Air compressor lines for stationary air compressor.

[Tinhack]

To work, these require that the air coming out of the compressor has cooled enough for the water suspended in the air to condense when it hits the mesh. Those mounting it directly to the compressor usually end up with water in their lines, because the compressor tank gets hot and thus the air passing thru the separator is too hot to allow for condensation.

^^^^ This right there.
Unless you have a cooler/dryer, you want those inline separators away from the tank to allow the air to cool and condense the moisture. This is also why iron pipe is a bad choice for lines--They rust from the inside out.

I have a forced-air cooler right after the tank and above it. It turns on when I turn on the compressor. The cooler runs all the time while the compressor cycles as needed. Condensate drains back into the tank and out the bottom drain--Basically, a metering valve. It bleeds all the time. My inline filters and separators are always dry. And that means dry air.

 

[thepumpguysc]

My set up is as u described sixdog.. a 3/4” hose (Zorro) coming off the compressor WITH A LOOP & going into a water separator/pressure regulator. (Northern Tool)

Last weekend was THE 1st TIME I drained the tank in 5 years.!!
(Long story)
I noticed that with a brief use of the air to blow off a part, the compressor would kick on..
So I got down on all 4’s and figured it out..
lol.. THAT will never happen again.!! Lotsa water to say the least..
But what astonished me was, I never got any signs of water thru my line.. & with the occasional burp of the water separator, I still never got any water..
Now I’m wondering if having a “loop” coming off the outlet allowed for any condensation to drop back down into the tank.??
I’m not gonna think to hard about it, all I know is it worked..& I had no water in my line..

 

[WinterDeere]

My set up is as u described sixdog.. a 3/4” hose (Zorro) coming off the compressor WITH A LOOP & going into a water separator/pressure regulator. (Northern Tool)

Last weekend was THE 1st TIME I drained the tank in 5 years.!!
(Long story)
I noticed that with a brief use of the air to blow off a part, the compressor would kick on..
So I got down on all 4’s and figured it out..
lol.. THAT will never happen again.!! Lotsa water to say the least..
But what astonished me was, I never got any signs of water thru my line.. & with the occasional burp of the water separator, I still never got any water..
Now I’m wondering if having a “loop” coming off the outlet allowed for any condensation to drop back down into the tank.??
I’m not gonna think to hard about it, all I know is it worked..& I had no water in my line..

Install the auto drain I linked above, and you'll never have that problem, again.

 

[ponytug]

@sixdogs while you could run rubber to the filter (and regulator?) and a hose from there on, I wouldn't. I would run copper to the filter and regulator first. Just on safety grounds, I don't think that you really need to be around hoses with 180psi in them, but that's me.

I have a 3' braided stainless flex line from my IR compressor to the wall mounted coalescing filter and water separator with a float drain. I was leery of using a rubber line at the compressor due to the heat and oil, and concerned about the hose blowing out.

After a few years I added an intercooler that I built with a coalescing filter with an auto drain that removes 99% of the water before it gets to the main air tank. I still cycle the bottom drain of the tank after using it, but there hasn't been water or spray for years.

All the best,

Peter

 

[CalG]

Just a thought on the topic.

What is the Relative Humidity INSIDE an air compressor tank with just 1 drop of standing liquid water?

What is the RH if the tank is half full of condensate water?

What is the RH in the airstream at the nozzle of a blow gun in use?

I bet we can all figure out the answers......

 

[grsthegreat]

Me, im a firm believer in refrigerated air dryer, but i have a plasma cutter bench in my shop. If it wasnt for this, id proboibly just use a system like your describing.

 

[CalG]

To have dry air at the business end, there has to be some place on the line where the temps get below the dew point.

 

[grsthegreat]

I was real skeptical about the quality of the harbor freight refrigerated air dryer, but its worked flawlessly for many, many years. I have a secondary paper water trap after dryer, and ive never had to change it since installing the dryer. That thing removes 100% of the water.

 

[ray66v]

Your set up was a good start at having dry air.

However, water vapor can travel through any water trap, or water filter.

A Motor Guard M-100-KIT filter right before your air hose, is as good a trap as you can get. It uses a roll of toilet paper, to filter out moisture, on a limited basis.

As others have suggested, you can add piping that will help that vapor to condense out of the air, so the traps can catch it.

But, the only way to be certain of clean, dry air, is to have a drier.

You have two options: A refrigerated drier. Or, a desiccant drier.

Depending on your budget, there are options that can supply you with a limited amount of dry air, at an affordable price.

 

[WM75Guy]

Put an auto-drain on the tank and dryer if you can, just a few less frequent maintenance items. We needed dry air for the sandblasting cabinet we use for sand-carved glass and stained-glass projects. I bought a new compressor from Home Depot with auto drains for the tank and dryers. The sandblasting cabinet has a moister filter on the incoming airline. It hasn't shown any moisture yet. We just use rubber hoses on the ground to supply air where we need it.