Art Gallery Air Compressor

   / Art Gallery Air Compressor #11  
I\'ll make you guys a deal

Since I've gone half way to nuts (no comment necessary) trying to post pictures on different web sites, one of you guys volunteer to do the posting, and I'll walk out to the shop and shoot a picture of a real air/water seperator you can build for under $20-.
I'll even toss in a picture of a sketch showing exactly how to build it. All you need is 3 feet of 2" pipe and a few fittings, and I guarnadamntee it will pull more water out of compressed air than anything Binks or Gardner Denver sells for $300-.
Who wants to be the poster?
 
   / Art Gallery Air Compressor #12  
You could also put a pressure regulator in before the water filter. 150 psi is quite high pressure for blowing dirt off of prints. A slip with the blower at that pressure could damage the print itself./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif At the place I used to work, all the airlines had regulators on them, I think the maximum allowable pressure to use with the blower was 40 or 50 psi, to prevent injuries and damage to equiptment.
 
   / Art Gallery Air Compressor #13  
GOLF, the brand name for the cartridge is motor guard. the desecant filter is used more for painting . to pricey for what you want to do with it.a water sererator is good for stopping water to some extent but you have to worry about oil in the lines also and thats where the cartridge filter is best. you should also drain your air tank after your done with it for the day....tgello
 
   / Art Gallery Air Compressor #14  
Re: I\'ll make you guys a deal

Bump it up to 3 feet of 4" pipe and he has his accumulator, too. Or tank, if that's what you want to call it.
 
   / Art Gallery Air Compressor #15  
The components used to get dry air are:
Metal distribution pipes with drain valves
Water separator/filters
pressure regulators
Coalescing filters
Desiccant Filters

TP tools has a page with the basic plumbing of an air line system Air Line filters


The Water separator/filter will filter out large particles and droplets of water. The filter separator will have a bowl to catch the captured water and a drain to remove accumulated water.


A regulator placed in line will reduce the pressure and temperature of the compressed air forcing more condensation of water vapor.


Coalescing Filters have an element which looks a lot like a roll of toilet paper. The compressed air is forced to follow a serpentine path through the filter. This brings the small droplets of water together forming droplets large enough to stick to the filter. After use for 'a while' the filter element in the Coalescing filter will be wet and must be replaced. (The wet filter can be dried and reused.)


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tptools.com/prod_list_display.asp?dept%5Fid=L2%7E73&dept%5Fname%5Fp=Paint+Sprayers+%26+HVLP&mscssid=KUM3H57XCFTU9KFALFJDX44XMAR34R49>Desiccant Filters</A> run the compressed air through a bed of a desiccant material like silica gel which can remove water vapor. When the Desiccant bed is saturated with water vapor the bed must be replaced or baked in an oven to remove the vapor and returned to the bed. Desiccant filters are used for sensitive spray painting. When you are spraying $70 per gallon paint and a little water vapor will ruin a paint job they are useful. For less critical applications they are usually not worth the expense.


A package with a water separator, pressure regulator and coalescing filter after metal distribution pipe is good enough for all but the most critical purposes (see <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tptools.com/product.asp?base%5Fno=3411%2D06&str%5Fbase%5Fno=3402%2D00%2C3403%2D00%2C3405%2D60%2C3409%2D00%2C3411%2D02%2C3411%2D03%2C3411%2D12%2C3411%2D06%2C340%2DGAUGES%2C3500%2D60%2C3407%2D00%2C3405%2D60B%2C&header%5Ftitle=Air+Line+Hookup%2D1%2F2"+Inline+Water+Separators%2C+Air+Regulators&page%5Fname=prod%5Flist%5Fdisplay%2Easp&search%5Ftype=L2%7E113&size1=&size2=&gender=&ShowImages=yes&sq=0&cont=1&intPgNo=1&mscssid=KUM3H57XCFTU9KFALFJDX44XMAR34R49>Filter Regulator System</A> (I just purchased this package to filter the compressed air going to my plasma cutter.)



Are you sure you are connecting the filter up in the correct direction? Connecting the filter outlet to the compressor can easily blow out filter elements.

Does your 'tire inflator' have an air tank? If not and if you are running the motor continuously for longer than the time to blow up a tire, you will have problems. I would expect a very short life for any compressor running continuously. The rule of thumb is that the compressor should cycle on and off filling the air tank, being on for 1/2 to 2/3 of the time for heavy duty and commercial quality equipment. For a low duty cycle device like a tire inflator I would expect a short life with the pump running for more than a few minutes per hour. In addition to fabricating an accumulator(tank) (as others have already mentioned) you will need a pressure switch to cycle the tire inflator on and off to maintain the pressure in the accumulator within limits and avoid running the compressor continuously.
 
   / Art Gallery Air Compressor
  • Thread Starter
#16  
<font color=blue>"...150 psi is quite high pressure for blowing dirt off of prints."</font color=blue>

Yeah, it is. But I can reduce it at the nozzle, which I do. The 150 is coming straight out of the compressor into the water filter.

I got to thinking last night, that since I already have a blown filter in the line, why couldn't I just add another filter farther down the line and leave the blown filter in place? Wouldn't the blown filter act as an accumulator, reducing the pressure enough to keep from blowing the new filter?

This is not a sophisticated compressor system I have here. I really don't want to spend a lot of money or get real involved with upgrades since within a year or two I'm going to be building the new building.

I do appreciate everyone's input and ideas. Very much appreciated! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
 
 
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