# Air compressor question ?



## graham-xrf (Mar 14, 2022)

Where I have been, always at the end of the day, they opened the valve, and let out the compressed air.
Maybe dumb question day - but why do it?

One has expended the energy in getting it compressed, It will surely keep until it is needed, or until maybe it has slowly leaked away before a top-up could hap[pen.


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## DavidR8 (Mar 14, 2022)

I drain my compressors weekly to get rid of the water that accumulates. The loss of energy is neither here nor there to me.


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## Wheat.Millington (Mar 14, 2022)

I don't know what it's like in a commercial shop, but on my home compressor I've never been able to eliminate enough leaks to prevent it losing a lot of pressure over night, so there's no real loss. The main reason though is to drain the water out of the tanks.


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## RandyWilson (Mar 14, 2022)

High pressure holds moisture.  The shop I was in had so many air leaks the compressor self drained in a matter of hours. I used to open the petcock each morning then start the compressor up, using the first bit of air to clear any condensed water in the bottom.


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## Chewy (Mar 14, 2022)

I drain mine every month or so.  If I am going to do any spray painting, I drain everything including all the lines first.  I have a 60 gallon tank with a high up feed.  Little homeowner deals should be drained before every use.  You don't want water vapor getting into air tools. Why they are letting all the air out, I don't know.


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## Winegrower (Mar 14, 2022)

I added an automatic drain valve that everytime the compressor turns on, it opens for a few seconds.   That handles the water issue.   And my pressure stays above the setpoint overnight, so no wasted energy and it's ready to go in the AM.


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## Chewy (Mar 14, 2022)

A water trap on the outlet of the tank is a good idea.  But don't think it will stop all the water as it will collect in the lowest spots from temperature difference and then come out with a blast when you don't want it to. I don't use an oiler, preferring to oil my tools before and after use.  Some of them are 40 years old.


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## Wheat.Millington (Mar 14, 2022)

Winegrower said:


> I added an automatic drain valve that everytime the compressor turns on, it opens for a few seconds.   That handles the water issue.   And my pressure stays above the setpoint overnight, so no wasted energy and it's ready to go in the AM.


Damn that's smart.


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## Wheat.Millington (Mar 14, 2022)

Chewy said:


> I drain mine every month or so.  If I am going to do any spray painting, I drain everything including all the lines first.  I have a 60 gallon tank with a high up feed.  Little homeowner deals should be drained before every use.  You don't want water vapor getting into air tools. Why they are letting all the air out, I don't know.


This might be a daft question, but how can I drain my air lines? I have a soft line that goes up to the ceiling and a retractable hose up there, and a couple more soft hoses coiled up around the place.


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## Boswell (Mar 14, 2022)

Wheat.Millington said:


> This might be a daft question, but how can I drain my air lines? I have a soft line that goes up to the ceiling and a retractable hose up there, and a couple more soft hoses coiled up around the place


I think the normal way is to have a drain valve at every low spot. I use rigid pipe for my air delivery and slope it slightly so that any water collects in specific places where I have drain valves. That along with an automatic drain valve on the storage tank similar to Winegrower.  I find not very much water collects in the distribution system but not zero and it is easy to periodically open the drain valve at each low spot.


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## woodchucker (Mar 14, 2022)

I blow the drain open once a day. I figure fter it sits long enough, the water is at the bottom. and it's good to blow it then.
Only long enough to get rid of the water.  I have added a disperser to the end of the drain line and it's in a jar so it doesn't blow all over the place.


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## finsruskw (Mar 14, 2022)

All my outlets have drop legs on them with a valve.
When I get the new one staged, up and running I plan on an auto-drain for it.


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## Dave Smith (Mar 14, 2022)

where I worked as a plant maint mechanic, we ran three shifts but on the weekends if not working we would drain the huge air systems for safety reasons. have you ever seen the quick damage long 3/4" drops from high ceilings can do if the hose ends rupture, or hoses connected to machines come loose. that much air pressure had a lot of power if unleashed, and it was a huge plant.  it only took about 20 minutes to refill all the big tanks when starting back up on Monday. 
at my home shops, I don't drain the tanks but I don't leave them without shutting the valves and shutting off the power.
 in my shop 40 miles from me I used to just flip the automatic switch to manual position, but one time a cat or racoon tripped it to automatic position which could have caused trouble before I went back to that shop. lucky my neighbor called me to tell me noise was coming from my building. now I shut the power off to the compressor when I am away.
Dave


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## Wheat.Millington (Mar 14, 2022)

Dave Smith said:


> where I worked as a plant maint mechanic, we ran three shifts but on the weekends if not working we would drain the huge air systems for safety reasons. have you ever seen the quick damage long 3/4" drops from high ceilings can do if the hose ends rupture, or hoses connected to machines come loose. that much air pressure had a lot of power if unleashed, and it was a huge plant.



