does or doesn't work, but I'm on the side that agrees a Franzinator (or a dual one like I made, does in fact remove a lot of the moisture from the compressed air.

My franzinator design is all aluminum with external finning, and I have two inline. There's a significant difference in air temp from the inlet to the outlet of the franzinator. I.e., I can't touch the line coming out of the pump without burning my hand, but the outlet line from the Franzinator into the tank can be touched without being burned.

The Franzinator is entirely part of the tube that runs from the compressor pump to the check valve going into the tank.

My set up also uses 24vdc landscape valves at the bottom of the Franzinator tubes that close when the compressor cycles on, and open when the compressor cycles off. Once the pressure bleeds off a bit, the landscape valves open and allow the condensate in the Franzinator tubes to be ejected outside.

 

[tdkkart]

Run the Rapidaire, or copper, which ever fits your fancy, BUT, run the lines around the shop at the floor/baseboard level then do your 'drops" up the wall with the outlet at whatever height you want. Put a drain valve at the end of each wall down by the floor so you can blow out the main lines.
I did this 10 years ago in my shop, I NEVER have moisture in my hoses or other connections, and I don't even have a misture trap of filter in the system. I have a point-of-use filter/trap setup that I plug in front of a spray gun or my plasma if i need to be sure to have dry air. Water likes going downhill, has a hell of a time going up, so why drop it from above and put in extra drains below your outlets?
Start with it at the bottom and just blow the trunk out periodically.

I like the Rapidaire system, easy to work with, fast and it looks good. The only issues I have is that by the time you buy the t's and elbows and other fittings, you'll easily have $80 in every drop. I've got an embarrassing amount of money in my air system, and it's nothing fancy.

We have literally thousands of feet of overhead air lines at work, some of it as much as 3" in diameter, and a lot of it 50 years old or more, interconnected to several compressors in various areas of the complex. Most of the system has the taps off the top of the trunk lines in an upside down "J" before dropping to point of use. The ONLY time we have problems with moisture are in places where somebody lost their head and did a drop off the bottom of a trunk line. Any of those lines, you can walk up to at most any time and drain a 5 gallon bucket of water out.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Run the Rapidaire, or copper, which ever fits your fancy, BUT, run the lines around the shop at the floor/baseboard level then do your 'drops" up the wall with the outlet at whatever height you want. Put a drain valve at the end of each wall down by the floor so you can blow out the main lines.
I did this 10 years ago in my shop, I NEVER have moisture in my hoses or other connections, and I don't even have a misture trap of filter in the system. I have a point-of-use filter/trap setup that I plug in front of a spray gun or my plasma if i need to be sure to have dry air. Water likes going downhill, has a hell of a time going up, so why drop it from above and put in extra drains below your outlets?
Start with it at the bottom and just blow the trunk out periodically.

I like the Rapidaire system, easy to work with, fast and it looks good. The only issues I have is that by the time you buy the t's and elbows and other fittings, you'll easily have $80 in every drop. I've got an embarrassing amount of money in my air system, and it's nothing fancy.

We have literally thousands of feet of overhead air lines at work, some of it as much as 3" in diameter, and a lot of it 50 years old or more, interconnected to several compressors in various areas of the complex. Most of the system has the taps off the top of the trunk lines in an upside down "J" before dropping to point of use. The ONLY time we have problems with moisture are in places where somebody lost their head and did a drop off the bottom of a trunk line. Any of those lines, you can walk up to at most any time and drain a 5 gallon bucket of water out.

This Rapid Air cooling kit comes with everything needed (so it appears anyways) not sure what else I would need.

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

Think about it...a static (no air movement) wall mounted aluminum tube unit vs. a belt guard mounted dynamic (fan cooled) copper tube (60% more thermal conductivity than aluminum...even without the fan cooling).
For the dollars spent, I believe you're money ahead with the belt guard mounted Deale unit as it's less money and I believe much more efficient.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Well I found an Eastwood coupon and picked up the 3/4" cooling kit for $283 shipped. Hopefully it works well.

 

[engineer2]

An aftercooler that drops your air to room temperature will get rid of about half the moisture in the air. Since you just bought one, try it out. You might be OK unless it's a humid summer day. The best solution is a refrigerated air dryer. You can usually pick one up pretty cheap on the used market, but you have to be patient. Look for around 10 to 15 SCFM, 120VAC and 134a refrigerant.

