The Ultimate DIY Compressed Air Dryer For Your Shop (Part 1 of 2)

[@BeckTools]

Thanks for watching this video. Now that this video is a couple years old a couple of the same questions come up a lot in the comments bellow. I've made a part 2 that covers the question you're about to ask. :) Here is a link to part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5bIn4mEg6Z7l5o

[@BigDaddy-yp4mi]

expanding gas cools....the entrance to the copper pipe also has a throat expansion. That's where a majority of your action is. Placing pipe size step-downs right before your drains and a step-up right after a drain will make a huge difference because air that expands cools down instantly from pressure drop which causes it's moisture to hang on whatever surface in that immediate area that it can. I'd suggest some form of washable media, glass tiny marbles and such put right in-between the step up & step down to give more surface area for moisture to settle on, drawing it out of the air. There's a lot of thermodynamics and Bernoulli's principles at work and you gave me the idea on how to design the perfect setup to provide continuous clean air. Thanks man!

[@tinnedanger]

Just a suggestion... Plumb your condenser directly from the compressor pump through the condenser then into the tank. You'll have much less water in your tank.

[@l33b80]

Yes! this was gonna be my comment also

[@andrewfredrick7017]

I did exactly that using an old a/c evaporator from a whole house air handler.

[@satxsatxsatx]

When I finally figured out the sequence, I was amazed to find that his condenser was after the tank rather than into the tank Dry air into the tank allows the tank to last longer since probably it is not coated,

[@saiae]

I came here to say this. The cooling/drying loop is in the wrong place.

[@peetky8645]

YES, that is the appropriate way to do it.......also, smaller tube is better because air volume/tube surface is lower, although air speed is higher.

[@rexhartung2385]

I've been a car painter for over 40 years the thing I do is I just crack the petcock leader valve on the bottom of the tank till you hear a hiss and I never have any water build-up in my lines at all😊

[@randykovalenko1236]

Mount the coils on two horizontal 2 X 4’s to get them off the wall for more air contact. And yes use copper mounting strips.

[@Rodzilla-du3pp]

I noticed the clamps you used to mount the copper pipes to the wall look like steel. If they are you may run into problems with galvanic corrosion. Eventually the steel will react and create a hole in the pipe where steel is contacting the copper. You should change those out to copper or brass clamps and you'll be good to go. Just thought I'd let you know.

[@BeckTools]

Yes, I forgot about that. good point

[@cybersurfer2010]

Just add some insulator so there is no contact between the copper and steel...

[@AN-kg4ei]

@@BeckTools pipe wrap or a cut rubber hose will fix that....

[@SuperNolaguy]

Old Plumber here, wrap cotton cloth electrical tape around copper tubing where clamp makes contact. Also mutes the tubing if there are any harmonics. 😉

[@MrTheHillfolk]

​@@SuperNolaguy went thru the basement and did this recently. I have an LG washer machine ,and when it begins filling it kicks the water on and off at first in 1 second spurts for whatever reason the silly microchip wants it to for about 20 seconds. (actually I guess they're trying to figure out the load size somehow from what I've read ,it's one of those units that washes and dries all in the same basket). Talk about annoying squeaks all over as it cycles, but I fixed em as you described.

[@IRDeezlSmoke]

I too have a cnc plasma table and have been running this configuration for 4 years. 1" iron pipe with ball valves like yours. It works. Period. It removes and amazing amount of the water and cools the air quite well. I have a larger table than you, and also include a refrigerated air dryer in my air supply loop. It does very little on short jobs, but on high amp, high air usage jobs, the compressor runs a lot and the refrigerated air dryer is needed. Made a huge cut quality improvement.

[@fiskfarm]

I made one like yours about 25 years ago and it still works great. No issues with the black iron pipe at all. I mounted mine to a concrete wall for extra heat sink. 👍

[@incolink]

Iron makes a alot of sense Ive been pricing up the copper recently and I'm up for around 500$ i can put a condenser radiator in a refrigerator for half that price

[@m3chanist]

Yes the larger tubes have a greater surface area, BUT they have a much worse surface area to volume ratio, which is the significant thing when you are trying to remove heat from that volume. Put plainly, a number of thin tubes of equal total volume to a few larger tubes provides much more surface area for that volume to dissipate heat through. Many thin tubes are significantly more efficient at removing heat than a few thick ones.

[@ThyAnarchist87]

I would think having a large down section above the valves would allow a spot for the water to build up that isn't inline with the air flow preventing the still water from being carried along with the air. Basically just have a section of pipe run straight down off the T before adding the valve.

[@JoeGraves24]

Going from 1/4” tube to 1” tube is actually a 1:16 ratio in area. That means the air velocity ‘practically’ slows down 16 times. That’s an amazing amount of surface area for condensation to happen. I love the overkill!!

[@BeckTools]

It works really well! I still have not had a single drop of water in my two SMC water separators since I installed this months ago.

[@miguelpadron5984]

Would it work if I make it out of 1/2

[@JoeGraves24]

@@miguelpadron5984 it would likely work but you’d need 4x the pipe to equal the drying power of this setup.

[@Jcreek201]

It's a 16x increase in the cross-sectional area of the pipe, but not a 16x increase of the internal surface area. It's only about a 4x increase in surface area. The real advantage is the pressure drop due to the larger diameter pipe causing the air cool and moisture to condense.

