Dry air

[Mudhen]

What do you painters use for drying your compressor air??  And how often do you drain the water out of your tank?

I have a water separator...1.  Having some issues getting my sandblast cabinet to draw I started poking around the Internet - some people say they have another dryer right at the cabinet.  I opened the dryer and sure enough got a bunch of water out - do those things need maintenance?  No clue how they work.

I also opened the drain on the tank itself..  :-\

Ok, so it was the first time.  I got a gallon out...that about normal? :(

[94touring]

We use our 60 gallon a lot and drain it every month or so.  Lots of water is not uncommon.  We just have a water separator off the tank and drain it as needed.

[Mudhen]

We use our 60 gallon a lot and drain it every month or so.  Lots of water is not uncommon.  We just have a water separator off the tank and drain it as needed.

I'm opening the drain everytime I walk through the garage in hopes of catching back up a little.  Will start doing it on a more regular basis now.

I back-blew the sandblast gun - wow - 'pop!' and tons of sand poured out the line - works like a charm now!  Guess there was a plug...all the talk about clumping sand and water in the air - guess that's what it was.  My sand isn't clumped at all, though, so kind of ruled it out.  Glad to have solved one problem today...

[jedduh01]

I learned from my Dad's setup.   Big shop compressor -  He put a Ball valve on a 90Degree angle from the bottom of his compressor tank .  Daily we close off the compressor air outlet to the shop line supply - No reason leaving full pressure on all the time. Some days dont even use air.

Then the next day when come to compressor to  turn air supply back on - reach down,. crack the ball valve real fast and blow out that Bottom tank moisture.  no matter every time There will be a blow out- Depends on the weather - more humid- working compressor More water.

I adapted the same to my home garage system.  small 30 Gallon Compressor.
    Then before i started spraying primer - i also added a water seperator on the outlet... Also after a good full afternoon of compressor work .  Both would be ready to get rid of moisture.

Water in lines No good for Sand + paint.   - draining 1 gallon from tank- Woah!

[Mudhen]

Ya, I started with cracking it a little...when the water started running across the floor I thought, 'maybe I should get a cup under there'...drain, fill, pour cup into gallon jug, repeat.  At 3/4 of a gallon I ran a hose outside...

My other issue (I've since learned) is that when we were building our house there was a nice space under the stairs that go to the second floor - had the 220v outlet put there and slid the compressor in.  Perfect!  Wrong...the air heats up in that little alcove...should have had it out in the garage instead.

Eventually I will have done everything wrong once...life will surely be easier then.   22.gif

[MtyMous]

I did almost exactly what this article did, but my 30gal tank is upright. I drain it every single time I use it, and sometimes in between uses if I'm going work that accumulates a lot of water. I never have an issue. And if it's stuff that is really sensitive to water, I put a dessicant dryer on the line just before the tool.

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/workshop/compressor/drain/ball_valve.htm