 

[larry_g]

I have a 60 gallon Ingersoll Rand SS5 compressor, RTI filter, and Flexzilla air reel/hose. I understand that compressed air gets warm and creates moisture. I also believe I understand that there should be more air line between the compressor and my air hose but I am not exactly sure how to go about this. I am currently using my compressor for body work (DA sander, grinder, etc as well as priming parts). I am definitely getting moisture in the air hose as it comes out when I use my blow gun. I regularly drain the compressor and filter throughout using the compressor for the day but it's not enough. Looking for advice on how to remedy or at least remove as much moisture as possible. I have seen the Rapid Air kit and was wondering if using that to extend my air line prior to the air hose reel would work. Attached are some pics of my set up.

One thing obvious to me is that the connection from the compressor to the hose reel goes down hill then up. Any condensation now has no where to go but out the end of the hose. Standard practice is to pipe up hill so that any condensate has the chance to run back into the receiver to be drained away.

 

[rdoty]

There are many threads here about intercoolers or aftercoolers - search and you will find. That's where I got the inspiration and information for building one. They really work - I got an almost 250 degree temperature drop going from the two stage compressor into the tank, plenty of water in the catch tank for the automatic drain, and dry air to use.

Here is a picture of my setup, which is built around a Hayden Automotive 1290 Heavy Duty Oil Cooler. This is basically a large high pressure/high temperature radiator:


Build thread is at https://www.imperialjourney.org/2022/03/22/aftercoolin/

 

[tdkkart]

This Rapid Air cooling kit comes with everything needed (so it appears anyways) not sure what else I would need.

Depends on how many outlets you want. I've got 8 I believe, and I used the 3/4" Maxline.

 

[Citation]

There are many threads here about intercoolers or aftercoolers - search and you will find. That's where I got the inspiration and information for building one. They really work - I got an almost 250 degree temperature drop going from the two stage compressor into the tank, plenty of water in the catch tank for the automatic drain, and dry air to use.

Here is a picture of my setup, which is built around a Hayden Automotive 1290 Heavy Duty Oil Cooler. This is basically a large high pressure/high temperature radiator:


Build thread is at https://www.imperialjourney.org/2022/03/22/aftercoolin/

This sort of cooler after the pump but before the tank with a water trap is the right answer. This reduces the water that makes it into the tank and the air in the tank. The after cooler stuff may also help but this its the better place to attack the problem.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Depends on how many outlets you want. I've got 8 I believe, and I used the 3/4" Maxline.

I got the cooling kit not a shop kit. I will only have the one outlet.

 

[23ford]

buy 100 foot hose put it inline and put in a trashcan with a bag of ice

 

[NYBODYMAN]

buy 100 foot hose put it inline and put in a trashcan with a bag of ice

While I get the idea behind this, it is just not practical. Every time I need to use my compressor I need to buy bags of ice? What do you do in the hot summer?

 

[The Tool Tyrant]

Well...personally in the hot summer, I use that ice in my 'Margarita rocks'... to hell with the air compressor!

 

[niget2002]

While I get the idea behind this, it is just not practical. Every time I need to use my compressor I need to buy bags of ice? What do you do in the hot summer?

Buy 2 bags.

 

[durk_2007]

I used an automatic transmission cooler with threaded connections between the pump and tank on a 8 cfm 60gal compressor with auto drain to paint this thing. NO WATER!!

 

[ScottsGT]

I had the same setup, lots of moisture. I bought 1” galvanized pipe and ran it the length of my garage slightly down hill and then a drop almost to the floor with a drain valve. About 2’-3’ above the drain I T’d off to a dryer with a drain.
Moisture gone!

 

[uscarry45]

Have been battling this for 36 years. just had a 1500-dollar aircondition one **** out after 3 years. The small filters and seperators work ok unless blasting, plasma cutting or painting. Going to try this route. Have 2 units. 1 between compressor and tank and one after tank. A friend has the rapid air one and it helps. Think copper and larger surface area may help. Hoping. Good luck.

Did your project work? What didn’t you like about the filter separator setup for plasma cutting?

 

[Pileit]

so far excellent results. no moisture in hoses at all.