[@JoeGraves24]

@@Jcreek201 absolutely correct on the surface area. I was making a comment on the cross sectional area because it slows down the velocity of the air by a factor of 16, thus increasing the exposure to the increased interior surface area. I used to be able to figure that out with fluid dynamics once upon a time. Thank you for the correction!

[@Chris_In_Texas]

Ideally you would want the cooler between the compressor itself and the tank. Otherwise you are just pumping wet air into the tank, drying the air before storage is possible is the way to go. 🤠👍 That is where you can take a old compact fridge and use coil of tubing with drain. Then use bucket of water in the fridge and have it cooled down as well. It will help take out the heat much better than just air to air inside the fridge.

[@randygerman2176]

The condensate drains do work better located on the opposite leg. The moisture will always be running down the pipe walls even when there is no flow and being heavier than air when there is flow it will tend to go in a straight line towards the dirt leg trap while the air will make the turn at the tee. Plumbing and pipefitting 101.

[@weathertrainsrandomniss1083]

Stumbled on this video. A dryer was not on my list but now it is. Cheers from Wisconsin.

[@BeckTools]

Thanks for the feedback. :) I've made a follow up video with a lot more information if you want to take a deeper dive into this topic. Here is a link to part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5bIn4mEg6Z7l5o

[@DCS_Garage]

You could T all your drain ports at the bottom together with a single lowest horizontal run if you slope the horizontal pipe downwards then you could have just one drain valve. That's about the only improvement I can think of to the flow and ease of use of your system. Looks good.

[@Tkaya460]

And then putting a solenoid valve or other electronically actuated valve on it so you could add automation to the draining of the dryer.

[@chucknSC]

Nope. That would allow air flow to bypass the vertical tubes. That air wouldn’t have been cooled and thus would carry humidity out the outlet.

[@Tkaya460]

@@chucknSC check valves

[@BigDaddy-yp4mi]

@@Tkaya460 this sub-sub thread should die. it's just making the theoretical setup more and more complicated.

[@Tkaya460]

@@BigDaddy-yp4mi where would the fun be in that?

[@91rss]

up north a guy posted his install using old hot water baseboard heater piping with the fins on it. woks amazing and got it at a scrap metal yard. also on the intake you put a second filter , It stops that sucking noise so you can stand next to the compressor and even talk.

[@ianmoore525]

If I was making that, I would have the pipes running horizontally and slightly stretched so there is a slight fall on each run, just one drain in the bottom. The place I worked at in AU, who manufactured CNC plasma cutters and routers, the budget option for plasma cutters ( rather than a refrigerated dryer) was a toilet roll type dryer, toilet rolls don’t actually work as well, the proper ones are brown and different material. They work remarkably well.

[@williamstock3007]

Do you know how well these work in warmer climates? Would these fail to work in 40 Celsius?

[@ouimetco]

I thought your video of really good. Natural and easy to follow. Like a normal working man. Not staged like most videos. Appreciate that.

[@akbychoice]

Using the baseboard heat pipes with fins will greatly increase heat dissipation.

[@funone8716]

Best idea yet!

[@1ton4god]

I'll tell you something that's helped me tremendously. Your air compressor sucks air from inside the shop. When you open those you atomized the air and moisture coming out of there. Then your air compressor in your shop sucks that are right back in. I will tell you if you exhaust those outside you will benefit tremendously from it. Just run some lines tying all four of them together and then one exit line going through the wall out above the roof you don't want them asking on the side of your building. Also you can tie the tank drain on the bottom of your tank into that also. Hope that helps period also will eliminate the staining on the wall:-). I am waiting on my langmeyer crossfire Pro should be here sometime before the end of the month.

[@BeckTools]

yeah my Crossfire pro also creates a crazy amount of steam. It would be nice to put and exhaust hood above my table and send that steam and toxic fumes outside as well. After about 15 minutes of cutting the water in the table is so hot you can barely put your fingers in it to pull our parts. The 1 inch tubing works so well despite all these things it still removes 100% of the moistures. My SMC water separators have not collected even a single drop since I installed the copper system. I still want to vent the toxic metal fumes. That's way up there on my list.

[@1ton4god]

@@BeckTools yeah that's why I'm a little nervous about setting mine up in my small shop.

[@michaelheurkens4538]

To prevent the galvanic corrosion from the steel clamps, wrap several layers of electricians' tape on the copper. I would also recommend clamping only top OR bottom horizontal tubes to allow for the bit of expansion/contraction of the tubes. Verticle tubes pose no problems. For those wondering if copper can withstand the 150psi, I have been taught that properly soldered copper joints AND the tubing sidewall can normally handle up to the 300psi range. This allows for slightly frozen pipes without rupturing. Cheers from Alberta, Canada.

[@BeckTools]

I cover this in part 2 if this video. :) It's in the pinned comment.

[@donaldshimkus539]

Here's a thought, how about hydronic baseboard heater tubes with all those aluminum fins to help cool. I'm not sure what pressure they're rated for but most plumbing pipe is rated for 150 psi.

[@Mikexxx531]

Sorry, but hydronic baseboard copper(Slantfin, etc) is generally very thin and rated for only 30psi. Most such systems run only 12psi in service. They'll probably take more, but it's not the right product for this use. You might be able to put the aluminum fins on type L copper and use that, but it seems more trouble than its worth.

[@donaldshimkus539]

@Mikexxx531 thanks Mike, I kind of had a feeling that might be the case.

