Keeping the Compressor Cool

rustover

rustover

Member
I've been busy working in removing some edp coatings from some panels. Tonight I really worked the compressor a little more than I should have. I was trying to finish before dark. I have an 80 gal IR 18cfm. Its a single stage unit. When I use my da it pretty much runs continuous. Its located in the basement of my small shop building. When I went to put everything up, I decided to drain the water out of it. The tank was so hot it would burn you. I don't want to even think about how hot the pump was. I'm thinking about putting a box fan up on a shelf to blow across the pump. I'm sure this would help some. What do you guys think? Other than that I guess I'm going to have to take more breaks in the hotter temps.
 
I put and air to air intercooler between the compressor head and the tank. On a 92 degree day the air going into the exchanger read in the 190f's, after going thru the intercooler it read in the 90's. Upon exiting the intercooler there is a drop with a float type drain. On the bottom of the compressor tank I have installed an electric programable auto drain.
Picture was taken during design phase, it now has the drain and the red hose is replaced with teflon /stainless hose. The box fan is still manual. If I ever get to it I am going to wire it to the start relay on the compressor.

IMG_20110825_062316.jpg
 
mines rigged up like sof's. i have my heat exchange ran thru copper a/c line it comes from the head outside under the eave down the length of the garage then back in then into my drier. I also have a box fan thats honging above the compressor blowing down across it it hung it up and turned it on a couple of years ago......
 
Thanks Guys. This is definitely on my to do list. Now to find an air intercooler. SOF do you have a part # on the one you used, or give me an idea of the dimensions and pipe size, flow rate etc.

This will keep the air entering the tank cooler, thus reducing the temps of the overall unit. Do you think there is a big difference in overall pump temps as well?



Thanks, Russ
 
I also switched to Schaeffer's oil in my compressors. According to my handy little lazer temp gun temps dropped 15 degrees at the pump. My motors run cooler too.
 
???

rustover;37374 said:
Thanks Guys. This is definitely on my to do list. Now to find an air intercooler. SOF do you have a part # on the one you used, or give me an idea of the dimensions and pipe size, flow rate etc.

This will keep the air entering the tank cooler, thus reducing the temps of the overall unit. Do you think there is a big difference in overall pump temps as well?



Thanks, Russ
Click to expand...

I have not checked the before and after of the pump, my intent was to cool the air so some of the moisture would drop out in the tank and be drained off. All air cooled compressors run very hot, but I can't put an f-temp on it.
My cooler is made up of some cut offs from fin tube hydronic heating. 1" copper with fins mounted on the tubing Each is around 22" long with about 2" sticking thru the wood frame. there are 5 pieces of it soldered together with elbows so it is one continuous length. air enters at the top, passes through the 10-11 ft of tubing, exiting at the lower side, enters the bull head of a tee, a drop off the bottom to the float bowl moisture drain, a run off the top that goes up and then back down to the tank. if you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can see these details. An auto drain will set you back around $100-120. Darn good investment, will make the tank last much longer as well as keeping the air drier.

Check with your local hvac shops, they may have some shorts of fin tube you might score for a 5th or a rack o beer :)
 
Another possibility is a condenser from a car. The 17" x 29" condenser on my '72 Corvette has 1/2" OD copper pipe and can be connected with high pressure lines using standard A/C fittings or flare nuts to AN or SAE fittings. I'm pretty sure those condensers were designed for continuous operation at several hundred psi. A new copper condenser sells for around $200 but new late model aluminum condensers are available for a lot less. This one is for a 1997 Chevrolet S10 and is on sale for $48.77:

A-cCondenser_zps5f21aa80.jpg

http://www.carparts.com/details/Che...3d24f09ef096&gclid=COvw5Kzdlr8CFTEV7Aod3AMA2g

You could probably get a used one even cheaper but a used condenser is going to have oil residue in it that will require thorough cleaning.
 
Might need to run more than one of those in parallel if they restrict CFM. I don't know how easy it would be to determine the air flow of an auto condenser.
 
i was doing some blasting the other day and i noticed the media was clogging up a bit. it was about 90 deg and 100% humidity. i went in to check out what was going on since i have a refrigerated dryer. the ref compressor was hot, the lines were hot so basically i lost all the refrigerant in the unit. i went to the end of the piping on my air system and opened the ball valve. it blew out about 2 gallons of water. i was basically dead in the water until i could get it all sorted. i was all ready to have to spend $1400 on a new unit the next day and a 2hr drive out to pa to an air drier company. i was luck a buddy of mine who does heating and air came over, we found the leak, brazed it up and recharged it. i think it gets colder now than it ever did. its funny how after years of dry air you can take a tool like that for granted.
 
I was going to say put it in the basement if you have one.. lol..
My basement is almost always 10 degree's cooler than the upstairs..
 
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