If your drops are going to fail, wouldn't it be better to fail when there's no one in the shop? LOL


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## maspann (Mar 14, 2022)

Winegrower said:


> I added an automatic drain valve that everytime the compressor turns on, it opens for a few seconds.   That handles the water issue.   And my pressure stays above the setpoint overnight, so no wasted energy and it's ready to go in the AM.


Winegrower, please share the brand/model of your automatic drain. I have been looking for one that operates every time the compressor runs.


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## Watchwatch (Mar 14, 2022)

I have a DIY inter cooler set up.

Compressor head to a small car radiator, to water trap, to the tank, to another water trap and drier.

The water traps automatically drain. I ran 5/16 line to the traps and the bottom of the tank. I bleed a little air off the tank every time I cycle it to flush the system.

I get very little water accumulation in the tank. But the air drier isnt lasting as long as I’d like. The beads have already changed color after roughly 20 cycles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Winegrower (Mar 14, 2022)

maspann said:


> Winegrower, please share the brand/model of your automatic drain. I have been looking for one that operates every time the compressor runs.




Sure, it’s this one:
JORC 5523 Combo-D-Lux 1/2" NPT 115 Volt Drain Valve​I got it from eCompressedair.com.   It is programmable for a bunch of scenarios and on/off times, and one of the modes is “every power on, drain for (adjustable) seconds, then nothing, repeat at next power on”.

I bought a very inexpensive 240V to 12V power supply and wired it across the 240V single phase motor.   When the motor turns on, the 12V comes up, the valve drains for x seconds and shuts off.

Edit:  This is a less than $5 power supply, smaller than a pack of cigs.

Edit 2:  oh how soon we forget.   The power supply was for the remote switch function, switching 12V low power instead of trying to switch the full motor current.   I posted about this.    The drain was even easier.   It takes up to 250VAC for power, so I wired the drain across the motor, no additional supply needed.


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## Dave Smith (Mar 15, 2022)

Wheat.Millington said:


> If your drops are going to fail, wouldn't it be better to fail when there's no one in the shop? LOL


no, then no one could quickly shut the valve off to stop the whipping hose. ceiling lights and many things could be damaged. maybe you would have to be near one to know how dangerous they get. lots of areas in shops have long rubber airlines on the floor running to equipment or air tools. your tank maybe only 80 gallon or less but plants have thousands of gallons. not funny.
Dave


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## FOMOGO (Mar 15, 2022)

An air tight system is achievable, but it takes a little effort. A bottle of soapy water, and a desire to do it right can get you there. Retractical hose reels are a deal with the devil. They will ALWAYS eventually leak. I much prefer short, real rubber hoses where I need them, and I don't mind having to roll them up. I manually drain my compressors on a weekly basis, and I live in a dry climate, but I do use a lot of air.


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## jbaccell (Mar 15, 2022)

I have an old Quincy 325 pump on a 80 gallon tank.  I added a check valve between the tank and the compressor and it will hold pressure for weeks with minimal air loss.  I have a ball valve on the bottom of the tank with a rubber hose attached and depending on how often I am using the compressor, I open the ball valve on the bottom for 20-30 seconds which is plenty to drain the water off.  I never drain all the air out of the tank.


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## llamatrails (Mar 15, 2022)

maspann said:


> Winegrower, please share the brand/model of your automatic drain. I have been looking for one that operates every time the compressor runs.


I've had good luck with this one:









						Automatic Compressor Drain Kit
					

Amazing deals on this Automatic Compressor Drain Kit at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.




					www.harborfreight.com


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## addertooth (Mar 16, 2022)

The risk of damage to air tools is important.  Equally important is the internal rusting in the compressor's air tank if water is left in it.  I recently bought a used 8hp gasoline speed-air compressor used. It wasn't until I got it home that I discovered a rust-through pin-hole in the tank.   The previous owner did not properly drain the tank.  In theory, I *could* weld the pin-hole, but then I would wonder about the integrity of the rest of the tank.  My next smaller compressor has aluminum tanks, which have less of a risk of rust through.  I still drain it as well.


