Water separator for small compressor
- Thread starter peebrainz
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check out youtube. there are many examples of air drying between compreesor pump and air tank. this is for your regular air compressor rated at 125-175psi which you would use to supply your yong-heng inlet with dry air
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This would require an additional regulator, as it's my understanding that compressors will be damaged if fed air into their first stage at much above atmospheric pressure levels.
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the major mfrs like Bauer, Alkin, and Coltri all remove water and then vapor the same way,,, do what they do!!!
because that is what is proven to work AND DIVERS LIVES DEPEND ON THEM
the simple act of squeezing/compressing the air with humidity in it, will wring the vapor into a liquid state, which will precipitate out in the water/air separator aka coalescing,,, then the desicant will absorb the remaining vapor in the second tower, the divers also use some carbon in the second tower, for breathing air quality
anybody can put crap into a U-tube,,, that does not make it correct
sd619223, you did not put a link to the many utubes so your opinion needs a link or it is just barking in the wind
please be kind enough to link to your support of your view point
I spent many years in a large power plant and have changed desicant by the 40 gal drum in the instrument air dryers.
water is removed post compression via water traps, then the compressed air goes to the dryer to remove the remaining vapor.
blue crystals are for the indicator viewing window to indicate that the silica needs attention
the pressure pushes it through the filters,,, no problems
the cooling coils are JUST cooling coils, not related to water removal, but for HEAT removal as compressing the air makes it hot
but what do I know,,, I am just a stupid old fart,,, been there,, done that,, but enjoy your trying to reinvent. It is a learning curve, I have tried many things in my life, that just didn't work, but was an education.
because that is what is proven to work AND DIVERS LIVES DEPEND ON THEM
the simple act of squeezing/compressing the air with humidity in it, will wring the vapor into a liquid state, which will precipitate out in the water/air separator aka coalescing,,, then the desicant will absorb the remaining vapor in the second tower, the divers also use some carbon in the second tower, for breathing air quality
anybody can put crap into a U-tube,,, that does not make it correct
sd619223, you did not put a link to the many utubes so your opinion needs a link or it is just barking in the wind
please be kind enough to link to your support of your view point
I spent many years in a large power plant and have changed desicant by the 40 gal drum in the instrument air dryers.
water is removed post compression via water traps, then the compressed air goes to the dryer to remove the remaining vapor.
blue crystals are for the indicator viewing window to indicate that the silica needs attention
the pressure pushes it through the filters,,, no problems
the cooling coils are JUST cooling coils, not related to water removal, but for HEAT removal as compressing the air makes it hot
but what do I know,,, I am just a stupid old fart,,, been there,, done that,, but enjoy your trying to reinvent. It is a learning curve, I have tried many things in my life, that just didn't work, but was an education.
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Is he still here? I'm guessing he finally blocked me? All his stuff disappeared... I wasn't mean to him.
...
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I put a check valve on the intake side of the filter so the air is trapped on that side going to the compressor and a valve on the gun side of the filter so that I can shut it off and bleed the line but keep the filter under full presser. That way my little compressor doesn't have to fill up the filter over and over after it cooled down and I'm just filling the gun.
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I did that with my large water separator when I was using my dual hand pumps as well as my yong heng. Just check the check valve once in a while esp if it is a cheaper one that is not stainless steel and esp if the floating valve is brass. With all that pressure and moisture the brass insert will corrode. My bauer setup has a automatic valve in it to keep pressure in the separator as well.
Allen
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coal burning electrical power plant , twin units producing 650 megawatts each, I was in mechanical maintenance, retired 
many valves are pneumatically operated and require clean dry air, ie: instrument air. The service air system had water traps but did not go through the dryers. Service air was used for things just like a normal shop use.
many valves are pneumatically operated and require clean dry air, ie: instrument air. The service air system had water traps but did not go through the dryers. Service air was used for things just like a normal shop use.
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I installed this valve on each side of my drier to capture the air between compressor sessions.
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If you want to get creative about supplying dryer air to your Hpa compressor you are going to need to get a bit creative. For air at atmospheric pressure a standard dehumidifier can be used with some mods , of course. You will need to create a way to capture the DeH's output say a 30 gallon container of some type or larger (the bigger the better) sealed to the DeH's output, . The larger the reciever the more dwell time for the air to cool down + you can add disectant to the system you are creating if your reciever is large enough( use of disectant requires a good amount of dwell time) then a line of some type to the input of the hpac unit. The pressure from the fan of the deh is insignificant in this as it doesn't amount to much vs normal atmospheric pressure changes. You could also incorporate a cool down coil between the dejh and the atmospheric receiver, This would be quite large dia. wise for volume Thin walled alum. dryer vent pipe would work.
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And all being theoretical. You really don’t know how dry it is unless you get a sample tested.
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plenty of temp and humidity units out there, cheap also. I have a temp gauge (free standing) along with hunditiy and various other things on it, but it also has a remote sensor for just the temp and Humidity in a remote location. Remote sends info to main unit wireless. Problem alluded to above resolved. I have a small foot print dehumidifier that can be set for as low as 35% ( maybe lower) vs ambient room humidity. When it reaches that point it shuts the compressor down,or if it rises, fires it back up. YA, its a redneck way doing something but it does work as I used the above comgomeration on a shoebox set up. On the out put of the supply compressor for the shoebox I had the coalescent unit plus disectant in the feed line to the shoebox very little moisture collected between the 2 compressors. hard to tell if the disectant did any good because I do not believe there was enough dwell time. But the primary compressor never had much condensate at the drain ( just a little pancake unit apx 1.5galllon tank).
