Dry Air

JimKueneman

Mopar Nut
What would anyone recommend for get dry air for sand blasting and painting? I am looking for something in the "advanced hobbiest" category. I don't want to spend thousands of dollars but $500-$800 is in the price range.

Jim
 
bottom line, ebay and a used refrigerated drier. I got an IR with a dented case real cheap. The new one I bought for the same money was about 1/3rd the size and I just put it on my cart for my plasma.

Dry air is made by reducing the dew point of the air in the pipe in your location. A good oil filter and the biggest refrigerated drier you can afford will serve you with very little maintenance.
 
I found this one on Craigslist for $200. The right time and the right place for once.
Speedaire.jpg


Ad photo but the same unit and it can handle 100 CFM. :eek:
Wish I had a compressor that put out 1/4 of that.
 
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Is Shultz a reasonable brand?

I dont know, just see they are called Shultz america but their website is in a different language. Its not that they need alot of parts, just good to know when you can get something and not just replace the drier. I just see they have a 20 cfm non cycling one, dont know how good of an idea that is since you can go backwards if you frost the pipe if you have no hot air flow and create condensation that way.

the motorguard oil filters are pretty cheap on amazon (about 60). Thats what you need to keep the cheap drain systems functioning on any of them. The IR one we have at the spray booth only spits out liquid when the air goes off at the end of the paint job for the most part.
 
Look up commercial aftercoolers. I have two of them on different systems and paid 100 bucks a piece on craiglist. My tractor/blast rig used to be a water pumper after blasting for an hour. Since I added the aftercooler I don't get water anymore. The key is oversizing them. Both of mine are sized over 100 cfm. My shop air is around 40cfm and I never get anywater in my desicant tower. Before the aftercooler I had to replace the beads in the 20lb tower all the time and water would run out the bottom everytime I crack the drain. I haven't changed the beads in 2 years and zero moisture comes out. It does come out of the tank though. I don't even run the electric fan on the shop cooler. I do on the blaster because I make about 90 cfm.

They are obolete technology and everybody wants refrigerant coolers but I see absolutely no reason not to use these.
 

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I have monstrosities too. I have this Baldor deal that uses no media, it somehow back flushes moisture with air pressure, it drains like a river but takes 60% of the air to function and my screw compressor never cycled, and for a machine running at 90 amp load 12 hours a day, its expensive.

Just trying to keep it simple.
 
Both of my setups have coalescing filters before dessicant towers. The coalescing filters were the most expensive single item in the system. I get a little water when I drain the tower on the blast compressors but never had a drop on the inside job. Good stuff and 10 years of trial and error before I figured it all out. I guess I'm to cheap to purchase a 3k refrigerant dryer.
 

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I second the craigslist or marketplace idea. You might be surprised what's out there. I picked up this 30hp compressor, refrig. dryer and all the plumbing in the pic last year for $1100. Of course it helps that I had enough electric service to run it. But it only had 900 hours on it and now I have enough dry air to run anything. ~BOB

3-2-19 777.jpg
 
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