Question: condensation

[silverchip]

I am getting a LOT of condensation in my air lines, my compressor is a small tank located in a vented closet to reduce noise. I drain it about daily. The lines run into an air conditioned room and I think that might be affecting the situation. Is there a better way to run air from my compressor or what line dryers are you using,what can I do to eliminate the problem??????????????

 

[rmgreen]

Yes, running hot air into a cold room will cause condensation. Hot air is less dense than cold air. When you condense air it will develope condensate. 2 solutions - varying results - Move all lines and compressor into the air condition room. Compressor's intake will drawn in the cold airconditioned air "reducing" the amount of condensate. The best solution for all your pneumatic equipment is to install several dryers. I use dryers that when the line pressure is off they are self draining. I use a large air-compressor outside of my work area but I never leave it on when I am not in my shop. If a major airline leak/break occurs and the compressor is on it will try to keep up and will overheat and maybe destroy itself at best and at worst in this scenario cause a fire in the shop. Some newer compressor's have a electrical disconnect controlled either by running time or temperature of the compressor.

 

[John B.]

Dave, sorry to hear of your problem. I think you might be right about the difference in temp between closet and room.
Is it possible the put your supply line inside a larger line to insulate it from the sudden drop in temp.???
Or make the closet/ room temp match?
Best of luck with the problem.

 

[TallGary]

I suggest putting a receiver tank (5 gallon capacity or so) in the air conditioned space as close to the compressor as practical but in a place that will be well cooled (direct a fan at it if need be). The compressed air must pass through the tank, not just attach the tank to a tee in the airline -- in on a side, out on the top with a drain valve at a low point on the bottom. The moisture will tend to drop out in the tank rather than in the line. You may also need to put a drip-leg (dead-leg) closer to your equipment at a low point in the airline with a drain valve on the bottom. Arrange the airline to slope toward the drip-leg or the tank. Installing a larger ID airline may also help by lowering the air velocity in the line.

All this based on 30+ years in industry where the process control instrument air needs to be clean and dry with a dew point less that -40F.

Good Luck!

 

[mitch]

I suggest putting a receiver tank (5 gallon capacity or so) in the air conditioned space as close to the compressor as practical but in a place that will be well cooled (direct a fan at it if need be).

this is a good idea and would work, but.... you will be essentially putting a much larger tank on your compressor than the motor was designed to handle. it will have trouble ever charging to full pressure so it can shut off. a cooled five gallon condenser tank on a big compressor with a 30-50 gal. main tank would probably work fine, but an additional 5 gal tank on a unit built to fill >10 gals is going to be a problem.

my own solution (i finally gave up on fixing an old Festo mechanical float auto-drain, which kept clogging, but had worked pretty well for some years) was to run a drain line to a very small (1.5 liter) tank to collect condensate. i don't have an excessive water problem, so my primary goal was long-term protection of the much more expensive, and difficult to replace, main tank, figuring if the little tank eventually rusts out it will be cheap and very simple to replace.

 

[silverchip]

Thanks guys for the suggestions!!!!