The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop water in my airline

This time of the year I'm getting ALOT of water coming out of my airline. I may not have the right setup.... I have a 5 HP upright air compresser. My water trap is mounted on the compresser, then the regulater, then a 25 foot (3/8" ID) air hose. Should the trap be toward the end of the air hose? I do not want to hard plumb my garage 'cause I need my compresser to be mobile. I use a small "screw on" air dryer on my spray gun, but they don't last long and they are inpractical to use on my airtools. john.

The moisture has to condense before the water trap can separate it. You can hard plumb the system with disconnects so it remains portable, albeit without the advantages of the hard line.

http://www.sharpe1.com/dr-pipe.htm

The air is too hot when it comes out of the condenser for the filter/regulator to seperate out the moisture that is created in the compression process. The link Chuckthetruck provided is the best way; I set mine up similarly and it seems to work well, although I don't use it on a daily basis.

The long runs of steel pipe will cool the air enough to seperate the water (steel works better than the rubber line).

One method of getting the air to cool is to use a series of 3/4 vertical pipes, air into the top of the frist, to a "T" with another foot or so at the bottom with a ball valve for draining water. Off the side of the "T" goes to the top of the next pipe an so on. This will allow the air to cool and water drip to the bottom to collect.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll be plumbing my garage. Sould I use galvanized or black pipe? john.

Go with galvanized. Another trick is to buy a 50 foot air hose, connect to your compressor, coil in a 5 gallon bucket with cold water in it and put your drier on the outlet of that hose. It will have a fighting chance of catching the water there.

i used one of those coily yellow rubber hoses wrapped around a piece of plastic irrigation pipe to make a condensor loop - it helped some. Probably should put the thing in water to cool down the air, would work better. Air goes in bottom and out the top.

Also be sure you blow down your compressor regularly.

lots of good advice here but would like to add a point or two. I've just finished piping in my compressor with galvanized pipe. Depending on the amount of pressure needed is important. Air pressure drops as it travels through pipe or hoses. A 20lb drop in 50ft if not unreal but close to the norm. I also recommend the filter/dryer is one size bigger than what you think you need. Another consideration is how hot our compressor runs. If its running more than 2/3 of the time its getting to hot and you need a bigger compressor. Also how big is your storage tank. ...... didn't mean to write a book but all these things have a bearing on your situation. I actually have TWO on mine. one close to the compressor as I have tried to keep the line short to my bead blaster and then another one in the shop, farther from the compressor, and closer to all my air tools.

Another thing I thought of - I also use a disposable filter and a regulator right on the tank or gun. I also put a separator on the tank sometimes. (remote tank to spray head)

As a body bud of mine once said - how dry is dry?