# Compressed Air Line Condensate Remover



## Wireaddict (Jan 21, 2015)

When we moved here from MI in 2012 the shop had an outdoor compressor with an overhead air line & two drops for hoses.  The previous owner left the compressor on so it maintained pressure continuously.  When I used the air drop nearest the compressor the drop was full of condensate water so I began thinking about a way to eliminate the shower & this is what I came up with.  [The reason that condensate water forms is that when the humid summertime air is drawn in & compressed the condensation temp of the vapor rises so that the water vapor liquefies at room temp.]

Although not shown in the picture I installed a T in the first air drop after the compressor so that the bottom leg connected to the pipe carrying the water condensate to the wall above the collector unit & the air drop is connected to the middle or top leg of the T, depending on ceiling space, but make the air take off point as high above the bottom of the T as possible.  I also sloped the ceiling drain pipe from the T so it was a few inches lower at the wall.

The heart of the water remover is the collector or water sensor which I made from a glass sight gage [Conbraco 10 inch model PPI-150EC typically which is rated at 300 lb/in[SUP]2[/SUP] at 100 deg F & shown as a variable resistor on the schematic pdf; see note 4].  I connected the [2] leads to the top & bottom brass end "electrodes" of the collector via the holes in one of the bosses for a guard rod at each end via "stake-on" lugs & screws [IE, one lead to each end].  BTW, you can't use the guard rods here because they will short out the sensor & continuously signal water present, keeping the drain solenoid valve energized which you won't like.

Also, on the schematic, note that neither wire to the collector/sensor is grounded.  Therefore use hose or plastic pipe for the lines at both ends; this also reduces the possibility of the water coming in contact with anything grounded while in the sensor.  One caution: follow the manufacturer's instructions _carefully_ when tightening the packing nuts at the ends of the glass gage tube because it'll break easily.

And a few more final construction hints: the transformer I used for the sense amp doesn't appear to be available unless you have one in a "junk box" like I did so you'll probably need to use two, one with a 12-volt secondary winding & the other with a 19 or 20V, center-tapped, both 10 or 20 VA & with 120 volt primaries & allow more space in the enclosure for the extra transformer [I used a 6X6X4 inch deep Hoffman box.  I mounted the collector/sensor to the wall & a 4X4 support beam using blocks cut from a one inch thick piece of HDPE from US Plastic of Lima OH.  I found that I had to secure the top of the collector tube behind the pressure gage because the hose doesn't hold it securely & allowed the top "electrode" to twist under pressure causing an air leak.



View attachment Condensate Sense Amp.pdf


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