Air Tools: Do I need a dessicater?

[SLightfoot]

I just recently purchased my first air compressor and impact wrench.



I read somewhere that you should put something in line to stop any water in the line getting to the tool.



Is this more for folks who use the tools all day long, or is it needed at all for the weekend warrior?



Thanks,



Shawn

 

[B.G. Smith]

A water seperator is good but if you keep the tank drained you won't have any trouble. Now if you decide to paint your truck then that,s a different story. Just oil the tools before storing and when using. bg

 

[SLightfoot]

Thanks. That what I figured. I drain the tank after each use, so I figured that for my kind of use, as long as I keep the tool oiled, I should be OK.



I had always thought that a guy could keep the tank pressurized so that if I needed to pump up a tire, it would be ready to go - I guess that isn't the case.



Cheers.

 

[B.G. Smith]

I have a Craftsman air compressor with the compressor on top of a horozontal tank (about 30 years old) , it puts up about 165#. When I first bought it it would leak down after sitting a while too, I found the check valve after the compressor was bad, replaced it with a tubing check valve and now it will hold air for weeks if I don't forget and leave something plugged in on the end of the hose. bg

 

[jwgary]

Draining the tank isn't the same as emptying it. You open the drain at the bottom and wait until it's just air coming out, then close it back. Most industrial compressors have automatic valves that open every time the compressor cycles or at set intervals to keep the water from collecting in the tank.

It is somewhat of a myth that draining the tank will fix most of your condensation problems. You get sondensation because you have compressed air. The dew point of the air is whatever the ambient temperature is because you will squeeze the rest of the water out as you compress it. As the compressed air cools, more water will fall out.

Filter/separators are failry easy to come by and help when you use a lot of air. It all depends on what you are doing with your tools. Painting definitely requires filtration and separation. Running a die grinder, you can have water dumping out of the exhaust, which can get annoying after a while, but I have never seen it hurt a tool.

 

[WDixon27]

ditto, i have a couple separators on the 80-100 gallon tank at work and sometimes i still get water, doesn't hurt anything if you oil the tools after you blow the water out of the lines, unless you are going to not use it for a while id leave the compressor powered, the tank gets hot when it has to build up a full charge which makes the water worse, just hit the drain on the bottom till it's clear at least weekly maybe even daily till you figure out how much water you make

Filter/separators are failry easy to come by and help when you use a lot of air. It all depends on what you are doing with your tools. Painting definitely requires filtration and separation. Running a die grinder, you can have water dumping out of the exhaust, which can get annoying after a while, but I have never seen it hurt a tool.

 

[nickleinonen]

Running a die grinder, you can have water dumping out of the exhaust, which can get annoying after a while, but I have never seen it hurt a tool.

yeah, water through the air tools is annoying. . i got soaked good at work when i was using my 3/4" impact. . the exhaust was pointed at my waist level, and i don't know what happened to the shop's air dryer, but i had air, and there was loads of water coming out of the line. . i didn't notice it at first, until i felt the wet [and it looked like i wet myself ]

 

[Nate]

I really don't get air running into my tools at home for whatever reason. I'm sure there's a little bit, but even running my die grinder there's not enough to get anything damp.



I used to have a dryer and it never collected anything. I pulled on the hose too hard one day and broke the bowel of the dryer. I never bothered to put a new one.



If anything, I would put an inline oiler.

 

[SLightfoot]

Draining the tank isn't the same as emptying it. You open the drain at the bottom and wait until it's just air coming out, then close it back.

Wait - you mean I only need to crack the drain at the bottom of the tank and if it's just air, I can leave the compressed air in the tank?



That would be nice to have that reserve air available without having to fire up the compressor when I need it for a quick tire pump or the like.

 

[Nate]

Yup. Just open the valve a bit and close it after the moisture comes out. Probably once a week would be a good idea if you use your compressor alot.

 

[LesStallings]

TP Tools has really good information on how to setup an air system. You may want to check them out:



http://www.tptools.com/StaticText/airline-piping-diagram.pdf

 

[Grizzly]

If you are in a humid area you will get more water in your tank then if you are in a dry area. I live in a dry climate and I still get enough water in my tank to drain some every week or two. I also keep a water separator on the big oil type compressor in my shop. I also have two smaller compressors that I don't keep water separators on. One is an oil less pancake and the other is a DeWalt twin tank portable oil type, but I do drain water from the tanks.