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## 7milesup (Mar 16, 2022)

There are numerous threads on here and around the web regarding moisture control in compressed air systems. 
I utilized an air conditioner coil from a residential furnace (A-coil) to remove most of the water before the tank.


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## graham-xrf (Mar 16, 2022)

addertooth said:


> The risk of damage to air tools is important.  Equally important is the internal rusting in the compressor's air tank if water is left in it.  I recently bought a used 8hp gasoline speed-air compressor used. It wasn't until I got it home that I discovered a rust-through pin-hole in the tank.   The previous owner did not properly drain the tank.  In theory, I *could* weld the pin-hole, but then I would wonder about the integrity of the rest of the tank.  My next smaller compressor has aluminum tanks, which have less of a risk of rust through.  I still drain it as well.


Drill the hole out, tap it NPT, and put a brass plug screw up it. That said, the pinhole where it came through would be only the deepest rusted spot in a generally larger rusted, hence weaker, area. I would think there is not much you could do by way of welded repair that would be weaker than a place where water collected, and already corroded through. Cylinders mostly have a weld seam anyway. I would consider cutting a big hole, enough to inspect the nearby insides with a small stalk mirror. Then decide. Maybe a circular plug, welded in, covered by a reinforcing patch, welded all the way around. You can make it so that if it was ever going to fail, it would have to be somewhere else.

In my original post, it was about the practice of letting the air out, and that I said that I thought it was not beyond our wit to contrive some way to let the water out. Of course, let us look after the compressor by draining it. My first thought was just use two taps, with a tube between. Open one, let the water into it. Close it, and then open the outer tap, and lose the water.

I guess some like to blast the water out. OK then, but once the water is out, close it off, and keep the pressure. I am sure we can come up with more. Beyond that, one might use an electrical trick to inhibit the corrosion process.

Water vapour is in the original air when it gets compressed. There is a point if later it gets cold enough to dew, then it comes out, but this point is harder to reach if it is kept under pressure. When it is released in normal use, the air gets very cold from expansion, and is ending up at atmospheric. The water will come out, and if you don't want it there (say for spray painting), you have to use inline dessicators. Depending on the compressor type, you may have to remove oil as well.

Letting the air out all the way, inevitably drops the temperature in the tank, and the water gets below the point it can remain as a vapour, and collects in the tank. By all means, switch off when done. Yes, of course, drain the water. I was just trying to discover if there was some other good technical reason for letting go the compressed air. The energy it took to get it there was lots.

[EDIT : I do like it. @llamatrails provides us with a solution from HF.  Apparently "operates from any interrupted air signal". I am not sure what this means, but anyway
-->     https://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-compressor-drain-kit-68244.html
]


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## Dave Smith (Mar 16, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> Where I have been, always at the end of the day, they opened the valve, and let out the compressed air.
> Maybe dumb question day - but why do it?
> 
> One has expended the energy in getting it compressed, It will surely keep until it is needed, or until maybe it has slowly leaked away before a top-up could hap[pen.


you didn't ask why people just drain the water out of their tanks like everyone does, you asked why places you worked always  drained their tanks completely at the end of the day. 
your answer to why some companies completely drain their compressor storage tanks answer is in #13 and #18. mainly for safety.
Dave


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## Boswell (Mar 16, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> Drill the hole out, tap it NPT, and put a brass plug screw up it.


forgive me if I am off base here, but this does not seem like a very safe way of solving this problem. Again, I don't have any formal experience with repairing compressed storage tanks but two things come to mind that might be worth looking into before following this recommendation.
1. If one area is rusted through, then I would think it likely (at least until proven otherwise) that there are many more areas that are close to rusting through and any patch of any kind will be short lived.
2.  Adding mass, in the form of an NPT Plug could become a projectile if the area around the plug (that is likely weakened by rust) gives way. 

I think there are many ways to save $ in a hobby shop, but taking chances with a pressure tank that is known to have rust issues, is beyond my personal limit. Hope you get this worked out.


