DIY Air Compressor Aftercooler/Dryer

[@madeinusa5201]

I use the motor guard filters also. I like them! I am going to try your system too!

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

Awesome, I hope it works out for you!

[@ProjectGreenfieldSolutions]

Enjoyed the video. Clean lines!!! I did something similar with my brake lines on the S-10. Yeahhhh.... that went to the shop shortly after haha.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

Right on! Hope the S10 was an easy fix.

[@petebaranko5468]

Works exactly as he shows. However I found using (2) water separators removes the majority of the residual water and keeps the tank supply much drier. Otherwise, this is a MUST HAVE on any compressor system!

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

Good idea with the two separators. I do still get a very little water in the bottom of my tank.

[@calsbarn5996]

Oh, like that idea too. I’m using the same radiator and water cooler he is and find that it’s probably between 80 to 95% efficient depending on the temperature / humidity conditions. I’ll buy another water separator and see if that improves the efficiency. By the way, my efficiency estimate is based on comparing water removed by that water separator to the the water in the tank plus the water in my second separator closer to my work area. If I instead compared only the water from the second separator to the water from the first separator plus the water in the tank I’d say it’s always *at least* 95% efficient and probably much higher - maybe 98-99%. That’s because the air going into the tank is already cool so it doesn’t hold much water even when used for extended periods of time.

[@Breezer56]

You must have (ANY) water seperator at least 25' from the compressor. This gives it enough time to help cool the line.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

This would be the ideal situation. In my case as well as many that 25’ rule becomes less practical. I hook my air line right up next to my compressor and can reach the whole shop and driveway.

[@calsbarn5996]

The water separator needs to be far enough downstream for the air to be cooled. He’s using a 16 pass radiator with air coming out at about 88 degrees so putting the water separator after that is just fine.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

@@calsbarn5996 I didn't really think of the distance in the cooler. Good point, Thanks!

[@fgbhrl4907]

You should vent the hot air outside. Bonus is you're cooling your shop that way -- what you have created is basically an AC as well, just venting the hot air into the same space. That hot air is a combination of the compressor pump + ambient energy in the air. Assuming 90degF ambient, compressed to 150PSI, you'd in theory have air at ~600degF in the tank(!). Obviously, this assumes no cooling. In reality, it'd be cooling down pretty quickly. That's all thermal energy that's taken out of the garage. Assuming that tank is right and it's 14.6scfm (and my math is correct), that's something like a 5 ton AC running... In reality, it's probably half that, since compressed air heat pumps are like 70% efficient vs the 300% of a regular AC, but still. Free cooling!

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

Typically I have my shop door open to help with air circulation since I don’t have AC yet. Hopefully the heat load once I do have AC won’t be too bad.

[@fgbhrl4907]

@@DrivingForwardBuilds It looks like the specs on that air compressor are 20A (@120?V) If so, that's about 2.4kW of heat. But if you vent, not only are you taking that out, but you're actively cooling the rest of the room (albeit for whatever duration the compressor is running).

[@ronyerke9250]

I'm still not a fan of the cooler placement. This is prewarming the air that cools the compressor. It's just a little counterproductive that way. I wonder if his compressor head temperatures will go up significantly.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

@@ronyerke9250 I wondered the same thing. However, with how much air is flowing over the head, and the rate of flow I feel like it would be negligible.

[@ronyerke9250]

@DrivingForwardBuilds Did you forget about turbulence? Air going past the cylinders will also disturb the air over the head, but to a lesser degree.

[@cutweldngrind]

I bought the radiator about 2 years ago and its still in the shed. I have 2 Dewalt 60gal compressors and use 1 for my plasma table and lately its been a nightmare with fluids in line. I need to take a better look at the fittings to see what I can figure out.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

It’s worth it. Every time mine runs, even with how dry it is here I get water out of the auto drain before the tank. I do still vent the base but get more mist than anything out of there.