[@butchs2337]

where i Live it was to hard to get 1" copper tubing so i went with 3/4" and about 60' total length, the compressor is in about 90 degree room upstairs here in South Florida, the lines go downstairs to the copper tubing that is in a 70 degree room and then goes into a 50 degree room where it is used to run the equipment, i also I put a cooler and water separator on like many others have done on youtube, the cooler takes out a lot of water, i have not yet hooked up the copper tubing to the system yet but very soon it will be done, when it is done i really expect almost no water in the lines, thanks a lot for the video it helped me a lot, i did all this at my job where i work, we were making so much water compressor works a lot, it is a 60 gal Husky 11.5 cfm

[@RYoung09]

I'm about to invest in a 4x8 plasma table. I'll be building a air dryer like this. Thanks for the video

[@BeckTools]

Thanks for the feedback! :)

[@brucehanson4147]

Install this in a fridge to get a better dewpoint, anything to get a lower temp of the compressed air will condense even more moisture. For a one-time quick project I've thrown a coil of soft copper in a big garbage can and filled it with ice and put a water trap on the outlet.

[@perry9492]

I saw another guy on here that had his tubes horizontal and he tilted them a little so the water would find its way to the bottom. He had one valve at the bottom and that seemed to work ok for him. The bigger tubes might help you some. When the air expands in cools. Surface area does not hurt either. If you glued the pipes to a plate with fins on it, you would get more cooling. A fan would help.

[@Booze_Rooster]

I just went through this nightmare. Finally got a decent compressor of my own and attempted to use different filters to reduce moisture using a gravity sandblasting gun on a truck axle. After several unsuccessful setups, I ended up getting an old DeVilbiss 803643 filter from a coworker. Got a new element for it and zip tied it to my compressor's frame. Ran a 30' spiral hose from the compressor to the filter inlet. Running the $0.75 harbor freight inline plastic filter just before the swivel fitting at the gun. Before I'd get about two hopper loads in before moisture started creeping past all the dumb transluscent dessicant filters I was using. The cheap plastic ones on their own were getting me two or three hopper loads each. After setting up a long enough hose for the water to condense, I can run my blasting gun practically indefinitely. Every bag of media I go down, I dump the tank and filter drain, then let it all charge back up while i swap the cheap plastic filter at the end of the hose. Not going to be my final setup but it works for the budget and space I have right now.

[@johnclamshellsp1969]

Really great video. Now you gave me the idea to make a HD trans cooler for my RV/bus. The ones sold today are cheap China junk. I will have to braze the fittings thought for durability/vibration.

[@mattharvey8712]

Bravo.............refrigerationd dryer ......desicant beads reuseable.........big tank........cheers

[@joekerschner1672]

Awesome job!!!. Only change I would make is come out of compressor to drier than go into tank. This would keep tank clean and dry.

[@BeckTools]

Thanks for the tip

[@Zappy1210]

I have used an air cooled system in the past, they work ok. I now use water cooled system and it just works much better. Mine has 50 foot of 1/2 copper coiled into a 10 gallon barrel with a relief valve at the bottom in the water where water inside the line will collect and is pushed out automatically every time the compressor airs up. You just hear bubbles for 2 or 3 seconds or so after the compressor shuts off. No valves to open and close constantly, just add a bit of water now and then. I also run a single stage air compressor dryer for good measure but it has never shown any signs of moisture where when I ran air cooled the dryer still got a bit of moisture in it. I have run this for about 5 years now and have never had any moisture at all in my tank. I actually scoped inside the tank last summer, it looks shiny and new inside, no rust whatsoever.

[@ryanbard9354]

What kind of relief valve did you use? I'm looking into doing a water cooled setup as well.

[@Zappy1210]

@@ryanbard9354 I don't recall where I got it from, but I ordered it offline for about $30.00 5 or so years ago. Think it was just a simple 120 PSI pressure relief valve. They had them from like 50 PSI all the way up to 200 PSI. I recommend getting it brass so it doesn't corrode under water, and get a bucket/barrel with a sealing lid to help keep water from evaporating. You'll have to leave a bit of air gap so the relief air can escape. I just have a 1/2 hole in my lid for that. I typically have to add about a gallon of water every 2 weeks or so to keep barrel full, little more if I use the air more than a normal week.

[@ryanbard9354]

@@Zappy1210 if my compressor motor shuts off at 175 I should put in a 175 relief valve then? I've been scouring the internet trying to find info but not many people do water cooled setups (or they just don't record and share the info)

[@Zappy1210]

@@ryanbard9354 yes 175 would be your pressure relief valve. They typically have an adjustment screw to adjust 5 or 8 PSI for blow off. I believe mine I adjusted to like 119 to be sure it would cycle each time. Wish I could be more help, was a while ago when I did it and the pressure valve I remember was the tricky thing to find. They are out there though.

[@MrRoscoj]

I have one of these I built about a year ago. It works great! I used about 60 ft of 3/4” copper and my air is 99% dry.

[@BeckTools]

Right on

[@AlessioSangalli]

Hello how did you measure moisture content in the compressed air?

[@BeckTools]

@@AlessioSangalli I have two additional commercial grade moisture separators down stream. After months of running they have not captured even a single drop of moisture. The on filters down to .01 microns. Every time I crack the valves on my copper cooling system I get lots of water. I know it's anecdotal but that doesn't mean it can't be true. It just means I don't have a measured value :)

[@MrRoscoj]

@@AlessioSangalli My neighbor checked mine for me. He has all the measuring equipment for work. He used a hygrometer. I also have a 5 micron brass filter and a small desiccant dryer.

