Where's your dryer?

[orf]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97686

Anyone else using this dryer? How far away is yours from your compressor? I heard in another thread it needs to be 50 ft away to be effective. Still liking it? Think it is a fairly new HF item.

 

[Randy_che]

I think the distance is actually a half-baked attempt at getting the air down to the maximum allowable temperature of the dryer. Ideally, you would come out of the compressor, have an fan aftercooler, followed by a water knockout pot, then the dessicant dryer. Then you would go into your large tank with dry air. That's how industrial systems are set up. I'm talking about real industrial systems, not necessarily a "large shop". Think dry instrument air for a chemical plant or refinery. Either way, too much temperature will prevent the dessicant from absorbing water or will cause problems with the seals on the dryer unit. Proximty to the machine is not really the issue.

 

[nate379]

In the house.

 

[Danglerb]

Nice to see they sell the Silica desiccant for $4.50 for 2 lbs, but this thing is really a after the water remover dryer isn't it?

If you have any water at all in your tank when you drain it, the air coming out will have 100% humidity, and without some water trap to remove the bulk of the water I doubt if the desiccant would last a day.

 

[Gds14r]

i do commercial sandblasting. mainly bridges. and we have to use air dryers/after coolers followed up by charcoal pre-filters to keep the air dry and breathe able. and anyway all the equipment usually is attached withing a 15-25 foot bull hose. granted in the summer time you really need the after coolers. (fan radiator combo) for heat issues. but when we do small applications we have the dessicant pots that are attached to manifolds. the manifold usually are angled with a ball valve quarter cracked on the lower end. and you will get water to trickle out, if not flow out. all the equipment is right next to the compressor without any issues. not sure if this helps at all though.

 

[PCO6]

Anyone else using this dryer? How far away is yours from your compressor? I heard in another thread it needs to be 50 ft away to be effective. Still liking it? Think it is a fairly new HF item.

I have one and it seems to be working OK. I bought mine at Princess Auto. The instructions say to mount it at least 25 ft. away from the air supply to allow the air to cool. The air should be no more than 100 degrees F at the inlet of the dryer. It wasn't practical for me to mount the dryer, regulator, filter, etc. that far away from my compressor. I have about 25 ft. of air hose resting behind my compressor that connects it to the dryer. I plan to make a 30 ft. or so manifold of 1 in. pipe and mount it on the wall between the compressor and the dryer. Again, probably not ideal but it should help cool the air.

 

[oldwino]

I don't know..I'll have to check with the wife

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I'm assuming she keeps it next to the washer...