Tow Behind Compressor Air Drier?

[joesregalproject]

Not sure if this is the best place to put this, but I'm not sure what the right place is, so here goes. I'm borrowing a tow-behind Ingersoll Rand P175 Diesel compressor from my uncle to do some sandblasting. It was sitting for a while, but I cleaned it up, put a battery in it, made an adapter for the Chicago couplings to run a regular 3/8 quick connect and got it making air. The compressor runs and works great, makes a ton of air, but I'm getting a good bit of water in the lines. Any recommendations for a water filter setup for a one of these tow-behind compressors that would be suitable for sandblasting?

 

[john.k]

You can get a thing called an 'Air-Prep" ........cost zillions ,but you could easily make your own ......basically a big air tank,an inlet strainer ,and a small fin and tube cooler with an air driven fan ...............we used to have endless trouble with the fan ,which was driven by a small vane motor ..........also had trouble with blockages from the rubber liner of air hose detaching and blocking the strainer ..........Incidentally,one of the new Sullair compressors had an auto water drain ,......but thts a $50,000 compressor...............Youd probably be better off with a big water separator bolted directly to the blast pot ...........these get rid of any drops of water running along the hoses before they block the sand flow.

 

[john.k]

Id also mention that blasting with white sand is illegal in a lot of places ,and if you breathe silica dust from sand ,it will affect you later on in life,maybe severely .

 

[cannuck]

usually see a big dessicant tank between compressor and blast pot. You can rent them from anyone who rents compressors.

 

[joesregalproject]

Id also mention that blasting with white sand is illegal in a lot of places ,and if you breathe silica dust from sand ,it will affect you later on in life,maybe severely .

I'm not using white sand, or sand at all. I'm using coal slag. Much cleaner and no silicosis to worry about later on.

 

[joesregalproject]

usually see a big dessicant tank between compressor and blast pot. You can rent them from anyone who rents compressors.

Thanks for the reply. How big are you talking? Something like this?

 

[john.k]

You dont need dessicant for blasting,just a water separator ............Id also think that 3/8 hose would be way too small for 175cfm........you need 1" bore rubber hose,or a minimum 3/4 ............everytime air expands in your system ,water drops out ,so bigger hose is better.

 

[joesregalproject]

You dont need dessicant for blasting,just a water separator ............Id also think that 3/8 hose would be way too small for 175cfm........you need 1" bore rubber hose,or a minimum 3/4 ............everytime air expands in your system ,water drops out ,so bigger hose is better.

Yes, but there is no tank, and I'm only consuming maybe 10-20 CFM, so the rest goes right out the bypass.

 

[john.k]

Yikes.....$45 to hire a separator for 1 day ?.........You can easily make a separator from something like an old fire extinguisher ...all they do is spin the air flow and collect the drops at the bottom .......