[@AlessioSangalli]

Ok!

[@SergeiArkadjevich]

I have made one of those and never had any problems Spraying cars base clear ALL GOOD!!! just added automatic electric valve( Automatic Electronic Timed Air Compressor Condensate Auto Drain Valve) at the bottom of the compressor tank so it drops water out automaticly and dont accumulate inside getting tank rusty.

[@BeckTools]

Great tip!

[@brianjohnson3770]

it's the change in direction as you have it doing most of your water separation... its called a drip leg in a propane system ...simply passing straight over a drop leg wouldn't work as well...I've used a similar but much smaller deal using black pipe with good results

[@LarryBauerle]

I built one per your video and it is amazing! Thank you!

[@BeckTools]

Glad it helped!

[@BeckTools]

I got to say. This feedback makes up for all the KZbin A******s lol Thanks for the feedback.

[@peterd1234567890]

If you also put a regular just before this in side of the copper pipe and drop the presser down a bit expanding gas reduces temperature condensing more water

[@Patrick-xd8jv]

If you have room, 2” black pipe works fantastic and it also holds a large volume of air. Put your air filter at the outlet

[@BeckTools]

I have filters. If you check out part 2 (link in pinned comment above) you'll see the difference between black pipe and copper. :)

[@JoeKyser]

I use a collector with stub out ends. It offers more area to collect

[@reallifeistoflat]

the reason that you aren't getting any moisture to your water separator/filter is because whatever amount of drying you're doing is achieving a dew point slightly under your ambient. this doesn't mean the air is dry, just that it's dry enough that it won't condense out mechanically without a drop in temperature. you probably still have air that at your ambient temperature is anywhere from 20-95% humid. however the way humidity works is that if it's under 100% saturated the air will hold that moisture in it's gaseous state. to get truly dry air, ie lowering the relative humidity you need to dry the air at a lower temperature than ambient. then once you acheive a dewpoint of 3-4 degrees C, it's relative humidity at ambient will be very very low. what you created with the copper is a water separator. similar to what you bought from SMC.

[@BeckTools]

Wow this is the most intelligent comment yet. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge. I very much appreciate it. would their be any value to adding a desiccant filter after the water separator since I can't get down to 3 degrees c other then in the winter time? I was hoping the rapid temp reduction would be enough to pull the water out of the air. I was planning to do a part 3 of this video were I attach this directly to the pump to increase the temp drop. I will not be going from 70F to 36F but I could be going from 180F+ to 80F (not 100% sure what the temp is coming out of the pump)

[@reallifeistoflat]

@@BeckTools check the dess filter you are looking at for maximum inlet temp, most are usually good up to 176°f / 80°c but that varies by design. I work industrially and it'll be different for off the shelf hobby stuff. Most use activated alumina and should get you a dewpoint down to -20°c which would be bone dry at ambient. It's overkill but it would work. Just watch for dust, install it before your fine filter so that no dust goes downstream into your application.

[@BeckTools]

@@reallifeistoflat Sounds like something I should add for sure. The dryer the air the longer my consumables will last. I'll put it down line were the air is cooled off.

[@Thepriest39]

I am in the process of making one of these. I am installing automatic drain valves instead of manual ball valves at the bottom of each run. This way I won't have to remember to drain them. I am also installing one on the air compressor tank drain.

[@BeckTools]

I would like to do that at some point as well.

[@michaelvandenhoy1021]

This setup looks awesome, thanks for sharing.

[@BeckTools]

Glad you like it!

[@BylliPierce]

You could pack the tubes with copper pan scrubbers too. That would increase the surface area dramatically

[@BeckTools]

Thanks

[@stephenholland6328]

That would increase resistance to flow. The surface area that matters is where heat moves from copper to surrounding air. That surface area is unaffected by internal sponges.

[@realmetallurgist8493]

I built one of these years ago, using no more than three feet of 1/2" pipe. I have a little squirrel cage blower that blows on it. Works perfect. If the tube stays cool at the far end, then the apparatus is doing it's job.

[@darrenfrith3958]

These work excellent. The 1" tube is very smart. You can also make a pre-tank separator out of a vehicle condenser and a small tank or drop tube with a valve on the bottom. Basically you take the hard line directly from the compressor pump, attach that with flared fittings to the AC condenser, attach a T at the outlet of the condenser with a valve and a drop tube along the back of the main compressor tank and plumb back into the original tank inlet location at the top. Attach the condenser to the fan/pully cage of the compressor and viola, you keep water out of your main tank as well.

[@oldowl4290]

And the other main benefit is cooler air is more dense by volume. So if the air is sufficiently cooled before entering the tank it actually holds more air at the same given pressure than hot air at the same pressure. So by cooling and drying the air first before it enters the tank you make much better use of your storage tank.

[@_mylastname]

I'm definitely going to do that👍

[@anonimous2451]

Nice Set up. 1 critique if you will and perhaps a better mouse trap.. The Catcher tubes should be 4-6" long cause the 2" tubes are a lil too short IMHO. Other than that liked you're idea of the turbulence T and all. If you swap the output of your compressor to the dryer lines and then return via the Tank, you actually virtually eliminate ANY water vapor from your tank which extends its life. I personally added a double separator, macro/micro separators in tandem with an output regulator on the FIRST one and a desiccant dryer all in a single row lineup. My Plasma cutter has never seen a drop of contaminants. I also use it for painting cars/trucks/motorcycle fairings and pieces and it is flawless. I added an double oil tank with a clear glass jar for my air tools that is plug and play via a 3 way switched air flow valve to do air tool work on the aforementioned body parts. The oil is down line of the valve actuator so no danger in oil infused into my dry lines. My 2c worth.

