"Next Gen" Compressed Air Cooler (because of plasma torch, or painting)

[CADplans]

Twenty years ago, I built an air cooler for my 4HP compressor, the concept was to try to find a way to get moisture free air for the plasma torch.

So, I went to the local scrap yard, and bought a 50 foot coil of 1/2" copper tube (because that size matched the fittings on my compressor).
I re-coiled it to fit in a 5 gallon bucket,, and connected it to the compressor. The bucket was filled with water.

I kept water in the bucket, it worked OK, some days of long use, I had to add some cool water to the bucket, the excess ran out the garage door.

Recently I replaced the plastic bucket with a steel retired propane tank.

no rocket science,, hot air out of the compressor goes in the water cooled coil,, cool air returns to the tank.

Today (because it was cold outside!!LOL) I started on the Next Generation compressed air cooler.
the first cooler was made out of 50 feet of 1/2" copper tube.
The Next Gen will be made out of 52 feet of 3/4": (OD) copper tube.

The hope is that since the cross section is larger, the air velocity will be slower, and the 3/4" tube will have more surface area, which should result in more cooling.

Here is the 3/4" tube as it came from the scrap yard.

The plastic barrel will be the water container,, it will hold between 15 and 20 gallons.

I used a trash can for a form to re-bend the copper tubing.

Then, the coil was strapped to some left over shelving steel.

I plan on trying 3/8" hydraulic hose to connect this coil to the compressor.


Where I am at now,, I am trying to decide if I need both coils, connected in series, or will this Next Gen 3/4" coil be enough??

Do you have any thoughts on compressor air cooling and what else should be included in this system??

Let me know what you would change/add,,

 

[5030]

That is a tiny compressor if I don't say so myself. Everything in my machine and fabrication shop is including my 3 axis CNC plasma table. Hope you at least are keeping up on maintaining it as I'd say you are working the bags off of it...lol

I run 2 compressors to feed my black iron air system with a pair of 150 gallon receivers sitting in the back of the shop and plumbed into the main 1.5" black pipe main run. All my drops (have a lot of them) are 1" pipe with high flow couplings on each drop terminating in a WOG valve to remove any condensate that might accumulate in the drops, not that I ever get any because I run an IR refrigerated dryer on the outlet of my 7.5 horse Quincy QP reciprocating vertical twin 2 stage and my backup compressor is a Sullaire screw compressor and it has a built in refrigerated dryer. I run the entire system at 135 psi maximum because none of my air tools or my CNC plasma table require any more pressure. My compressors are quite capable of 175 psi and probably more and my air delivery system is quite capable of holding any pressure I wish to have but 135 psi at 40CFM continuous is all I need and it's much easier maintenance wise on the compressors as well. They both get an oil and filter change yearly and I clean the intake filters yearly as well. My Quincy is over 40 years old and I've never had any downtime issues with it, or the Sullair. I also have a Tsunami auto drain on the Quincy that evacuates it's receiver of any condensate every time the compressor cycles. I realize my system is pretty far and above what most home shops have but I do have 2 employees and we are always busy with short run machining and heavy fabrication and everything in the shop is air powered or is running on 440 or 220 3 phase power. Why I bought the plasma table as I was tired of long lead times when subbing out parts to be cut so I brought that in house.

People tend to undersize their compressor needs, something that I didn't do over 30 years ago. I knew what my end game would be so I sized my system to handle any and all improvements. I even have a 5 ton overhead crane in the main shop that is air operated on a sliding beam so I can move it the sideways length of the shop. gear for motorcycle oil changes too. I sling them and hoist them up and to my oil changes at chest height.

You don't even want to buy a Quincy 7.5 horse compressor like I have today, or a Sullaire screw compressor. The Quincy retails for about 5500 bucks and the Screw compressor is a tad over 7. and you need serious power to run both as well. I have 300amps of 440-3 coming in to the shop presently and sometimes it's marginal. The Quincy alone pulls 23 amps on start up on each leg. and I have no idea what the screw compressor pulls because it's soft start. Get my big lathes running along with the vertical mills and then fire up the plasma table, I can really spin the electric meter, I bet I have the only farm house with 500 amp mains coming in and a 300 amp commercial split in the utility room, complete with leg lights that tell me I have my 440-3 power on all legs. The utility had to hang my own transformer out in the pole to provide the power I needed and the drop from the pole to the weatherhead on the house has cables as large as your wrist in diameter. The weatherhead is pretty short too and is tie braced to carry the cables.

