DIY air compressor dryer

churchjw

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I have been reading about some home built air dryers for compressors. The commercial ones are way out of my price range. I have a water drain on my tank that I check before every use and I have drains and traps on the lines. The shop is fairly dry and heated so water is not a huge problem. The idea that I have seen a few different post and videos about uses a car/truck AC condenser coil the cool the air before it goes into the tank and has a trap where you can drain water in the line right after the coil and before the tank. Here is a video that shows a guys set up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAOuuaNuJUo

So my questions are:
Has anyone done this kind set up and if so how did it go?
Any safety issues you guys see with it? I know there are some really smart guys on here that know a lot about air pressure safety.
Is this worth the effort?
The theory behind it sounds good to me but that does not mean it will work. LOL

Jeff
 
Hi ya Jeff,
Having a "warm" shop can increase the propensity for moisture in your air. A "dry"shop will help lower it. When you compress air it heats up, the reason you sometimes see cooling fins on piping that runs from cylinders on compressors. When you allow the air to expand, as in when it enters the air receiver, it cools down and moisture condenses out of the air. Thats why your tank has the water drain on it. The A/C condensor will cool the air and get some moisture out but more will still drop out as it expands into the receiver. As the A/C condensor heats up it will become less efficient unless you have a good flow of cooling air over it.

Cheers Phil
 
I am partial to the HF dessicant in a pipe design. I have used several and the home built system using the beads from the HF kit is pretty cheap and works amazingly well. I have a CNC Plasma Table that requires "DRY" air or it eats 37 dollar electrodes like chiclets. The drier I built works and has saved more than I paid for all of the materials I needed to build it 100's of times over all ready. The dessicant can be refurbed by baking in the oven, just don't do it while momma is around, unless she is very lenient on your using the kitchen for your experiments. Mine is not one of that bunch, but she is a keepr anyway, she welds better than 90% of the male welders I know. If you would like you can email me and I will be glad to help you get one of your own together and into your system. Get max pressure, CFM consumption, temp and length of plumbed in lines so we can calculate the best size of pipe.
Bob
 
Look up

Frantzinator


https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugex...5bcc43df61601f&bpcl=39967673&biw=1351&bih=371

I know! crazy name ! I built one & it works great.
I needed a inexpensive means for dry air for my powder coating. I purchased the pipe from Home Depot, thy cut & thread for free. Had a lot of the parts & it ended up cost under 100.00.

I checked the the pipe temp between the compressor head & the in on the Frantzinator during operation and it was 260 deg f
pipe temp after the Frantzinator is 70 deg

Best part is there is NO maintainence
 
.... stuff snipped....

I have a CNC Plasma Table that requires "DRY" air or it eats 37 dollar electrodes like chiclets.

Bob

LOL :rofl:. I feel your pain!

FWIW, I also have the desicant canister type and it works well. I only plug it in-line when plasma cutting and store it in a ziploc bag when not in use. Slows the consumption of electrodes down to jaw-breaker speed instead of chicklets.
 
I solved that few yrs back - local junk yard and 50 bucks Bendex truck air dryer. Every time it unloads
it spits then with 3/8 copper tubing drilled 3/8 hole in the shop wall. I did leave the drain valve and
time to time I crack it and absolutly no moisture. I thought that was a good deal cause Napa wants
around $300 for a new one. And the compresor is a I- Rand vertical 2 stage 10Hp four belt drive
my father bought new in 1939 and only been overhauled once. Also the dryer is 12vt heated.
 
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I've used the desiccant canister type before, and the only thing I have against them can be solved by running a good filter after them. If you have enough pellets, rotate out two batches and make it a regular maintenance thing to change it weekly.

One day, I intend to build a regular refrigerated dryer. I have a spare (more or less) 2.5 ton AC unit that should do it. I hadn't thought of the truck air dryer. Sounds like a good solution.
 
Yes Tony the truck dryer does have a desiccant. I suppose they could be found on ebay for
cheap. sam
 
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