Air compressor lines for stationary air compressor.

[bigtiller]

To help cool the hot vapors from the tank into larger and cooler droplets that the water filter can remove, I coiled a 25' long, half inch I.D. hose on the cool concrete floor between the tank outlet and the regulator/filter inlet. That works for me, but I don't paint. My regulator/filter is a RapidAir with a ¾" inlet and a 5 micron filter.

I also have an auto-drain on the 60 gallon tank that I have set to blow the condensate out for 3 seconds every 6 hours.

When I mow the yard on the most humid days in August, I get dry air from the hose while blowing all the grass chaff off of me.

Before this setup, I could get enough moisture out of the blowgun to make my shirt feel wet after blowing off the grass.

 

[nyone]

Hydraulic lines are prety cheap with Npt fittings. I have had a 3/4in hyd hose running off my air compressor for at least a decade.

 

[WinterDeere]

However, water vapor can travel through any water trap, or water filter.
...
You have two options: A refrigerated drier. Or, a desiccant drier.

"Dry" is a relative term. How dry one really needs is dictated by usage, the guy just running impact wrenches or even spraying the occasional alkyd-based enamel doesn't need nearly the same level of "dry" as one spraying linear polyurethane or epoxy paints with isocyanate-based hardeners.

I have done both, and would argue that a refrigerated dryer or desiccant dryer are total overkill for the majority of the people reading this forum. These are the tools used by the amateur body shop guy, who really does need to spray some very moisture-senstive paints (again, isocyanate), not those running typical air tools for fixing tractors or even 1-part enamels.

Hydraulic lines are prety cheap with Npt fittings. I have had a 3/4in hyd hose running off my air compressor for at least a decade.

Same. I don't understand the aversion to rubber hose, if it's rated accordingly. In fact, I always use a rubber hose to connect every compressor I've ever owned to the hard-plumbed system. I see at least a few good reasons to do this.

 

[ray66v]

"Dry" is a relative term.

Air is either clean, and dry, and you don't have to think about it.

Or, you can fool around, and find out later if it was.

I realize that some people are not concerned about it. That's up to them.

 

[CalG]

Air is either clean, and dry, and you don't have to think about it.

Or, you can fool around, and find out later if it was.

I realize that some people are not concerned about it. That's up to them.

"Better" is the mortal enemy of "good enough".

 

[WinterDeere]

Air is either clean, and dry, and you don't have to think about it.

Or, you can fool around, and find out later if it was.

I realize that some people are not concerned about it. That's up to them.

When you don't understand requirements, exceeding them is always a safe bet, but also always a waste of money and effort.

You don't need an ISO 8573 Class I air dryer on a system used solely for driving power tools, but if you have time and money to waste, it won't hurt.

 

[ray66v]

When you don't understand requirements, exceeding them is always a safe bet, but also always a waste of money and effort.

You don't need an ISO 8573 Class I air dryer on a system used solely for driving power tools, but if you have time and money to waste, it won't hurt.

What he does should only be based on his intentions, his budget, the environment he is working in, and the humidity there.

I did not only suggest a drier. But, one may be necessary.

 

[sixdogs]

I'm the OP on this and here is what I just took down in my barn because I'm having it insulated. It's iron pipe, I put it in 20 years ago and have no idea where I got the plans. It's worked fine for me.



The hose off the connector went into the long pipe on the right that was also a drain. The down pipe on the left is also a drain pipe. The center pipe had a filter and moisture remover and my output hose connected there. This worked well for me. I drained my tank and filter every day when I used it and no problems.

My plan was to ditch this and replace with something new and easy to install but now I'm wondering if I should just put this back up with a new filter and moisture remover and call it good.


These days I just use the compressor to pump up tires and blow off equipment. I paint a few pieces of ag equipment a year and use OEM acrylic enamel paint. I only paint on dry summer days when the temps are right. It's low humidity here and I rarely use the compressor in the winter.

After all the comments, do you think I should leave well enough alone?

 

[ultrarunner]

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

I’ve been running a Dayton auto drain since 1995 and every 5 years the state comes out to inspect without issue…

 

[ponytug]

I'm the OP on this and here is what I just took down in my barn because I'm having it insulated. It's iron pipe, I put it in 20 years ago and have no idea where I got the plans. It's worked fine for me.

View attachment 3281188

The hose off the connector went into the long pipe on the right that was also a drain. The down pipe on the left is also a drain pipe. The center pipe had a filter and moisture remover and my output hose connected there. This worked well for me. I drained my tank and filter every day when I used it and no problems.

My plan was to ditch this and replace with something new and easy to install but now I'm wondering if I should just put this back up with a new filter and moisture remover and call it good.


These days I just use the compressor to pump up tires and blow off equipment. I paint a few pieces of ag equipment a year and use OEM acrylic enamel paint. I only paint on dry summer days when the temps are right. It's low humidity here and I rarely use the compressor in the winter.

After all the comments, do you think I should leave well enough alone?

@sixdogs Yes, I think you should leave well enough alone. That's a fine design. If the inside of the pipes look ok, I would reuse it if it were me. If I were feeling full of beans and wanted a project, I might redo it in copper not to have rust in the compressed air, but since that hasn't been a problem for you, I probably would not even do that.

Small soap box for others:
A few folks with safe experiences notwithstanding, PVC compressed air lines are known to be unsafe due to rapid and catastrophic failure modes. PVC manufacturers do not support it, neither does ASME, nor OSHA. The OSHA ban dates from 1988. This should not be news. If you have a business with PVC/CPVC compressed air lines, that is an OSHA violation, and if an accident happens, I would expect an insurer not to cover the damages.

PVC can be weakened by impact, solvent exposure, age, temperature, and strain, and when it shatters, the shards can be razor sharp. At 110F, the pressure rating is half that at room temperature, and at 140F, it is one fifth of the room temperature rating. Temperature and Pressure Ratings of PVC

If you have PVC/CPVC pipe for your compressed air system, please do yourself and those around you a favor and replace it.

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ASME does permit polyethylene pipe under less than 100psi for underground gas service, and never above ground unless enclosed in a cover that could absorb the explosion.

End of soapbox.

Stay safe out there folks.

All the best,

Peter