Replumb air lines question
I am replumbing my air lines tomorrow. I want no water vapor in my paint
area so heres what I am doing. Running 25ft line across the ceiling in my shop to the adjacent wall, at the wall I will have a 5ft drop for water relief, at the 2.5ft mark will be my inlet at the top will be my outlet going to various work stations, at the HVLP I will have a disposable dessicant attachment. So, my question is, how will this fare to help rid my paint of water vapor. Right now I have no obvious water but summer humidity is not yet in full swing, so I am trying to stop a future problem. No, I cannot afford an air dryer, so that is out of the question. I am trying to minimize the cost so I can add to my tools. Spraying items will be few and far between. Thanks for any suggestions Searcher |
Replumb air lines question
"Mike Marlow" wrote in message You can get as elaborate as you want but all you really need to do - winter or summer, is install a simple water trap, drain cocks at the low points of every drop, and then simply drain off any water in your tank and lines just before you shoot. You don't have to drain the entire tank. You'll see when it has purged the water. It may work for your circumstances and can be a good starting point, but it is not necessarily going to work for everyone. Compressor size, amount of air used, length of runs, ambient temperature and humidity all come into play. The moisture in the line is a given. It is a product of compressing the air, increasing the temperature, and having the vapor condense. Adding traps does not change the laws of physics. If it was a mere matter of draining out drops, there would be no need to make a refrigerant dryer for ensuring dry air. |
Replumb air lines question
"Shopdog" wrote in message news:UyLgg.4946$im3.391@trnddc01... I am replumbing my air lines tomorrow. I want no water vapor in my paint area so heres what I am doing. Running 25ft line across the ceiling in my shop to the adjacent wall, at the wall I will have a 5ft drop for water relief, at the 2.5ft mark will be my inlet at the top will be my outlet going to various work stations, at the HVLP I will have a disposable dessicant attachment. So, my question is, how will this fare to help rid my paint of water vapor. Right now I have no obvious water but summer humidity is not yet in full swing, so I am trying to stop a future problem. No, I cannot afford an air dryer, so that is out of the question. I am trying to minimize the cost so I can add to my tools. Spraying items will be few and far between. You want water filter of some type as close to the sprayer as possible. The water can condense anywhere in the air line including the hose connected to the sprayer. The more the compressor runs during a spray session the more condensation will be a problem from the heated compressed air. |
Replumb air lines question
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message . com... It may work for your circumstances and can be a good starting point, but it is not necessarily going to work for everyone. Compressor size, amount of air used, length of runs, ambient temperature and humidity all come into play. Exactly. A good point to start. You have to remove all moisture to keep it from coming out of the air lines. Moisture moves with the air and the greater the difference in the hotter compressed air temperature than the outside temperature the bigger the problem with immediate condensation as it cools and when it exits the hose. |
Replumb air lines question
Shopdog wrote:
I am replumbing my air lines tomorrow. I want no water vapor in my paint area so heres what I am doing. Snip I've posted this before, so this is a short hand version. Buy a full 20 ft length of 2" black pipe, have it cut and threaded in 5 ft lengths. Assemble using 2 run x 2 run x 3/4 side tees and 2x2x2 end fittings to form a 20 ft run. Hang assembly overhead with 1/12 pitch and 3/4 side fittings of tees pointing up towards ceiling. Install two (2), 3/4" street ells to form a "U" shape take off for air hose connection. (This forces the air to first go up, then over, then down and is a natural water trap) Install a drain petcock in low point. What I have described ism a very basic distribution that will eliminate 90% of your water problems. Supporting engineering documentaion available, I'm just to damn tired to post it tonight. Good luck. Lew |
Replumb air lines question
"Mike Marlow" wrote in message Length of runs, temperature and humidity really don't have that much to do with it - assuming enough compressor in the first place, if you drain the water before a spray, and use a gun mounted water trap. Sure they do. The humidity is the amount of water held by the air. The higher the humidity, the more water vapor in the air, the more condensation. The longer the run, the greater the chance of the vapor condensing before it gets to the point of use. Industrial dryers cools hte air using a refrigerant so the moisture condenses out at that point and is not carried in the system. If you have a 100' foor run it is more likely to condense the moiusture than a 5' run. Another factor in the moiusture at the point of use is the tank, and when it is filled. If you start the compressor, bring the system up to pressure, then just leave it, the