[@cutweldngrind]

@@DrivingForwardBuilds im going through the link and cant see where the 8an to 1/2 Compressor adapter was used at, on filter? I do stainless steel tubing on a weekly basis but never done flare connections so have some research to do. Thanks for the quick reply.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

@cutweldngrind I recommended the An to compression adapters for the radiator fittings(they are AN) for folks that were worried about leaks. I wound up only using compression fittings and don’t have any leaks. My lines are aluminum which is soft so I think that helped since AN fittings are 37* and compression is 45*. I did have a line break a few weeks later from an improper ferrule set on the tank inlet. That was fixed by straightening my line and ferrule.

[@calsbarn5996]

To add to @DrivingForwardBuilds comment, I used the AN fitting with copper pipe and a 45 degree flare. I did not run the flare all the way down but pretty close and it worked just fine. Having one end AN and the other end a compression fitting (on the filter) actually worked great because I could slip the compression end into the filter and check the fit to the AN fitting without bending the tube at all. If you use an adapter and end up with a compression fitting on both ends then you are forced to bend the tube a bit just to check the fit. I was concerned about putting a residual load on the radiator fitting (one broke off on me after about 1-1/2 years) so I wanted the fit to be as close as possible.

[@jayinmi3706]

I just saw another video where the person had one of the hard lines break where it attaches to the cooler (on the acttual cooler, not tthe AN fittting) after a couple of months. How has yours held up so far?

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

My cooler lines have held up great. I did however have my line break at the check valve going into the compressor. That was my fault though. I tighted the compression fitting with the ferrule sideways and then it leaked, so I overtightened it and weakened the aluminum tube. It broke within a few days. I cut the line and added a new ferrule and has been good since.

[@anthonyrochon3907]

Post the flipping links for parts like everyone else.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

I did post them in the description. Was there something else you were looking for?

[@anthonyrochon3907]

@DrivingForwardBuilds sorry I didn't see them. Ill look again. It was the cone shaped springs for mounting I was looking for

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

No worries bro. Are you looking for amzn.to/3YzOzUm to mount the cooler to the compressor?

[@greglardizabal6736]

Stupid question coming... anyone do this and add another larger condenser or double up on the cooler? Add electric fan? More surfaces, more cooling. Trying to eliminate running $$ copper pipes.

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

I’ve seen electric fans added to the cooler, but usually when the cooler is mounted off of the compressor.

[@greglardizabal6736]

@@DrivingForwardBuilds Thanks... I'm setting up my shop. Also wondering if TWO air coolers/radiators would be better...

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

@@greglardizabal6736 That really depends on the environment and humidity. I ran my compressor a lot through the summer here and it pulled moisture out the entire time, not much but it was there. I still emptied the bottom of the tank after a day's use and had 1-2 tablespoons of water there as well. If you had a larger cooler or multiple with dedicated cooling fans, it would pull out more moisture.

[@greglardizabal6736]

@@DrivingForwardBuilds Thanks!

[@calsbarn5996]

@@greglardizabal6736 Let us know what you end up doing. I have a nearly identical setup and the outlet air temp from the radiator is already close to (or maybe lower than) ambient temp so another radiator probably won’t do much. Someone else suggested a second water filter and that sounds like a better solution to me - I’ll be buying a second filter soon.

[@YetAnotherLoser]

thanks for sharing your great design! carrying this thought even further, since compressed air is so hot, this application seems ideal for heat-powered coolers. an ammonia and water absorption cooler, like the old gas refrigerators, uses heat to cool an evaporator that you would place adjacent to your cooler fan, cooling your compressed air below the ambient temperature by the time it enters your tank. ...or, a paired sterling engine/cooler could work similarly, providing sub-ambient cooling from the compressor heat. it would be interesting to see if there are any commercial compressors that take this approach. Edit: I see Thermax offers absorption chillers for air compressors, but at industrial and not at garage scale. Even though they get "free" energy from the compressed air heat, but maybe at smaller scales, chilled compressed air isn't worth the capital cost of an absorption chiller?

[@DrivingForwardBuilds]

Chilled compressor cooler/driers are more often found in commercial applications with paintwork and blasting/coating. They need dry clean air. In a home shop you are often, as you pointed out, limited by the cost of such applications. However with the skill and enginuity it could be done, and you sound like you know enough to make it happen! Thanks for the comment and view!