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## epanzella (Mar 16, 2022)

I put a 90 degree fitting on my drain (60 gal upright tank) and brought it out to a ball valve that I can operate with my foot. I also have a ball valve right at the pressure outlet to my distribution system so that when it's closed  the tank will stay at pressure indefinitely. At the end of every day when I shut the pressure ball valve for the night I crack the bottom drain ball valve with my foot to clear the condensate out of the bottom of the tank.


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## maspann (Mar 16, 2022)

llamatrails said:


> I've had good luck with this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


So, what triggers this one? I like the idea of a drain that opens for a few seconds every time the compressor kicks on.


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## llamatrails (Mar 16, 2022)

maspann said:


> So, what triggers this one? I like the idea of a drain that opens for a few seconds every time the compressor kicks on.


Been a few years since I installed it.

From one of the HF comments,
Hoyt - April 10, 2021 :
" .. use the tee to come off the line to the pressure relief line, that pulsates as the compressor runs, and that pulsation activates the pump. When the tank is charging, the pump is pushing water out, and when the compressor shuts off, it lets out a final big squirt... "


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## graham-xrf (Mar 17, 2022)

Boswell said:


> forgive me if I am off base here, but this does not seem like a very safe way of solving this problem. Again, I don't have any formal experience with repairing compressed storage tanks but two things come to mind that might be worth looking into before following this recommendation.
> 1. If one area is rusted through, then I would think it likely (at least until proven otherwise) that there are many more areas that are close to rusting through and any patch of any kind will be short lived.
> 2.  Adding mass, in the form of an NPT Plug could become a projectile if the area around the plug (that is likely weakened by rust) gives way.
> 
> I think there are many ways to save $ in a hobby shop, but taking chances with a pressure tank that is known to have rust issues, is beyond my personal limit. Hope you get this worked out.


Not at all off base, and we do agree on pretty much everything except how well (or poorly) a threaded plug can perform.
In context, I did follow with "that said.." and addressed the question of a possible larger weakened area.

A fix it hole has to be either in a thick enough wall, or have it's own base, but In my experience, it would normally still be intact when the whole cylinder breaks. That is a tame event, normally failing while under test full of water. A NPT fitting won't become a projectile by itself, although I think you meant the NPT plug, along with a whole lump of weakened, rusted steel around it, pushed by compressed gas. Try not to misunderstand. I feel the same way about "rusted stuff".

It was part of my job in the past to be getting involved with (very) high pressures, and temperatures, and sometimes, I would test to destruction.

There are BSPT (NPT) fittings of all kinds to allow getting stuff onto walls of pressure cylinders. They are rated well beyond the fail pressure of the cylinder, and do not normally become projectiles. When I said "drill it out", that gives opportunity to discover the condition of the wall. I have tried this, and I was so unhappy that I went on to cut a big enough hole to see inside. The sides of the hole reveals how much the nearby area is thinned by rust. In our case, almost none, but the repair fitting was overkill, looked ugly, and was only needed for a short time before we junked all the kit. The hassle it took to test it might have exceeded the price of a new compressor, but it was a question of delay.

In my place, I don't share the space with compressed air cylinders, and none of the tubes can rust. There is the argon cylinder, but I think that is OK.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 17, 2022)

I recently bought a new compressor (50L Ryobi dorect drive),but fixed my old one anyway,but I do have a problem with the drain  that I don't like nor understand why they did it like this.  It sits a bit offset from the bottom,it is convenient to get to, but I am worried on how efficient it can drain water because of the offset.

Any thoughts on why the company would do it like this? I don't see how I can do anyething about this. I will post a pic tommorow. 

Michael


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## llamatrails (Mar 17, 2022)

Designed by someone that never had to work with the compressor.  Then the marketing guys pushed it past the safety guys.  Sigh ...


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 18, 2022)




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## graham-xrf (Mar 18, 2022)

Suzuki4evr said:


> I recently bought a new compressor (50L Ryobi dorect drive),but fixed my old one anyway,but I do have a problem with the drain  that I don't like nor understand why they did it like this.  It sits a bit offset from the bottom,it is convenient to get to, but I am worried on how efficient it can drain water because of the offset.
> 
> Any thoughts on why the company would do it like this? I don't see how I can do anyething about this. I will post a pic tommorow.
> 
> Michael


That is definitely the wrong place for a drain outlet.  Looking at it hard, it may be that the whole thing is too low for the outlet to fit without scraping the ground. @llamatrails may be quite right in thinking it was a cheapskate manufacture decision.