moisture will probably condense int he reciver and can be drained. If air flow is immediate and of large use, it is more likely to be carriesd out. Right now, our compressor air temperature is 275 degrees. By the time it gets to the chiller, it is down to 100 degreess, then it h its a 40 degree thermal mass to condense out what is left. If the flow was not continuous, it could condense in the receiving tank, but with a use of 600 to 70o cfm, that does not happen. But - he will not encounter a problem with moisture in spraying if he hangs a water trap on the wall, uses a trap on his gun and drains the system before each day of spraying. Perhaps. Every system, every use is different. Your method takes a large portion of the water out, but it may not work as well for a different setup. |
Replumb air lines question
A few years ago I was having a lot of moisture problems with my compressed
air system. A friend suggested that I buy a special filter that uses a roll of toilet paper as the filter media. I bought one at the local auto paint supplier for about $30 and I connect it in the air line to the spray gun or other air tool whenever I absolutely can't tolerate any moisture. A new roll of paper (cheap stuff - you don't need Charmin) before each day's use (remove it after use) and it has never failed to provide the dry air that I've needed. -- Charley "Lew Hodgett" wrote in message nk.net... Shopdog wrote: I am replumbing my air lines tomorrow. I want no water vapor in my paint area so heres what I am doing. Snip I've posted this before, so this is a short hand version. Buy a full 20 ft length of 2" black pipe, have it cut and threaded in 5 ft lengths. Assemble using 2 run x 2 run x 3/4 side tees and 2x2x2 end fittings to form a 20 ft run. Hang assembly overhead with 1/12 pitch and 3/4 side fittings of tees pointing up towards ceiling. Install two (2), 3/4" street ells to form a "U" shape take off for air hose connection. (This forces the air to first go up, then over, then down and is a natural water trap) Install a drain petcock in low point. What I have described ism a very basic distribution that will eliminate 90% of your water problems. Supporting engineering documentaion available, I'm just to damn tired to post it tonight. Good luck. Lew |
Replumb air lines question
I listened to what everyone said and this is what I have done.
I ran 25ft across my ceiling added a water/particle trap. the intake is 2.5ft below the output, hoping that water will run down before going UP to the outlets. I sealed the pipe with pipe thread sealant instead of teflon tape. Everything is leak free and I now have 4 air stations plus room for 2 more if needed later. Thanks again Searcher |
Replumb air lines question
"Mike Marlow" wrote in message I don't argue with the principles you explain Edwin, but with the real world occurrances. I do a lot of spray painting and I'm not sure what your experiences are, but mine are as I described. I live in Central NY which enjoys a reasonably high humidity and as I stated in a previous post, I have repeatedly painted an entire car with no moisture problems by following what I had suggested to the OP. Perhaps your experiences differ? Certainly the OP is not going to use as much air as I do when I paint a car, making him no more susceptable to moisture issues than me. I don't have much experience with spray painting, but I do run a 150 Hp and a 75 HP compressor that feeds air operated controls on machines. The 150 runs 24/5. The 75 used to be the "big" compressor, but now is molstly backup. The controls and machines (plenty of air operated pistons) don't work as well when moisture is in the air. A machine can have as many as 50 air operated devices times 15 machines. We have a mechanical dryer that can handle 1200 CFM. Thre are two receivers with automatic drains before the machine. Take the dryer out of the system, you can shoot water from an air gun. We also have an oil separator. Real world enough? |
Re-plumb air lines question
Now what? Are you going to break the pipe dope seal every time you want
to get water out? If your not doing that much finishing work and cannot have moisture in the finish then you are going to have to bit the bullet and get a drier ( refrig ) or maybe nitrogen, How much of a problem if you have to re-finish an item is it? You don't want moisture and you don't want to buy the equipt to remove it.....well houston.......we have a problem!!!!!! Call a welding supply house and find out how much for a tank and see if it will do the work for you. Don't know of any other cheap air supply to try. Good luck. |
Re-plumb air lines question
No, I think I had enough common sense to install a valve complete with 1/4
tube running to a drain. Last year I had water vapor problem but it mainly occurred when I was sandblasting a large item.I would occasionally get water dripping out of a tool too, but the compressor was set up in a basement and really had no run to condense the water out. I have since bought a new house and have set up the shop and I just wanted to help get a handle on any water problems that I may have here.I keep in touch when the humidity rises the I'll go out and sandblast something, see how my efforts have paid me. Searcher |
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