Air dryer for air compressor

[C-Mart]

I am starting to get my garage setup with a full run of tools. I have a 33 gallon 110v air compressor and would like to do some media blasting and basic painting, which means I will need an air dryer setup.

 

Any good/innovative proven DIY setups that would cause me to not reinvent the wheel?

 

Best idea I have seen so far is the copper tubing and and down the wall with some 'drip legs' and then a basic in line air dryer.

 

Any other ideas?

 

http://www.bcn4students.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/homemade-air-compressor-desiccant-dryer-diy-air-compressor-desiccant-dryer-air-drying-rack2c-jpg-657-487-homemade-air-compressor-dryer.jpg

[Geeto67]

I have had one of those Eastwood media blasting cabinets for about 20 years. I have an inline desiccant dryer at the compressor and one at the box where the line goes in. The cabinet is big enough to hold 4 wheels so not massive, but not tiny. typically with blasting you aren't running a lot of pressure, over 30 and the sand starts to eat the nozzle really quickly, so clumping is something you have to stay ahead of. I haven't had a lot of clogs with it, and most of it due to humidity in the cabinet itself. I put one of the dryers at the box because the compressor is installed in the back of attached garage but we frequently rolled the cabinet outside to do blasting (it's very messy) and the line was getting condensation buildup.

 

I can't speak for painting with that compressor, but I have one installed on my airbrush compressor and never had an issue. For a bigger setup you'll need a Filter and a Dryer either in a combo unit or seperate in tandem.

 

With bigger tanks, I have been told the secret is draining them frequently. on the 60 gallon compressor, when I was using it regularly I used to drain before each use and was pulling 1/2 cup of water out the bottom.

[C-Mart]

I have had one of those Eastwood media blasting cabinets for about 20 years. I have an inline desiccant dryer at the compressor and one at the box where the line goes in. The cabinet is big enough to hold 4 wheels so not massive, but not tiny. typically with blasting you aren't running a lot of pressure, over 30 and the sand starts to eat the nozzle really quickly, so clumping is something you have to stay ahead of. I haven't had a lot of clogs with it, and most of it due to humidity in the cabinet itself. I put one of the dryers at the box because the compressor is installed in the back of attached garage but we frequently rolled the cabinet outside to do blasting (it's very messy) and the line was getting condensation buildup.

 

I can't speak for painting with that compressor, but I have one installed on my airbrush compressor and never had an issue. For a bigger setup you'll need a Filter and a Dryer either in a combo unit or seperate in tandem.

 

With bigger tanks, I have been told the secret is draining them frequently. on the 60 gallon compressor, when I was using it regularly I used to drain before each use and was pulling 1/2 cup of water out the bottom.

 

"inline desiccant dryer at the compressor"

 

My understanding is that moisture is captured/formulated by cooling the compressed air. If your dryer is right off of your compressor than a setup similiar to the one pictured above with a simliar dryer at the end would do a better job and work for my needs. I have no desire to paint cars, but do have some wheels I would like to refinish.

 

I could also build in a coil like the one shown below that I could be submerged in an ice bucket for things that I really don't want water in (painting).

 

[Geeto67]

So there are two things going on here.

 

1) When compressing the air, the water is squeezed out of the air from vapor. When when you use the air line the vacuum caused by the pressure release sucks up these water droplets and spits them out the other end where they can clog up your blaster or become a droplet in your paint. As far as I know, a desiccant type or physical filter are the best for removing these that are no longer vapor.

 

2) Wet air. When moving from say a cold dank corner of the basement through the line to the eventual nozzle outside, the air may warm up making it easier for some of those squeezed out droplets to become vapor again. using a chiller type removes the vapor as it makes it harder for the water to remain a gas. typically you will see a chiller type in work in conjunction with a gravity water trap post compressor to separate the air. dry air goes in, the last bit of moisture gets squeezed out and the gravity trap gets the little bit squeezed out.

 

This is all based on my experience with this and I am by no means an expert.

 

One thing to consider is that paint is sometimes sensitive to air temp. too cold an it will take longer to dry and might skin over and not level properly, too warm and it will dry before it hits the surface. your line temp should ideally be close to your outside ambient air temp, if not slightly colder.

 

so it's really 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. I think this plan of yours will probably work fine:

My understanding is that moisture is captured/formulated by cooling the compressed air. If your dryer is right off of your compressor than a setup similiar to the one pictured above with a simliar dryer at the end would do a better job and work for my needs. I have no desire to paint cars, but do have some wheels I would like to refinish.

 

so yeah whether you use a desiccant dryer or a cooler to remove the water you are still going to need a filter or trap to pull the remainder out and also get the other garbage in the air like smog. I think your cooler will probably work fine, it's just a heck of a lot of space to give up compared to something like this:

http://www.eastwood.com/dvb-qc3-air-filter-and-dryer.html?mrkgcl=764&mrkgadid={_mrkgadid}&rkg_id=h-7d4cb29d57210d5b40d5118ec51f92f8_t-1511812325&product_id={product_id}&adpos={adposition}&creative={creative}&device={device}&matchtype={matchtype}&network={network}&SRCCODE=PLA00020&gclid=Cj0KCQiAjO_QBRC4ARIsAD2FsXNJ0yH8jKFsir3_h9umLc2pJWta_uVbDsE_tCrbyIr7cDJc_vWdclsaArIWEALw_wcB