Air compressor with bad water problem.

[MrMcduck]

I just bought a crasftmans 60 gal 3.1 hp. I ran about 40ft of redcopper pipping across my garage with two drops. Yet at my filter/regulator i get tons of Water and inside tank. (painting is my objective) i drain everyday. Im lost at how to keep this from ruining my compressor. I can up load pics Later when i get to my computer.

[marksr]

Welcome to the forums!

A lot may depend on the humidity where you live. When I lived in fla, I drained the water off of my tank everyday [sometimes multiple times] and used a good water trap filter. Since moving to tenn, the same type and frequency of use has changed my water removal to more of a weekly thing.

The water separator works best the further it is from the tank. Water won't ruin your air compressor as long as you bleed the water off on a regular basis. When painting it's always best to drain what water you can before and if need be - between refilling your cup gun or pressure pot.

How To Include Pictures

[MrMcduck]

Well i have read living in florida is my first down fall but for me moving for my air compressor is a yes but the girl friend says no lol can you recommend any water seperaters i should use here in florida. I was looking at the devilbiss #Hfrl 508. Is in my price range but havent read ANY reviews on it. (thnks for the quick reply)

[marksr]

I used to have a craftsman water separator when I lived in fla - it worked well. I currently use a couple of harbor freight water/filter/regulators. I don't know that one brand is all that much better than another. I think the key is bleeding off the water as often as you need to. Remember you need to drain/bleed the tank along with the filters/traps.

[MrMcduck]

Thats help full advice. Thanks marksr. Im using the craftsman water filter/regulator. Its equilvalent to the harbor freight one.

[GregH]

It will mostly mess up your paint job!


I will add that there are a few things you can do to reduce water problems.

Make sure that your air lines are pitched back towards the compressor with plenty of drip legs at the low end of each horizontal run that you can drain.

If your compressor is set much above 100 psi reduce the pressure to around 100.
The higher your pressure is set, the hotter the discharge line and air entering the receiver tank becomes.
The higher the air temperature that travels through the tank and air lines is, the more moisture will condense.
A compressor that is too small for the job and runs continuously will also raise the air temperature higher and cause more water to condense.

A water separator will only remove water that is condensed into water and should be at the end of all your piping.

[MrMcduck]

Thanks greg. Can you recommed any seperators or filters i should use?

[GregH]

You are fine with the one you have or one of the HF ones Mark recommended.
Just put it at the end of the line.

I made a descicant dryer from refrigeration components but HF sells the disposable type below or one with a replaceable filter.

Click image:

Image courtesy of harborfreight.com

I have a regulator/separator at the start of the line that is above my workbench and extends to a far wall to an outside connector.
For painting I have a dedicated hose with a desiccant dryer feeding it.
For a final sand and painting I use the dedicated hose and replace or dry the desiccant if it is not dirty.
This keeps the air tool and spray gun from spitting water.

[MrMcduck]

Oh so those do really work. I was skeptical their performance. Ill give some a try. And add another filter and the end of my line. Thanks for all the help everyone!

[Edward074]

You could also try adding a automatic compressor drain. Every time the compressor unloads, it spits a little air out the drain value along with the water. A lot of your truck and buses with air brakes use them to help keep water out of the brake lines.

[markiz37]

This may be a little radical and you will loose some cfm, but I think the best way to reduce moisture build-up is to slow the pump down. These new units try to compensate for lack of displacement with high rpm and which run super hot (see Greg's post). A slow, cool running pump will definitly have an advantage there.