Quote:
Originally Posted by rbruno68
Not exactly truck related, but sort of. How much of a total run do you have in your copper pipe air dryer in the background. I will be building on of these in the spring. Does it work well for painting and anything you would have changed? Just looking for advice before I build mine.
Rob
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Thanks for the question! Most visitors to the shop don't know what that is. :-)
The 8 straight vertical sections of 3/4” diameter tubing are 5 feet long each so I would estimate that the total length including all of the fittings is about 45 feet.
It can be pretty humid here in central Texas, and this arrangement works well so far. I don't get any moisture out of the last drain valve, and you can progressively see less moisture from each drain valve as you get further from the compressor. When I'm running the compressor hard for painting or sandblasting, I generally drain the compressor tank and all the tubing drain valves about every hour.
I've only done primer painting, some Raptor Liner, and sand blasting with this arrangement so far, but I have had no water issues. I do have a small filter dryer at the end of the run as a final stage backup.
With regards to changes I would make, if a person had a way to bend the tubing and eliminate some of the solder joints/fittings, that would make the assembly easier and reduce the number of potential leaks. Also, I'm thinking of adding an automated drain valve for the main compressor tank. Beyond that, I'm pretty happy with the results.
Just as an fyi, I bought the long runs of tubing in 10 foot sections locally at a big box store due to shipping costs. All of the fittings were sourced from Zoro.com as they appeared to have the best prices, and I think all of the ball valves used for the drains were Harbor Freight. Three years ago, the parts were around $80 total.
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