[@robert5]

I'm building one. I am going to use ether 3/8 or 1/2 tube and not that tall. I'm going to mount it on the compressor in front of the large compressor pulley with the slanted fins for air flow. I am going to connect it along the bottom to one long manifold with one dump valve. It will ether work or not lol. I am still going to mount a filter and desiccant dryer along with the regulator. There is one dude who used a older ford F250 air conditioner condenser mounted on the guard in front of his large finned pulley. Might do that is I can find one cheap enough. I just bought a plasma cutter so got to get this built.

[@wheels-n-tires1846]

A great idea. I took a 30gal 200psi compressor, and plumbed it into the 35gal tank of my old compressor. It only sees 150 psi since it's rated at 165, but it's plenty, and i almost never have a low pressure problem, and most of the condensation is caught in the second tank. A drain loop in the steel pipe output catches pretty much anything left. But having said that, I could see adding a copy of your setup in the future!!! Now to just over engineer your setup a tad more, and link all the valves to a single handle...😅

[@funone8716]

Putting stainless steel wool in the tubes (not packed to tightly but full) would help the water coalesce inside them. Also having a cheap box fan set on Low blowing on the pipes helps a lot as well. And instead of mounting flat on the wall stand it off by 1/2" so air can circulate all round the pipes.

[@kmcwhq]

@@SystemsPlanetNot if it's 304 or 316 stainless.

[@r.joseph8911]

@@SystemsPlanet …exactly what is your “role” in your garage? 😂

[@stickbogart3657]

❤❤ you’re a pay a lot more than that now for an air compressor. I’ve got the cobalt air compressor from Lowe’s which is a two-stage compressor one big piston, and one small piston and it works great. I have no complaints with my air compressor and my air pressure gauge is 6 inches from one side to the other side of the air pressure gauge that way I don’t have to go over directly to the air compressor to read the air pressure gauge and I have a secondary tank tapped into it so when it’s running, it’s actually filling two tanks, a 60 gallon and a 22 gallon air tank❤❤❤❤

[@ottoolsen9676]

made a simmilar setup years ago. but i used regular 200 mm diameter pipe, about 350 mm long weldig top an bottom to it, air in and out are in the sides at the top, a 200x250mm plate is welded inside it so the air/water mix, chrash into it , and the water get stuck on the plate, and falls down where a drain is, the air runns under the plate and up again at verry slow speed, works just fine, and you can add as many as you need to the system, in series, or everywhere else. we use them at the outlet aswell.

[@michaelmolter8828]

You could probably use 1/2 copper and those aluminum snap on fine for radiant heaters to get more heat flux cheaply.

[@Jay_the_Caffeinator]

You could put some really thin metal sheet where the valves discharge. It will help stop pushing the moisture into your drywall.

[@walterashley149]

Instant Subscription!!! Wasn't even looking for this, but have been meaning to address the issue. Thank You!!!

[@BeckTools]

Thanks for the sub!

[@johnbladykas4885]

I wonder if just above your purge valve more longer to catch water. Next question does the copper tubing have a temperature change. Thanks for sharing your video

[@BeckTools]

Yes it does have a temp change. As it transfers the heat form inside the tube to the outside it heats up. The more humid it is the faster the heat transfer happens leaving less heat in the copper itself.

[@michaelmusson3593]

I did the same thing I probably spent 350 dollars on mine I used 3/4 tubing but the L tubing not the M the L is thinner and about half the price I remember checking how much pressure it would hold and it was around 400 lbs I used 8 7ft sections so gave me 42 feet for the air to cool.

[@timothyholewinski2478]

I think you have this backwards. K is the thickest, M is the thinnest, L is in between, so L is THICKER than M and should cost more...

[@DayClanTribe]

Good idea to go big because that offsets the pressure drop you would experience adding that many feet to your overall line length.

[@highplainshollarhomestead3188]

You only need 1 valve. Remove all those valves, run a header across the bottom and tee into it at each loop. Run the header and a slight grade towards a valve at the end. Solves your wet wall problem and you only have to release 1 valve.

[@15630scarusrd]

The problem I see with this is that the air will take the path of least resistance and travel along the bottom header rather than up and down through all the pipe which is where it is cooled.

[@MrW3iss]

Nice setup, thanks for sharing. I wonder if you could put pressure relief or pressure check valves at the bottom of the pipes where the condensation collects, instead of the manual valves. I'm not sure there would be enough pressure or if you want to relieve that much pressure... of course it could be regulated. Then they could all connect via tubes to an output drain or condensation tank. 🤔

[@dave7203]

Thanks for the great video. Think I'm going to go with 3/4 inch. Lose 25% of the surface area but I can add an extra 10 ft of pipe for less and save a bunch on fittings. For some reason the local home stores are really proud of their 1" fittings.

[@BeckTools]

yeah they are! That 1" stuff was expensive when I built mine but now the price is just crazy!