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I would be curious to see the analysis results of compressed 35% humidity intake air with no post compression as compared to normal post compression molecular sieve drying. I guess we’ll never no. I do know from scuba diving that Grade E air which is dried with a molecular sieve is like the Sahara Desert. Dives typically gave you cotton mouth, but tolerable.
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Here’s proof that moisture is definitely being passed through when a drier of some type isn’t used.
See photos in post 11 of link.
www.airgunnation.com
See photos in post 11 of link.
use of products ?
I am just wondering if the manufactures design their products with the amount of use that is present here on AGN ? I read thread after thread about compressors failing even when directions are followed . Maybe the design is for a more casual user , week end and maybe 100 pellets on...
www.airgunnation.com Upvote 0
On my hand pump system I fed the intake of the handpumps with my 60 gal air compressor that I use to work on my cars. It has a water separator at the output of the tank and that feeds into a long hose. That long hose goes to another water separator at the hand pumps, desiccant chamber, split off to 2 regulators that take the presure down to < 60 psi or 15 psi (for the automatic controls). then to the intake of the hand pumps. From the handpumps they go into the high pressure output lines to the tall water separator then one of those small crappy tampon things before going into the gun.
So at the compressor I see some water at the water trap. At the handpumps nothing or barely anything in the water trap. The desiccant even though I have 150 to 175 psi there, nothing. After 30 to 34 strokes (enough to fill a 580 bottle on a impact from 155 bar to 250) I have what I think is a fair amount of water at the bottom of the handpumps at the air release. And maybe about 3/4 of that at the bottom of the water separator. But the small tampon canister dry. Now if I bypass the water separator tower and go straight to the tampon, it will be wet and I will have to open it up to let dry, or change it each time I use it.
This is my water separator going into the tampon filter. The output from the handpumps go to the top quick disconnect with a one way valve in it. Bleed valve is on the bottom. Sticking out is the black valve to keep pressure in the tank and a silver bleed screw to the side.
When I was using the yong heng the output hose from the yh went with into the same input on the water separator. I did not bother with desiccant or carbon as I'm not breathing this air.
Although there was was water at the water trap at 150 to 170 psi (output of the shop compressor ) I felt like I still had a whole lot more at the water separator and the bottom of the handpump's air bleed.
Hopefully you could follow my explanation of how my water separation went..
Allen
So at the compressor I see some water at the water trap. At the handpumps nothing or barely anything in the water trap. The desiccant even though I have 150 to 175 psi there, nothing. After 30 to 34 strokes (enough to fill a 580 bottle on a impact from 155 bar to 250) I have what I think is a fair amount of water at the bottom of the handpumps at the air release. And maybe about 3/4 of that at the bottom of the water separator. But the small tampon canister dry. Now if I bypass the water separator tower and go straight to the tampon, it will be wet and I will have to open it up to let dry, or change it each time I use it.
This is my water separator going into the tampon filter. The output from the handpumps go to the top quick disconnect with a one way valve in it. Bleed valve is on the bottom. Sticking out is the black valve to keep pressure in the tank and a silver bleed screw to the side.
When I was using the yong heng the output hose from the yh went with into the same input on the water separator. I did not bother with desiccant or carbon as I'm not breathing this air.
Although there was was water at the water trap at 150 to 170 psi (output of the shop compressor ) I felt like I still had a whole lot more at the water separator and the bottom of the handpump's air bleed.
Hopefully you could follow my explanation of how my water separation went..
Allen
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My desiccant did not seem to be doing anything. But it did get wet from the outside air due to it slowly absorbing water in a couple months time it just sat while I used the yong heng and finally the Bauer.
Allen.
Allen.
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I use a standard water filter I converted to use desiccant. The input pressure used so far is very low, between 10 to 40 PSI. From what I have read this shouldn't work because the input pressure is too low for the desiccant to remove most of the water. However my results seem to indicate that it works. When I used the hand pump without this filter I always got water and grey sludge (a mixture of water, silicone grease, and probably wear particles o-rings, and metal) when I opened the purge valve on the pump. After using the filter I never got as much as 1 drop of liquid coming out. This is even after I filled a small 90cu bottle from empty to 4500 PSI without purging until it was at full pressure.
The setup now is:
Shop compressor > regulator > desiccant filter > filter water trap > input to hand pump > tank
I'm going to modify this to increase the pressure to the desiccant filter to 75 PSI and add another regulator to lower it. That should remove even more water.
New planned setup:
Shop compressor > 75 PSI regulator > desiccant filter > filter water trap > MCU controlled pneumatic valve > MCU controlled variable regulator (0 to 60 PSI) input to hand pump > tank
The water filters are rated for 125 PSI but they are made for liquids, don't have a blast shield and don't get pressure cycled to much in use. I'm hoping that 75 PSI will give me enough margin of safety so I don't end up with a Titanic Sub problem with the desiccant filter shattering and blasting plastic and beads all over the room. That could cause injuries especially if someone gets hit in the eyes!
The setup now is:
Shop compressor > regulator > desiccant filter > filter water trap > input to hand pump > tank
I'm going to modify this to increase the pressure to the desiccant filter to 75 PSI and add another regulator to lower it. That should remove even more water.
New planned setup:
Shop compressor > 75 PSI regulator > desiccant filter > filter water trap > MCU controlled pneumatic valve > MCU controlled variable regulator (0 to 60 PSI) input to hand pump > tank
The water filters are rated for 125 PSI but they are made for liquids, don't have a blast shield and don't get pressure cycled to much in use. I'm hoping that 75 PSI will give me enough margin of safety so I don't end up with a Titanic Sub problem with the desiccant filter shattering and blasting plastic and beads all over the room. That could cause injuries especially if someone gets hit in the eyes!
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Black ice I wonder if it is the amount of desiccant or the type that has to do with how well your setup works. You have about 5 times the amount that I used.
Allen
Allen
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