Let us (very charitably), allow that inside, there may be a tube reaching to the bottom, and that the water would get expelled if there was a bit of pressure left in there. Yes - I know, probably an unsafe notion! It's bonkers that to drain it, you have to have it stood on bits of wood or something, and rocked over to let the water find the outlet. Now that you show us this, you can bet that I will be looking hard at any compressor I have a mind to buy, and for me, that is something that is coming up soon.


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## WobblyHand (Mar 18, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> That is definitely the wrong place for a drain outlet.  Looking at it hard, it may be that the whole thing is too low for the outlet to fit without scraping the ground. @llamatrails may be quite right in thinking it was a cheapskate manufacture decision.
> 
> Let us (very charitably), allow that inside, there may be a tube reaching to the bottom, and that the water would get expelled if there was a bit of pressure left in there. Yes - I know, probably an unsafe notion! It's bonkers that to drain it, you have to have it stood on bits of wood or something, and rocked over to let the water find the outlet. Now that you show us this, you can bet that I will be looking hard at any compressor I have a mind to buy, and for me, that is something that is coming up soon.


Why do you consider the placement unsafe?  Is it because the little tube inside could become clogged?  Just curious.  

My tank drain is at the bottom.  If the external elbow were to get clogged, wouldn't that have a similar effect?  The advantage of the external elbow is that it's replaceable.  Of course, neither should be clogged if maintained...


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## graham-xrf (Mar 18, 2022)

WobblyHand said:


> Why do you consider the placement unsafe?  Is it because the little tube inside could become clogged?  Just curious.
> 
> My tank drain is at the bottom.  If the external elbow were to get clogged, wouldn't that have a similar effect?  The advantage of the external elbow is that it's replaceable.  Of course, neither should be clogged if maintained...


Looking at it, imagine there is enough water in the cylinder for the level to get to the point where some might exit the drain.  An elbow at the very bottom would work. The tap we see from @Suzuki4evr 's picture looks like it presents difficulties.


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## FOMOGO (Mar 18, 2022)

Pull the fitting and see if there is a tube. My guess is no. I would either return it, or drill a new hole and weld in a bung in a workable location. Use a 90deg fitting, and a nipple  right off the tank to bring the drain valve out to where it's accessible. I think it was probably a manufacturing error. When the tank had the legs, and compressor mounting plate attached, the tank wasn't rotated to the right location, and it slipped through QC. As it's a safety issue, they should replace it. I know I'll get flack on the drilling and welding issue, but I trust my welding at least as much as I trust theirs. Mike


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 18, 2022)

FOMOGO said:


> Pull the fitting and see if there is a tube. My guess is no. I would either return it, or drill a new hole and weld in a bung in a workable location. Use a 90deg fitting, and a nipple  right off the tank to bring the drain valve out to where it's accessible. I think it was probably a manufacturing error. When the tank had the legs, and compressor mounting plate attached, the tank wasn't rotated to the right location, and it slipped through QC. As it's a safety issue, they should replace it. I know I'll get flack on the drilling and welding issue, but I trust my welding at least as much as I trust theirs. Mike


Mike I only bought it end of lasr year and it is under a 2year guarantee, so drilling and welding is out of the question, but you do have me thinking to contact Ryobi and ask about this. I will do that Tuesday first thing,cause Monday is a public holiday.

There could be another design like maybe an internal plate just above the drain to save the outer shell from rusting from the inside. Slightly curved towards the drain for water collection. Hey.....if this is not a current design,I think then just made it one.


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## graham-xrf (Mar 18, 2022)

FOMOGO said:


> Pull the fitting and see if there is a tube. My guess is no. I would either return it, or drill a new hole and weld in a bung in a workable location. Use a 90deg fitting, and a nipple  right off the tank to bring the drain valve out to where it's accessible. I think it was probably a manufacturing error. When the tank had the legs, and compressor mounting plate attached, the tank wasn't rotated to the right location, and it slipped through QC. As it's a safety issue, they should replace it. I know I'll get flack on the drilling and welding issue, but I trust my welding at least as much as I trust theirs. Mike


No flack here! In this place, it's OK to invite some. It can only teach us what not to do.
Just suppose one simply closes the tap, and leaves that drain alone. Then goes ahead and drills a drain hole, chamfered, fit in a drain pipe, and home-welded all around to the best of one's ability. Then, not trusting  that, add a slightly curved to fit, thick rectangular plate over it, also with a chamfered hole. This time, welded around the plate, in stages, and also around the pipe elbow chamfer. Now consider what might happen if one's welding was not very good. OK then, it leaks!

