Compressor, copper line, air filter setup?

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 6:46 am
Just bought a nice quiet compressor Eagle 6500 series, gets here next week...

I sketched out in photoshop my compressor/condenser/moisture filter trap.

I'm going with the Devilbiss Cam Air QC3 as my final filter/moisture trap. Which runs to 50+ feet of copper 3/4 lines.

I'm going to use all high flow compression fittings and Iwata LPH80 guns.

I do mostly small work. Anyone have feedback, should what I drew up work?

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:32 am
I just also purchased a new compressor and am setting up mine now it will be here Wednesday I am doing a very similar set up, I purchase the 3/4 is rapid air 100 master kit for mine it looks like good stuff and cheaper than coper.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 5:03 pm
Hey, PaintDevil.......with that much copper pipe on the wall you will have just built an.....air to air aftercooler.
Take a look here..... https://www.cnccookbook.com/aftercoolin ... -moisture/
When I got our first big compressor many moons ago I was looking at all that pipe/labor and ended up getting an air to air aftercooler. It has a manual fan switch. I did install an automatic dump valve just after it. No, it is not as efficient as a refrigerated cooler however we found that it knocks enough moisture out of the system that we rarely have to change our end of use filtration stations.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:41 pm
PaintDevil, I have no doubt that your planned setup will work. Lots of people have similar and are very happy.

It has always bothered me that the concept of aftercooling, i.e. cooling and condensing water in the air after it exits the compressor tank is somehow flawed. The air in the tank is full of moisture and while much of this condenses and sits in the bottom of the tank that, in itself creates another set of problems with rust and the need for constant draining, especially when working the system hard.

It's always seemed to me that a better way would be to cool the air and condense/separate moisture before it goes into that tank. To that end I've started making a copper line array similar, but not quite as long, that will sit between the compressor pump and the tank. It utilises copper line, like yours but ends in a small expansion tank which should separate the last of the moisture in the air before being fed into the main tank. I figure that I'll then have clean, dry air coming out, with only minimal moisture content. That, in itself will be a benefit, reducing the gunk buildup that seems inevitable in fittings downstream, before final filters and regulators.

My research showed that it isn't that uncommon, just needs a bit more work to set up and, of course, means that the installation is permanent. For me that's not an issue. The only thing that was a little difficult/expensive was sourcing a flexible line to run from the compressor to the pipe array, that was capable of handing the very high heat of the air as it first exits the pump.

What's interesting is that the systems that DarrelK linked actually work this way, cooling the air before entry to the tank, not after exit.
Chris



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PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:19 pm
NFT5
Your 110% correct and it is a Great Idea.

Paintdevil
I would Give your design a Place for all of the Air to briefly expand so water can further condensate and water to be trapped and caught at end of tubing before the Devilbiss drier.
When air is compressed it creates heat when it expands it cools even while its still under pressure.
Dennis B.
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