I need a badass filter for my air compressor. The air compressor is old and tired.... I drain it weekly, but it still puts out oil/water. All the crap that comes out of it gets all over my hands and workpiece....and sometimes my face. So im looking for the ultimate filter... little tiny air water separators dont seem to hack it.

 

Put a small ball valve on the outlet at the bottom of your tank. Everytime you fire it up, just crack that ball valve a little bit to allow moisture to escape. That will take care of 90% of the moisture, even without a air/water seperator.
Kyle

 

ok...i know that will help, but that seems more like a crutch rather than a fix. plus I dont want to be crawling underneath the air compressor everytime I want to use it.

 

Hey, I thought I would suggest something...Make sure your separator is away from the compressor. I actually bought two different separators before I figured out what was going on.

I had mounted the separator right to the outlet of the compressor....moisture would not stop. I then put it between the two 25ft sections of hose....low and behold, no more water/moisture.

Later IZ

 

I bought an air dryer. It was like $400. I don't even need to drain the tank anymore, it takes all the water out of the air. I drained the tank yesterday for the first time in 3 months and barely got any water out of it. Normally there would be 6" of water in it because we live in the damn rainforest here in MD.

 

consider a refridgerated dryer and an auto drain ****, parker sells them they have set intervals in which they open and release air/ water junk for up to 15 seconds way better than doing it your self.
A key to getting water out is down line atleast 15-20 ft between the outlet of the tank and your first/second removal device. the last item to consider is a large Paint booth spray filter which run about $200-400 which have chemicals to remove the contaminants and moisture

 

Run a line about 10 feet from the compressor. Then turn the line down a few feet and put the water trap there. Now run the line from the trap back up level with the discharge of the compressor. Thats how they do it in the factory i work at for every machine. Water prefers to flow down to the filter trap and not up the line after the trap.

 

I work in an automotive test lab, we have an air dryer, and also drain the tank every single day when we shut down.

 

with all the nasty rusty water that accumulates even if you drain frequently, how does it affect the life of the tank? i'm afraid one day it'll bust a money shot in my face.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ~RTErnie~ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I need a badass filter for my air compressor. The air compressor is old and tired.... I drain it weekly, but it still puts out oil/water. All the crap that comes out of it gets all over my hands and workpiece....and sometimes my face. So im looking for the ultimate filter... little tiny air water separators dont seem to hack it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
i use this made by sharpe. cost about $100. the filter element is reuseble. my air line is also 3/4" which helps a lot. 1" would be better.

you could also use a motor guard like this. costs about $80. filter elements have to be replaced over time. cost about $8 for the element. there are 2 types of these. the m26 or m30 (1/4" npt) and m60 (1/2" npt). i use this just before the air input on the back of my plasma cutter. cleaner the air cleaner the cut. consumables last longer too.

you can get them here.
http://search.cartserver.com/s...lator
comes with 4 replacement elements.
http://www.weldingsuppliesfrom...etail
http://www.toolrage.com/prodVi...=1479
http://www.toolrage.com/prodVi...=1478

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by XDEep &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">with all the nasty rusty water that accumulates even if you drain frequently, how does it affect the life of the tank? i'm afraid one day it'll bust a money shot in my face.</TD></TR></TABLE>


they'll last a suprisingly long time with water in them. I highly doubt it'll bust a money shot in your face, it'll more than likely start to develop a slow leak as the rust gets bad (or at least thats what ours did). Then just weld a patch to it and you're good for another couple of years.