Question about Cooling air

[mayday0017]

I saw in an older thread on here where a guy uses his dryer before the intake on his compressor. I am curious what others think about this...

Will it actually get the moisture out of the air? (I would assume it won't cause it's not compressed)

Would it lower the temps the pump sees because the air would be cooler?

I have a fairly large dryer that does over double the CFM my compressor puts out (my champion compressor puts out about 24cfm) Would it actually be a restriction since it has 3/4" connections and the inlet is 1" on the compressor...

Another possibility is going off the head of the compressor directly into the dryer and then back into the tank. Yes the temperatures of the air coming off the pump will be way to high for a dryer but I have heard others swear by this as well...

3rd option is selling my champion refrigerated dryer and downgrading to a home built After cooler...

Ok I know people are wondering why I would want to downgrade but honestly it is a space thing, the aftercooler would take less room, and I wouldn't have to remember to turn it on and off like I do the dryer.

Really just trying to decide what setup I want, and get it setup that way and be done with it. Might just keep my current setup as it works perfectly fine, and relocate the dryer into my attic so i can let it drain outside under the eve and free up the space I am after. All I would need to do then is wire it to a switch possibly.

 

[mayday0017]

One other thing to laugh at, my HVAC system is pretty much right above my compressor, I already plan on extending the intake into the attic and over to the eve so it can get fresh outside air and not be as loud (though my new champion compressor isn't to bad). It sure has been tempting to plum the intake into the return side of the HVAC system so it has nice 70ish degree air, that has very little moisture in it. The way my system is setup too, it would be easy to seal & doubt you would really even hear it in the house, and if you did it wouldn't be any louder then the compressor sitting on the other side of the wall right now.

Anyone else ever thought of doing this?

 

[EOC_Jason]

*grumble* I just typed a long reply but somehow the browser tab closed by accident... Okay, here's the short version of what I typed before...

1. When did you get a new compressor? What happened to that Craftsman that you did all that work on?

2. If you decide to sell that refrigerated dryer, PM me plz...

3. Not sure if the dryer would work in your attic because of how hot it will get during the summer months, unless your attic has the spray foam insulation along the roof line and your attic is the same temp as the house.

4. If you are pulling air from the house, then air is going to get sucked in from the outside through whatever cracks and whatnot that it can. Probably not the best idea. That's what the refrigerated dryer is for... It just does it more efficiently...

5. Have you seen that thread where the guy mounted a radiator on his compressor and a big fan? He piped the output from the pump to the radiator, and then from the radiator to the tank. The radiator had an auto-drain on it. That will help bring temps down and pull out moisture (not sure how much during the summer here in Houston).

 

[Fixnair]

Hmmmm. Interesting? I'll have to give this some thought. One drawback to a refrigerated dryer on the inlet to the compressor will be as the air cools, moisture will condense and collect at the bottom of the evaporator where It is supposed to be drained off regularly. Should you forget or the auto drain valve stop working you could slug the compressor with water and brake a piston or rod. Further you would need a condensate pump since there would be no air pressure to expel the condensate.
You would be better off putting the dryer after the compressor and use an after cooler of adequate size to bring the compressed air down to within 15* of ambient.
An appropriate sized after cooler will remove about 60% of the moisture alone.

 

[mayday0017]

Jason I will PM you first thing if I decide to sell. Right now I'm just trying to figure out exactly what I want my setup to be and what makes the most sense for my needs. I still have the Craftsman however I am going to be putting it up for sale soon. I got a champion (Rebranded as speedaire) compressor for a guy in spring for $150 or $200 (can't remember now) it had a bad pump, and I located a new old stock pump in dallas for $350. So I took the opportunity to upgrade to an American made 7.5hp compressor and ditch the craftsman.

I'm leaning in the direction of building a nice after cooler, I like the idea of an all in one setup. Then I just have to decide if I want to use the flywheel fan for the air as it seems to move quite a bit, or if I want an electric fan to add to the cooling of the pump.

FYI I hate when explorer screws up a post I made...

 

[Grounded Ken]

You don't dry the air before you compress is because you will need a much larger dryer to do the job. I think it is something like 4 times the size. I doesn't make any sense, bigger machine, more power, you get the idea. Compressor your air, if you want put it thru an aftercooler, (most refrigerated dryers like 115 degrees or less) then into the tank. Coming out of the tank run the air thru a coalescing filter, this removes the large particles of water and the oil particles (that will gook-up the inside of your dryer) then into your dryer. Nice clean dry air