Hey all. I'm getting going with a sandblasting cabinet to fix up all of the small and medium size bits and pieces for my '70 Mav. But ever since my compressor was accidentally left in the shed with the drain open, I've been unable to get all of the moisture out of it. It's just a Canadian Tire bought 8gallon job. I've charged and drained the receiver about 40 times, and it's still spitting out a ton of water. I attached an inline desiccant air dryer a couple of feet before my sandblasting cabinet, but within 40 minutes of blasting I noticed all the desiccant had turned pink (needed to be changed), and the desiccant chamber was so full of water it was actually dripping. The desiccant dryer also seems to drop the pressure so much that I can barely blast anything. Any pointers on what I should be using to get the moisture out of the line and/or receiver? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
were is the commpressor setting it needs to be in a controled tempature area, you should not be getting that much water also your dryer should be as close to the compr. as posaibble
Compressor location etc. It's located right next to a dehumidifier in my garage. It's not a damp garage by any stretch, and it is a heated (not this time of year, though) built-in garage. But as I mentioned, it had been sitting in a damp outside shed for a few weeks accidentally (after movers put it there) with its drain open. I have the dryer right up by the blasting cabinet. So I take it I should be moving that back to the compressor end of the line. How long should the desiccant last in one of these dryers? I can't imagine I should have to replace the desiccant four times just to clean a single battery tray, which is where I'm headed now with the third desiccant charge being put in when I get home tonight. I've heard of moisture separators. Are these different from the desiccant dryers? I'd prefer to have something in place that doesn't require feeding with anything like desiccant that I have to keep buying. To address the massive drop in pressure that the dryer is introducing, I'm guessing I should be able to crank the pressure up on the compressor (not too high for the dryer, though), and then put a pressure regulator over by the cabinet to make sure it's below 100psi going to the gun...? Sorry. I've done a ton of Googling on this and have come up more or less dry (unlike my air supply).
I think it should be further away from the compressor. Moisture is present in the ambient air, when it is compressed the air is heated. When it cools the moisture cools and turns into liquid.
Do you have a dryer, a seperator, or a dryer/seperator combo? http://www.hydraulicspneumatics.com...FR/Article/True/6459/TechZone-AirFiltersandFR If you only have a dryer, liquid water will use up the desiccant material quickly. A separator should be located between the compressor tank and dryer to prevent this. Desiccant dryers in particular are intended as secondary dryers. They are very good at removing small quantities of water vapor that remain after conditioning by a primary dryer/seperator. Your best bet is to just pick up a cheap dryer/separator combo and install it before the desiccant dryer.
Great article. I'm thinking about the air moisture issue too. Need to paint soon and here in NC summer air is VERY moist. Am considering passing the compressed air thru an old AC evaporator submerged in ice water with some way to catch and evacuate the condensed water. Then pass the air thru a water separator and then some iron pipe to allow it to warm up before it gets to the spray gun. Seems like that should be cheap and effective.
I guess the main question of dryer/separator location is a matter of your installation. In a typical home garage, you hook your rubber line to the compressor and use it, thus your dryer/separator is located at the compressor. Basically, it's easier to remove liquid water than water vapor. (that's why desiccant charges are expensive) Metal hard lines are typically recommended because it gives the air a chance to cool, causing the water vapor to condense into liquid form. Most people recommend placing the dryer/separator between the hard-line and the rubber hose you hook to your equipment. http://www.sharpe1.com/sharpe/sharpe.nsf/Page/Air+Piping+Layout
Metal piping required? I'm hoping that what I'm hearing isn't true... that I'll need to install metal pipes throughout my garage instead of using hose. I thought a small sandblasting cabinet was relatively light duty and wouldn't require such drastic measures. Say it isn't so!
I wish it wasn't true. After I moved my regulator/water separator/oiler to the other side of the room it actually had water inside the cup. Before it looked kinda of sweaty inside the cup when it was close to the compressor and it was spitting moisture.
I found these two tidbits on another forum. I'm going to try the first one right now... ------1------ My poor mans chiller, take a 25-50 foot section of airline. Plug one end in coming out of the compressor. Coil up most of the hose and place inside a cooler or large bucket filled with cold water (add ice to cooler if desired). Plug other end of hose into moister trap #1. Continue down the line like normal. I have a 50' section that I use when I know that the compressor is going to be running for a while or if I am painting. It works great! you just have to empty the water traps more often, they will fill up twice as fast as before. A poor mans heat exchanger if you will! PS, are sure that it is water and not oil from the rotary screw? Perhaps the oil is not being reclaimed before it leaves the compressor? Just a thought. - ------2------ Condenser made of pipe and attached to wall: http://www.sandcarver.org/piping.htm
Poor Man's Condenser Hey, the bucket of cold water does work like a charm. I just added a 30 foot hose to the one I was already using, left it coiled up, dropped it into a bucket of cold water, and installed a small water separator after it. I was able to run the system for a long period of time and had no water problems at all. I guess the extra length of hose plus the cooling influence of the water allowed the moisture to condense. I'm sure water is collecting like crazy inside the coiled hose, though. Maybe I should rig up a system where the hose coils downward and through a hole in the bottom of the bucket (sealed up around the hose of course), with a section of pipe that extends down past a T junction to a drain. Seems like a roundabout way to do this (literally), but cheap. Or maybe I'm just losing my mind and avoiding spending money on a normal solution!
I leave my tank drain just barely cracked. It drains constantly, no water in my lines. Of course I do plan on installing the seperator and filters some day tho cause I plan on painting too. For now I am getting warm air tho. When I worked at a Pep Boys they had bad water problems also. I discovered leaving the drain open at that time helped alot, but not the correct solution. They ended up installing an expensive drier that didn't last too long. They refused to pay or provide us with air tools. I went to using hand tools to save mine.
Coil of hose in bucket of water Just wanted to chime back in to say that I no longer have water getting to my sandblasting cabinet. The coil of hose in a bucket trick worked great. So now I have the compressor connected to a length of hose that runs about 20 feet, and then connects into a coil of hose that I submerge in a bucket of cold water. When the hose emerges from this, it goes up to a small water trap and then to the cabinet. This setup isn't ideal, obviously, but on a budget it seems to work great... just have to disconnect the coil after each use and drain the water.
Water Separator Here is a picture of my water separator. Picked up the tank at Tractor Supply for $20. The copper coil came from Home Depot for $40. The whole thing is placed in a big, plastic bucket and covered with ice. Air goes into the free end of the coil and into the tank at the other end. Exits the tank at the top. The valve is opened to blow the collected water out of the bottom of the tank. No water problems when using the separator. Biggest problem I had in making it was welding some galvanized pipe fittings. Some fittings I needed weren't readily available in black iron. I should have kept looking 'cause the galvanized gave me fits. Need to be careful to not overpressurize the unit -- there's no safety valve on the tank.
