What do you guys use on your compressor? My buddy told me about the water trap because he has the same compressor as me. I was reading in the book last night about an oiler as well. Do you run one, or just manually oil the tool before you use it.
CK5
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Oiler/filter/water trap
- Thread starter MTBLAZER89
- Start date
You'll want a water trap if you do any painting. Doesn't hurt to have one anyway as air tools aren't real fond of water. There's probably times of the year (like about now) where your locality doesn't have a lot of water in the air, but other times (like when it's Tule Fog Season) that having one would be a good idea.
I oil my tools after I use them and I took out my water trap when I ran my pipe.I ran it up hill and have 2 drops with ball valves to get rid of water before it gets to the line...
I think there's a post or an article floating around here someplace that talks about how to do air line plumbing. Stuff like slope the main line, pull the branches off the top - not the bottom of the main, extend the branches below each wall mntd QD & install a drain, etc.
botboy
1/2 ton status
I use my setup for all sorts, mostly I run air tools (die grinder, 90* angle grinder and impact are most used), I also powdercoat and run a plasma cutter.
I oil my tools every couple days, at home they don't get so much use. At the shop I try to oil daily.
At home I have an american IMC "Pow'r Profile" with a 5 hp tecumseh, 10.4 cfm @100 PSI, I have a husky air dryer that comes directly off the hot dog tanks into the air lines, 25' flex line to an 80 gallon reserve tank (nice to be able to shut off the otherwise loud gas compressor once its charged up), then another 25' flex line to the tool. On both the powdercoater and plasma cutter I have an additional drier and the powdercoater has an additional regulator and small gauge.
On stuff where I'm pushing the compressor to its cfm limits (usually sandblasting with a friend running a grinder/drill) I do still get some water thru the lines, not much but enough to annoy me. Matco's got a pro drier coming my way next week, I'll see how having that in line off the reserve tank goes. I just bought a huge 110 lb capacity pot blaster from mac so a supply of very dry air is important to me.
I oil my tools every couple days, at home they don't get so much use. At the shop I try to oil daily.
At home I have an american IMC "Pow'r Profile" with a 5 hp tecumseh, 10.4 cfm @100 PSI, I have a husky air dryer that comes directly off the hot dog tanks into the air lines, 25' flex line to an 80 gallon reserve tank (nice to be able to shut off the otherwise loud gas compressor once its charged up), then another 25' flex line to the tool. On both the powdercoater and plasma cutter I have an additional drier and the powdercoater has an additional regulator and small gauge.
On stuff where I'm pushing the compressor to its cfm limits (usually sandblasting with a friend running a grinder/drill) I do still get some water thru the lines, not much but enough to annoy me. Matco's got a pro drier coming my way next week, I'll see how having that in line off the reserve tank goes. I just bought a huge 110 lb capacity pot blaster from mac so a supply of very dry air is important to me.
chevyin
1/2 ton status
There are several things to consider when setting up an a compressed air system. First, if you do any painting, you cannot use an inline oiler. Doing so will coat your air lines with oil, which will contaminate your paint guns. Oil and paint do not mix well! It is not really that much off a problem to get in the habit of putting a couple of drops of oil in an air tool when you are done using it. I use a hypo with a square needle and run the tool for a couple of seconds to coat the insides with oil to eliminate internal corrosion during storage.
The other problem with compressed air systems is water. The amount of water that can be held in air without condensing out is relative to air pressure and air temperature. That is why you see humidity expressed as relative humidity. When air is compressed whatever water that is in the intake air is drawn in with the intake air. This air is compressed, but as it is compressed, it is also heated by molecular friction. If you are not using a great deal of air, it will cool in the tank and excess water will condense out. However, if you are using a lot of air the compressed air leaving the tank will still be hot enough to hold a great deal of water. This is where a drier comes in. The problem with mechanical driers is that they work by centrifical force against the walls off the container. Thus you have to correctly size your dryer to the air flow. In the case of dryers, bigger is not better! The only real way to dry your comressed air is to cool the air to the point where the relative humidity is too high too hold the water. Commercial Systems use mechanical cooling (air conditioners), but you can also cool the air by using radiators or by increasing the size of your delivery lines to give the air time to cool off. This system must also include gradiated lines, output loops, and sumps for draining the condensate.
Sorry for length of the message, but if you set up your compressed air system correctly, you will get good results with a minimum amount of daily maintenance.
The other problem with compressed air systems is water. The amount of water that can be held in air without condensing out is relative to air pressure and air temperature. That is why you see humidity expressed as relative humidity. When air is compressed whatever water that is in the intake air is drawn in with the intake air. This air is compressed, but as it is compressed, it is also heated by molecular friction. If you are not using a great deal of air, it will cool in the tank and excess water will condense out. However, if you are using a lot of air the compressed air leaving the tank will still be hot enough to hold a great deal of water. This is where a drier comes in. The problem with mechanical driers is that they work by centrifical force against the walls off the container. Thus you have to correctly size your dryer to the air flow. In the case of dryers, bigger is not better! The only real way to dry your comressed air is to cool the air to the point where the relative humidity is too high too hold the water. Commercial Systems use mechanical cooling (air conditioners), but you can also cool the air by using radiators or by increasing the size of your delivery lines to give the air time to cool off. This system must also include gradiated lines, output loops, and sumps for draining the condensate.
Sorry for length of the message, but if you set up your compressed air system correctly, you will get good results with a minimum amount of daily maintenance.
