How do those auto drain air filters even work? I just ordered a manufacturing drain one off Amazon at a substantially cheaper price when compared to an auto drain one, but I don't wanna have to worry about it either. Can't I just remove the thumb know at the bottom and let the water drain out? Maybe remove the knob and install a muffler or some sort of mesh to keep dirt from getting in but allow water to get out? Maybe I just leave the knob cracked. Or will the thing be pressurized and such "solutions" will mean I'm wasting air?low rpm pump - min 5hp ( 1 man ) - dryer at service end as far from pump as possible - moisture/vapor trap before dryer .
So you have air from the compressor go through the HF dryer and then into the QC3, then through the m60? You use the dryer all the time?i was using a divilbiss QC3(actually 2 cause one was free)....and a motor guard...and a water trap also had 2 drop legs before all that. My compressor runs slow too(about 850rpm) but I was STILL getting moisture. The QC3 filters took care of it but I would change right before prime/paint/clearcoat and use up 2 on one car. I went ahead and bought the HF dryer and have done 2 cars using 1 filter and it's still good. The humidity here is the same as you , half hour in my garage and I'm soaked from sweat....sure seems like it's keeping up, haven't seen a drop come out of my hose yet while sanding. There are several posts on SPI forum about the HF dryer, everyone seems to like it and has nothing bad to say about them
I have the 3/4 maxair kit. Yes the fittings are expensive. Easy to install, and will never corrode. I would pass on the 1/2 push to connect kit. The 3/4" kit is compression fittings, the 1/2" is push to connect.
But PVC isn't rated for very high pressure is it?hell i use pvc pipe in my shop.
You think the push to connect are more liable to leak? I am having various places wuote a 1/2 kit and 3/4 kit. We're moving the old compressor to another building and had planned on plumbing it up with the 1/2 stuff.
You think the push to connect are more liable to leak? I am having various places wuote a 1/2 kit and 3/4 kit. We're moving the old compressor to another building and had planned on plumbing it up with the 1/2 stuff.
Another question: will 3/4 shark bite fittings work with the max air or rapid air stuff? I thought shark bite fittings were too expensive but these rapid air fittings make the shark bite fittings look cheap! If the SB works I'll get some of those for what I need that's over and beyond what comes in a standard kit. They're rated to 200psi (the copper variants that is), so id be good from that standpoint.
Do you guys use all brass pipe fittings to combat and prolong corrosion?
I have Maxair, and stainless or brass fittings. I use lots of stainless from SupplyHouse dot com. Just be careful because it will "weld" together super easily if you fit them together dry.
Beware that the 1/2" plumging kit is 1/2" OD, 3/8 ID. Use the big stuff. I chuckle at Shine's posts about PVC because I had PVC plumbing that was fine for 20 some years and redid everything in copper about 2 years ago. A year later, I ripped the copper out and went to MaxAir because the copper was turning scaly green inside and making nasty green stuff come out with my air. I would guess the copper would have been fine if I had a chiller, but it had become a mess quickly and I ripped it out. Maybe it was from soldering flux, I don't know, it's gone now.
I have done a lot of research and thinking about moisture in compressed air over the last year. The first principle to understand is that pressurized air can't hold all the moisture that it can hold before being compressed. The second principle in play is temperature. Warmer air (compressed or not) holds more moisture. If you compress 70F 50%RH room air to 150PSI and cool it back to room temperature, it absolutely will become saturated (100% Relative Humidity) and it will create condensation. Any further cooling of the compressed air will cause more condensation.
With that in mind, assume you fill your compressor tank and let everything cool to room temperature. Unless your room air is extremely dry to start with, the compressed air will become saturated (100%RH) as it cools and moisture will condense inside your tank. Now, you start using air, and that 100%RH air is going through your plumbing. If any point in your plumbing is a few degrees cooler than the tank was, more moisture will condense in your plumbing.
Things get worse when you run your compressor and the air in your tank becomes warmer (even just a few degrees) than your downstream plumbing. Warmer air holds more moisture, so less condenses in your tank and more goes out in to your plumbing. Plumbing will warm up to some degree, but the further you plumb away from the tank, the cooler it gets. At that point, your plumbing is one long dehumidifier and the compressed air will drop moisture out (create condensation) as it cools throughout your plumbing system. If you add a water filter coming out of your tank, it may catch some of the condensed water that tries to blow out of your tank, but the warm air still carries more moisture than the air will hold when it cools in your plumbing. Moving your water separator further from the tank will help some, but again, any further cooling after the water separator will cause condensation.
Chilling the air is the only way to get around this (other than desiccant, etc).