[@johnversluis3084]

@@BeckTools with ton air volume drop from 1/4 maybe run a 3/4 right out of the air tank I'm surprised that the plasma cutter doesn't have a problem with pressure drop and less volume

[@F479999999999]

@@BeckToolsyou should see the prices today lol

[@BeckTools]

@@F479999999999 Yeah I've been told it's a fortune now. Too bad, this works so well. Given the current price of copper a harbor freight refrigerated dryer is prolly worth the money.

[@ac4uv]

Thanks for the good ideas and a clue on what works... That said, why don't you pull the water out of the circuit starting from the compressor, then put the dry air into the tank, then distribute... Would keep the tank free of water too, correct. Slow down the tank rust?

[@fyzxman3293]

Thank you. I will watch part 2 to see if my questions are answered. If not I will ask in that comment section.

[@BeckTools]

Thanks

[@Bikerterje]

Great video! Just want to ask if it would be possible, or if you have considered, to connect all the downtubes and use only one drain valve?

[@BeckTools]

Yes, absolutely. I have and auto drain and plan to make that video when I get time.

[@level7performance]

The cross sectional area of a circle grows with the square of the radius but the circumference only grows with the radius so from a surface area perspective larger diameter tube should be less effective since the volume increases much more than the surface area. In terms of pressure drop it's another story though.

[@bt619x]

I like it and looks good. A cool tip I have for the compressor is cylindrical or floor mount vibration isolators from grangier. Divide the published compressor weight by four and get the closest match. Never vibrates the floor and literally floats on the isolators. Much quieter.

[@AN-kg4ei]

mounted mine on 4 hockey pucks which worked very well as I slice the 2 closest to the wall to make up for floor height difference.

[@bt619x]

Hockey pucks work too.

[@onjofilms]

@@AN-kg4ei I've put those under my washing machine. They work great.

[@deakindog7525]

i've done similar for years on a bigger scale. what i see is your runs are 90 degrees off. you can collect water in each vertical. done horizontal with the pipes on a small angle one drain is needed. on my previous 2 shops i ran a wall of them (outside) then into another tank. i never needed to change the desiccant at my paint booth. at my current retirement shop i have a smaller wall (10'x8'), no additional tank and i get no water inside however i am not running the compressors as much when i had lots of employees

[@BeckTools]

I did just buy and electric auto drain valve for this system. I plan to connect all 4 drains to it and do some other modifications. That will be in part 3 of this series. I should have it in the next couple weeks.

[@1stMrSoundguy]

sounds great i will try it out when i start finishing my shop thx for the info

[@BeckTools]

No problem 👍

[@kevinreed4731]

I wonder if you used sections of baseboard heat if the fins would help with cooling?

[@sanitymaintenance1585]

The next time you build one put an upside down U or drip loop in after the valve of each stage . What you build works by gravity . So adding an upside down drip loop in will catch more water and it will double what you have now . So first stage valve then after that drip loop upside down going to stage 2 valve then going to upside down drip loop .Once your wet receiver is full of water (your tank) in super hot summer it will pay off . Winter is one thing but summer is a bit different .. Oh I will add this in as well . If you have 125 psi in your wet receiver (tank) and only using 30 psi at the other end ? Having a regulator before it hits the part that you built will help a lot . So your tank 125 psi and a regulator 80 to 60 to what you made and after what you made regulator at 30 psi depending on your needs ??? Anytime you slow something down gravity takes over . good video !!

[@crisestrada9964]

My Buddy made one out of 40 PVC for his Paint booth and it works

[@BeckTools]

but it would work much better if it were copper. The explanation is in part 2.

[@eddiepadilla1078]

Velocity approaches zero the closer you get to the surface (think of dust on your windshield).

[@riftalope]

You can run vinyl tubing from the bottom of the valves to a single (ball) jar and see what amount of water you're keeping out of the lines. To affix the lines to a lid is tricky. I've seen hot glue on the outside of holes in the lid, and I've seen plumbing connectors inside the lid with larger holes. I prefer the later. But you must not screw the lid down firmly. You need that gap, and maybe a few nail holes, to let the air out.

[@BeckTools]

I would not use vinyl tubing.

[@oBseSsIoNPC]

Very nice build! Never thought of doing it this way, but I am going to try it. Only advice I have for you. Build a box, cage or separate room for the compressor. There is an extremely low chance, but the tank CAN fail and it will send shrapnel through the shop. Those large compressor tanks are serious bombs. I never trust any of them and at least have a heavy metal cage around them. The explosion will still rupture your eardrums, but it won't send pieces through your body as easily. 90psi filled truck tires send men flying 20 ft. When they come apart.

[@mjktrash]

I bet someone covered this for you already, apologies if so 1/4 tube = .25^2 * Pi = ~.05sqin 1" tube = .5^2 * Pi = ~.785sqin That's a 16x factor, so good job! (And going from rubber hose to copper tube is another increasing factor)

[@BeckTools]

In my head I was thinking it was 16x but I don't know if I was willing to say it in the video. hahaha. I hadn't done the math and I didn't want to spoil the video over this 1 issue. :) Thanks for the confirmation.

[@jameelrose]

Replace those valves with solenoids and build another manifold to bring them am back together and piped outside or into a drain. Then you can automate opening the solenoids periodically.

[@jakeshughart361]

Looks to be the time u buy all the parts to do this harbor freight sells a air cooling system

[@ouimetco]

That table is sweet.