Is there anything about this welding operation that could compromise the rest of the tank to present a credible risk of catastrophic failure of the rest of the cylinder, such that it all comes apart with violence? There might be, and the very skilled and qualified can explain exactly how. It happens to be a risk I have already taken, although I did pump the thing up with water afterwards, to about 2x rating. Nothing happened!

I think Michael has a case to say the drain is dysfunctional, and does not actually work as a drain. He might do OK if he said he would accept another model, without the fault, for maybe a very nominal amount extra.


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## WobblyHand (Mar 18, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> Looking at it, imagine there is enough water in the cylinder for the level to get to the point where some might exit the drain.  An elbow at the very bottom would work. The tap we see from @Suzuki4evr 's picture looks like it presents difficulties.


Perhaps I was unclear.  I was discussing a somewhat sensible design, not a tap above water line.  What if there was a small internal tube connecting from that tap point to the bottom, like a petrol pick up in a fuel tank?  For all we know there's a "fuel sock" on the end of the pick up, which would tend to minimize the drain from clogging.


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## graham-xrf (Mar 18, 2022)

WobblyHand said:


> Perhaps I was unclear.  I was discussing a somewhat sensible design, not a tap above water line.  What if there was a small internal tube connecting from that tap point to the bottom, like a petrol pick up in a fuel tank?  For all we know there's a "fuel sock" on the end of the pick up, which would tend to minimize the drain from clogging.


Yes - that was the possibility I mentioned in post #34. I called it the "charitable" view. I think the odds are that Ryobi did not fit  a bottom collector, but you never know. There may be a way to deduce this. Perhaps if @Suzuki4evr let us know what happens when he opens the tap, with maybe only a little pressure remaining. If Michael has never ever seen much water come out, ever, he can reasonably think that this arrangement does not work.

Maybe, if he propped the compressor over a bit, opened the tap, and got sprayed with stale smelly old water, he would know.
[ DON'T DO THIS AT FULL PRESSURE !! ]. Nearly all air released will do.


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## Dave Smith (Mar 18, 2022)

Michael and others watching,
I googled his compressor and other brands that showed the drain valve was not on the very bottom of their tanks. "who would even think" ---I found that their instructions said you needed to "tilt" the tanks so the drain was at the lowest position to remove all the water. Good thing your tank isn't 60 or 80 gallon. they also said to completely drain all the pressure from the tank each time before opening the drain valve, and do this every end of day.
wow!  ---I couldn't believe all the tanks now that the drain valve isn't on the very bottom. Graham is very sensible in checking where the valve is located before buying a new compressor. I don't need a new compressor, but you can be sure that I would not buy one if the drain valve plug wasn't in the lowest position. I guess it confirms all our opinions that designers do not care or know about basic principles that need to be incorporated in products they sell. 
Dave


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## WobblyHand (Mar 18, 2022)

Dave Smith said:


> Michael and others watching,
> I googled his compressor and other brands that showed the drain valve was not on the very bottom of their tanks. "who would even think" ---I found that their instructions said you needed to "tilt" the tanks so the drain was at the lowest position to remove all the water. Good thing your tank isn't 60 or 80 gallon. they also said to completely drain all the pressure from the tank each time before opening the drain valve, and do this every end of day.
> wow!  ---I couldn't believe all the tanks now that the drain valve isn't on the very bottom. Graham is very sensible in checking where the valve is located before buying a new compressor. I don't need a new compressor, but you can be sure that I would not buy one if the drain valve plug wasn't in the lowest position. I guess it confirms all our opinions that designers do not care or know about basic principles that need to be incorporated in products they sell.
> Dave


This makes me sad.  When the designers don't care, then it's time to patronize a different brand.  Just refuse to buy this junk.  Thanks for alerting us.  For not much money they could have put in a pick up in the tank, but they chose to build in an inherent safety liability.  What a bunch of hooey to tilt the tank.

If I was stuck with such a tank I'd make a weighted hose go through the fitting hole, such that the hose would drop to the tank bottom.  Rocking the compressor and tank is not what I'd want to do regularly.  Seems like a defective design.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 18, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> If Michael has never ever seen much water come out, ever, he can reasonably think that this arrangement does not work.


