Technical Shop air in the sub-tropics

Where does the moisture go? Eventually the condensate will fill up that coil and you'll be right back where you started.

 

When I outfitted my new shop in 2000, I built a water trap system out of PVC pipe. In order to slow the air down I used two inch pipe mounted on the wall about six feet high and had four “ ups and downs”, with drains on all “ downs”. Plumbed my compressor into it and that my total shop air out of it! It worked super great for about four years. I would get water out of the first drain, a little out of the next…..never got any water out of the other two! Boy was I proud of myself!
One morning I came into my shop and noticed my compressor running so I went into that room and that system had EXPLODED!!! There were huge pieces of sharp , jagged , pipe all over the place. Some stuck in the wall, one dented an old wheel cover I had stored there! I never saw anything like it! I had seen people plumb their shops with PVC pipe with no problems for years!
I don’t remember the exact working pressure of that pipe , but it was higher than my shop pressure.
Still to this day I do not know what happened! But……I tore the system down and used two loops of steel pipe. It is working today…as we speak!






Bones

 

The beauty of it... The heat is dissipated in the water the coil is in.... I know it's hard to believe.... Try it You will Not believe it's that simple.... Thank me Later!! Seriously...

 

My whole shop is plumbed with that.

That said, both compressors tie into a refrigerated dryer, and each has a timed auto tank drain.

 

I run the air from my compressor direct into a coil of 3/8 copper tube in a 20 ltr (5gal) plastic paint container filled with a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water. It then runs to my air receiver. There is no water/moisture apparent at the drain. The line then runs through a Norgren filter/ regulator. I have never seen any sign of moisture in the clear bowl of this unit. I got this idea from the HAMB and did this 15 odd years ago. I did this after having problems using my plasma cutter. The compressor is a Ingersol Rand 15cfm that I purchased in 1982. I also run a cabinet blaster on this.











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3/8" line will really cut down on the volume of air delivered to your air tools or spray gun.

 

It is hard to believe. Evidently this is one case where the laws of physics don't apply. How big is the tank on your compressor, at what pressure does it shut off, and do you drain it regularly?

Would one of you care to postulate where the moisture is going? I know for a fact that the copper coil is not simply absorbing it.

 

Yeah, those pesky Laws of Physics.

I am surprised that more people are not using timed drains on their tanks and cooling rigs. They are not expensive.

Even a really good one is all of $100.

Both of my compressors have them, and the refrigerated dryer has one built in, as part of the operation.

I never have to drain anything related to moisture. I do need to periodically check the separators, but that's about it.

 

We have the twin tower desiccant style at work. I don't know if they are available in smaller, shop sizes. Here's a schematic representation from Wikipedia:



The air gets down to a dewpoint around -50 F or lower, no matter what the outside humidity is.
You don't have to change the dessiccant for years, as it regenerates everytime the unit switches to the other side, and a small amount of very wet air is discharged.

 

Ran the compressor up today, temp at the copper tube from the pump into the antifreeze container was 76.5 degrees, at the copper tube into the air receiver tank 53.8 degrees, the clear acrylic bowl on the Norgren filter/reg 53.1 which was about the ambient air temp. Correction on the copper tube size, it is 1/2 inch not 3/8. The compressor is 15 cfm and the cutout is 135psi