[@ironwooddesigns9532]

I'm concerned about getting high volume out of this system since your inlet line is just 1/4" tubing. I like the Tee design; you are right, that angle can help condense moisture. So does cyclone rotation like the moisture separator design. I've thought about making one of these that resides in a fridge, freezer, or even a tub that can be temporarily filled with ice water. As you drop that temperature, more and more moisture will condense out. As others have said, the auto drain for your compressor is worth its weight in gold.

[@butchs2337]

i made one like this but out of 3/4" copper tubing and it is mounted in a 70 degree room sometimes even colder there before it goes into a 50 degree room where we use the air

[@MrTheHillfolk]

The larger you can get the pipe ,the better. From what I see,it'll act as an accumulator and help with those initial air tool hits that drop the pressure off at first.

[@peterchang7646]

Nice. My only comment is at about 5:50 of the video you talk about surface area of the 1" pipe as opposed to 1/4"... More air to copper contact on a smaller pipe than with a larger pipe... The ratio of air contact is higher - the smaller the pipe diameter is... That is why radiators, coolers tend to be made with smaller pipes than larger ones...

[@BeckTools]

yes they use smaller pipe but they than have to have 10x linear feet of said pipe. I want to save space, slow the velocity, and get lots of surface area at the same time.

[@Leftseat1967]

I just bought a Speedaire 60 gal with a 5hp three phase 440 volt motor. In your video it looks like you're using a 3 phase converter to single phase? If so what is your energy usage with it? I priced the converter and opted for a new 220 volt single phase motor. In the long run would I still be better off with the original 3 phase 440 volt motor with a converter? My original 3 phase motor can be wired for "Low Voltage" of 230 volts, but I believe its still three phase not single phase. A 5hp converter is around $230-$250...

[@lynnbevins7100]

Running your dirt leg that way atomizes the water droplets thus moving down the line. Smoother flow= more condensing of water on walls= better efficiency

[@garytodd5605]

If air is brought in at the bottom of first up tube and out the top of last up tube. you will get the advantage of gravity. But the cooling effect is the major factor in what seperates the moisture from the air and the tube length is the device that insures the cooling properties. By tubes being in the vertical insures that more and more moisture is removed as soon as possible in the system. Measure the tubes temp at inlet and outlet. By the time it is at the outlet it should be ambient temp. If enough tube length is applied. From everything i have seen 30 to 50 ft minimum pipe is needed. And arranged with multiple moisture removal points along system. The goal is to cool the compressed air so the moisture drops out and can be removed from system.

[@ThePete2432]

Look up automatic electric tank drain kit and buy it. We use those on building pneumatics religiously

[@BeckTools]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll look into this.

[@karljay7473]

Nice setup, I'm thinking of using an automotive A/C condenser for this. I want to cool and dry the air before it goes into the compressor tank. I wonder if those Harbor Freight $10 auto drain kits would work on that. You'd have to adapt the fittings onto the end, but then it would be 100% automatic.

[@BeckTools]

It's all about surface area. The more the better.

[@jerrybigrig9475]

Did you hook up the condenser..did it do what you thought..??

[@karljay7473]

@@jerrybigrig9475 I ended up using a transmission cooler and it works great. I had to put it at an angle to make sure the water drains out and I used a small fan on it. It goes from too hot to touch, to room temp.

[@chucknSC]

I found those HF drainers are short-lived.

[@takedeadaim8671]

I realize it’s an old video but nice plan with the 1” copper. As others have said steel fittings in copper pipe and clamps are going to eventually cause an issue, the reducers and all are available in copper and a few feet of #10 copper wire would strap that down against two or three horizontal 2x4’s you get better air circulation behind the copper and eliminating the vibration saves the pipe.

[@BeckTools]

Yeah i cover this and more in part 2. Since this video has blown up the last couple days I'm going to make a part 3 showing all my upgrades since I installed this. Here is a link to part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5bIn4mEg6Z7l5o

[@takedeadaim8671]

@@BeckTools I just watched Pt 2, nice job I’ll be watching for the update, I’ll be looking to build one later in spring when the humidity goes up and the snow goes away

[@bobbg9041]

3:38 real fact, and i worked in a machine shop so i know whats in the air of a shop, As well as worked with auto painters. You machine cut grind weld you put a lot of dust and smoke as well as oil in the air in your shop, the compressor should be outside the shop you can build an outdoor insulated compressor shed. Then pipe it back into the shop because all that stuff in the air gets into your compressor pumps eating the cylinder walls.

[@leegarcia81]

Nice set up but have you considered taking the air directly from the compressor outlet and running that through your copper system first and before it enters the tank. That eay you can avoid water build up in the tank itself. Also I see you have 4 valves. I would have hard piped those all into 1 valve that can drain all runs at once. And the added dead space where the t is can serve as a reservoir too. You can even add clear hoses to the parts were you have the valves at and make those all meet up into one purge valve. Then you could visually see the liquid as it builds up in each chamber

[@BeckTools]

yeah I made a follow-up video talking about these things. :)

[@raymondless1036]

Thank you, this will fix a whole lot of problems for me in my injection moulding business. Awesome idea and solution

[@BeckTools]

Forge larger shops just use larger copper pipe.

[@blackbear92201]

Cool video. Love the 1" copper pipe idea. I wonder if you could use a "tree-like" structure for the 1" pipes, and use only 1 reservoir (any size) and 1 valve at the very bottom? Or some variation. thanks for posting! :D

[@JoeKyser]

its called a collector and yes you can use it

[@DayClanTribe]

nice little workshop!