What really got complex was when I added my diesel standby genset. That took some doing on the part of my electrician. I wanted selective power distribution as the 30KW Generac isn't capable of powering the shop and the house and the barns all at the same time but I wanted my PEX in floor shop heat to work even with a power outage, which happens out here often as we are in the middle of nowhere, so wiring the auto transfer switch was a nightmare for him. Glad he knows what he is doing because I don't have a clue when it comes to electricity and it's all buried too. The feed cables from the house to the shop are huge too and the diesel genny is out by the shop as well and it feeds off my 500 gallon bulk diesel farm tank. Been an excellent unit for 20 years now with normal maintenance. The original steel enclosure is rusting out and to Generac's credit they fabbed me up a new all aluminum enclosure complete with all internal mounts so I can literally remove the entire generating system from the old rusty enclosure and install it in the new aluminum enclosure with the help of one of my front end loaders, cannot get more plug and play that that and Generac is easy to deal with as well. Not cheap however, The new enclosure had a substantial lead time on it and it's waiting for winter to be done so I can refit it. The new custom built enclosure was 4500 bucks last fall btw.

I am glad I did what I did over 25 years ago because I'd never be able to afford it at today's inflated prices. I'm set and I'm considering adding another addition to the main shop as well. I've added on 2 times now. I keep all my farm tractors in one side of the building, it's heated with in floor PEX as well and my pickup truck as well as our RV lives in there too. The other side is 100% machine and fab shop.

Prices are scary high today.

 

[CADplans]

Prices are high,, I agree.
I built my CNC cutting machine 23 years ago, and kept it when I retired.
Now, I just run it for hobby, so, the compressor I have is good enough.

The machine makes nice parts, it is basically an XLO milling machine, with a torch for a cutter,,

 

[5030]

I have a commercial 5 x 10 table myself and I don't run a machine torch on mine, I run a hand torch clamped to the cross axis and mine has THC as well as soft stops in the cross axis as well as the table axis. Sold my Hyper Therm 70 amp plasma cutter because HT got stupid priced with consumables, especially the Fine cut consmable's so I went and bought a Harbor Freight 65 amp unit and use that instead, I can buy 5 nozzles and 5 electrodes and a new swirl ring for under 50 bucks and the cut kerf isn't much larger than the fine cut kerf was and the machine is much lighter and the 65 amp HF cutter comes complete with the voltage divider plug on the front panel...and I got a 3 year warranty on it as well. I'm cheap especially when I get stuck with inflated prices.

 

[5030]

I do run a wet table on mine and candidly it's a PITA at times but I don't want the plasma grit all over the floor. Much easier in the long run to clean the table out than constantly sweeping the floor of the gritty swarf the plasma cutter produces and typically, I'm cutting thick steel 1/4 inch or better and sometimes 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Aluminum sheets aren't so bad however and every thing I cut is for second operations, usually welding. Have not cut stainless yet but will soon. I have a Shop Saber btw. Not a cheap machine by a long shot and it takes up a ton of room in the shop which is why I'm contemplating adding on to the shop again. Been looking at a smaller half sheet machine with indexing capabilities and possibly selling the Shop Saber. I over bought which is typical of me. My issue like yours is, I'm supposed to be retired...lol

 

[5030]

I have to say that my 3 favorite things to do is One: running alfalfa hay. Two is running the Shop Saber and Three is TIG welding up assemblies. I've gotten to the point where I actually prefer TIG welding over MIG, even though it's much, much slower, the end result is a pretty weld. Don't get me wrong, I MIG weld a lot, mostly spray arc transfer but the TIG comes out looking so much better. TIG isn't suited very well for heavy fabrication though a good friend of mine runs a company that specializes in Nuclear shut downs and is always machine TIG welding stainless process piping in Nuclear plants all over the world. I've asked if I could 'drop in' when he's working local and his answer always is 'you don't have the security clearance to get past the front gate' but he does take pictures of what he's working on or supervising so I get to see what he's doing anyway.. The welding is so critical that he tests each weldor every morning before they can start work and I mean xray their test welds or magnaflux them as the work requires. He's AWS certified in all processes from OA welding to MIG to TIG and he certified me on TIG, which is something I need to present to any customer that requires it. Nice to know the right people and especially to have them as good friends too. I'm pretty good with TIG but I've never seen anyone who could walk a TIG cup like he does. He's a fantastic TIG welder and he enjoys teaching too.