Some water actualy does come out


Dave Smith said:


> I found that their instructions said you needed to "tilt" the tanks so the drain was at the lowest position to remove all the water. Good thing your tank isn't 60 or 80 gallon


There is nothing in the operation manual that states that the tank must be tilted,wich is the only thing that makes sense,and wich I have also done,but it is absolutely stupid if you ask me. I must admit that this is actually starting to pi$$ me off because the stupid design is now causing me unnecessary work.


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## WobblyHand (Mar 18, 2022)

Suzuki4evr said:


> Some water actualy does come out
> 
> There is nothing in the operation manual that states that the tank must be tilted,wich is the only thing that makes sense,and wich I have also done,but it is absolutely stupid if you ask me. I must admit that this is actually starting to pi$$ me off because the stupid design is now causing me unnecessary work.


If the water truly is removed from the tank then it's ok, and no need to be mad.  But if water remains in the tank with this arrangement, I would try to make something to be able to regularly remove it.  The only way to know if it works is to test it.


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## graham-xrf (Mar 18, 2022)

Suzuki4evr said:


> Some water actually does come out


That kind of suggests that what water does come out is whatever is above the level of the outlet, and there is a whole lower segment of the cylinder with water that has become a "permanent feature". Try tipping it up a but, and then let go, and see if you can tell there is a gallon or two sloshing about. Maybe get the tap open, and tilt it sideways, to find out if there was a whole lot more to come.


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## Dave Smith (Mar 18, 2022)

Suzuki4evr said:


> Some water actualy does come out
> 
> There is nothing in the operation manual that states that the tank must be tilted,wich is the only thing that makes sense,and wich I have also done,but it is absolutely stupid if you ask me. I must admit that this is actually starting to pi$$ me off because the stupid design is now causing me unnecessary work.


I getcha! ---it's ridiculous and lousy--some other makes are the same--makes you wonder if they want the tanks to fail quicker so sales demands are increased


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## WobblyHand (Mar 18, 2022)

Gee, all this talk of tanks and water reminded me to go check mine.  Got 200ml out of mine just now.  Have a 60 gallon tank, powered by a Quincy compressor.  A while back I replaced a brass blowoff valve with a stainless steel one rated at 600 psi. 

Since then the amount of water I'm getting has significantly dropped.  It seems that the brass blowoff valve was leaking, which caused more tank fills and more water in the tank.  I remember listening to the brass valve and couldn't hear the leak, but it was leaking just the same.  One day when blowing off the brass valve, it wouldn't seal at all. That's when I replaced it and found out about the slow leak.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 19, 2022)

graham-xrf said:


> That kind of suggests that what water does come out is whatever is above the level of the outlet, and there is a whole lower segment of the cylinder with water that has become a "permanent feature". Try tipping it up a but, and then let go, and see if you can tell there is a gallon or two sloshing about. Maybe get the tap open, and tilt it sideways, to find out if there was a whole lot more to come.


Although I bought this unit about November last year,it has not work much,about 20 to 30 cycles and that is over calculating I think. I use it only for my pneumatic hydraulic press,so there is NO way so much water could have accumulated in the tank and I would never let it get that bad. I use my old unit on my airline. Besides I did tilt it before because of this offset drain and I did it before I joined this conversation.


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## Suzuki4evr (Mar 19, 2022)

What I think I will do is to NOT drain it for while and then drain to check if it is sufficient and then tilt to see if any more comes out.


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## maspann (Mar 19, 2022)

Winegrower said:


> Sure, it’s this one:
> JORC 5523 Combo-D-Lux 1/2" NPT 115 Volt Drain Valve​I got it from eCompressedair.com.   It is programmable for a bunch of scenarios and on/off times, and one of the modes is “every power on, drain for (adjustable) seconds, then nothing, repeat at next power on”.
> 
> I bought a very inexpensive 240V to 12V power supply and wired it across the 240V single phase motor.   When the motor turns on, the 12V comes up, the valve drains for x seconds and shuts off.
> ...


I found a Jorc 5523 on ebay but there was no manual with it. Do you have the setup instructions that you could share?


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## Winegrower (Mar 19, 2022)

Instructions sent, and attached in case anyone is curious.


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