[@BeckTools]

Thanks

[@Frank-Thoresen]

Try to make an air cooler coiled in a small plastic barrel with water. The water is more effective cooling down the hot air in the copper pipe. Add a drain valve that automatically opens up frequently for draining the water at the bottom of the coil.

[@BeckTools]

I have an auto drain on order. It should arrive soon. I'll come out with a part 3 for this video showing all my upgrades since part 2 Here is a link to part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5bIn4mEg6Z7l5o

[@kk2ak14]

Very good idea man! Just connect another tank after the pipes.

[@BeckTools]

Good idea!

[@MrTheHillfolk]

I definitely need to build something like this. Im always on pops to drain the compressor but he doesnt. Campbell hausfeld 60 or 80 gallon(lol i always forget) single stage. Its in the heated part of the shop, but i usually work in the unheated area. This winter was so mild ,it was 38f for most of the time in the work area. Totally awesome to me ,as i work outside so that was almost t shirt weather to me 😂. Anyway,after 5-8mins my angle die grinder blows ice chunks and gets slower and slower, ao i stop and go drain the tank and put some oil in the tool and go another 10mins and repeat. I did stick a couple of engine heater magnets on it for 3-4 days with the drain opened and that helped quite a bit. Finally,i took about a shot glass worth of 91% isopropyl and dumped it in and thats been the best solution so far. Im tired 😂, i want something permanent like this (so i also saved the vid so whwn i finally get around ro it ill rewatch) Thanks man ! Edit: I just had a brain flatulation! I've got an old craftsman compressor with a dead compressor,I wonder if it's worth putting that in the unheated shop area and running the line to that instead of running off the line ? Maybe it would help some of the moisture issue as it's like a big separator and accumulator.

[@MrTheHillfolk]

2:25 those look pretty sweet. As I've recently installed an air ride in a car ,with the supplied separator it's a little tiny thing that fits in your hand, I need one of these to add in on that 😂

[@AY-cj9kp]

Yeah, I did the same except longer copper tubes and L-type copper (not the M-type which is the thin wall regular). Works like a Swiss clock. Also, I took square wood beams 4”x4” approximately and drilled 1” holes at the copper pipe distances center to center. Then cut them along so the holes would be split. Then I clamped it over top portion and bottom portion of this copper assembly. This made the structure solid and easy to manage. Simply bolted it to the wall.

[@BeckTools]

Good tip!

[@alphabrewingcompany2323]

We built one for our compressed air system and it works great! Thanks for the suggestion.

[@BeckTools]

Happy to help you out! Thanks for the feedback. It helps me out. :)

[@Nitroscion]

I Work in a semiconductor industry and the tools require dry oil free air. It would be nice to see the humidity before and after. I’m guessing it’s not much of a difference. He is wearing a jacket and cold temp will help. what happens in the summer?

[@BeckTools]

it still works in the summer.

[@Cobalt135]

I used 1/2" copper and have the input at knee level and it runs horizontal for 18 feet to a "T" with 6" drop and ball valve for a drain. Then the copper goes straight up the wall for 9 feet to the ceiling and horizontal for about 10 feet before dropping 9 feet to another ball valve. "T" and a 90 goes back up wall 4 feet to the regulator/filter. Slope your runs to the ball valve drains and give enough volume where the valves are to hold some moisture so it won't pool back up into the main stream and bubble the moisture back into the air stream. Think about what your air usage and volume is like. If you can give enough room to get that air back down to near ambient temperature then your moisture should be left in the pipe. With the setup above I have used a blow off gun for 10 or 15 minutes continuous with a 20 gallon compressorand never see moisture in the regulator/filter.

[@MatHelm]

I'm thinking mounting/designing that thing horazional would of let you get away with just one drain valve.

[@butchs2337]

just want to thank you, it help us a lot

[@BeckTools]

Great to hear!

[@jeremymoore16]

To be honest. I would have put a silica gel filter on the compressor intake. Then on the high pressure side I would have installed 3x filter units rated to the max PSI of the high side. One filter would be filled with a particulate catching media and activated charcoal. The next filter would be silica gel beads then the last filter would be filled with zeolites aka molecular sieve. This is the exact set up I use for my plasma torch . In the winter get dew points in the air as low as -5 F, in the summer I see an average dew point between 13f and 25f, depending on the temp of the air. I also use a very similar setup for my pcp air rifle compressor. However the dryer for the pcp air rifles is much more expensive due to the need to have filters that can withstand 4000 psi without failing. With the above recommendations you would save space, time for not that much more cost wise especially if you count build time as money.

[@jamescole3152]

I love it. Do you think the copper pipes will also trap any oil? Seems like it would.

[@BeckTools]

not sure

[@lloydscharf6897]

I guess I missed how the air runs, does it go from the pump through the dryer then into the tank,and then to its useage? I bought a 2 stage 5 horse "Colman air compressor from tractor Supply in 2000, after a few years the pump ate a valve. when I went to "TS" for repair parts I found out Colman was nolonger in the air compressor business, and my $1000+ air compressor was considered "Throwaway".last Colman product I will buy!!!

[@BeckTools]

I'm going to try putting the dryer between the pump and tank in part 3 of this series. I've had a lot of people suggest this. Currently it is after the tank.

[@MrRoberoni117]

A lot of box store / flooring vendors give vinyl scrap away for free. A small piece of vinyl flooring glued to the wall behind the ball valves… just an idea