Pneumatic Setup

[Mike OMelia]

I have a 3HP, 60 gallon tank. Compressor is oiled.

I want dry air, and occasionally oiled.

So, I want to mount a system to the tank that has a dryer, regulator, and oiler. I want to bypass the oiler when not needed.

I assume the regulator comes first, then the dryer, then the oiler (with tap points)

If someone can explain this to me, I would like to know how to do this, and where to get reasonable components. Also, I would like the regulator to be fully open when I use a regulator at the hose end.

Does any of this makes sense? Sorry, I know so little about these systems.

Mike

[William M Johnson]

I cannot urge you strongly enough not to put an oiler in the system. It will permanently coat the tubing and you will be blowing oil out of it for the rest of your life. You will never be able to use it for painting.

What tool are you using that needs continuous oil?

If you don't already have your air lines I might suggest 1/2" copper. I put big (5' tall) U in with a quick connect at the bottom of the U. I have two of them before my final quick connect that the hose attahches to. The self retracting hose reel is mounted as high as I could put it. Now the condensed water collect at the bottom of the U and I can blow it out. I have just finished painting a car and I have no fisheyes due to moisture. I have also sprayed countless gallons of sanding sealer and lacquer all without a drop of water.

My $0.02

[Mike OMelia]

OK, I use it mostly for painting, point taken. But I was hoping someone could suggest a reasonable regulator & dryer (not HF or Borg)

Mike

[Norman Hitt]

OK, I use it mostly for painting, point taken. But I was hoping someone could suggest a reasonable regulator & dryer (not HF or Borg)

Mike

William is absolutely correct about the oiler. "IF"", however you do have something that you need/want to run an oiler for, make a short hose with the oiler permanently attached to it at the supply end and you can plug it into your drop and then plug your oil needing tools into the other end of the hose and you will not contaminate the rest of your air supply system since the oil will be injected downstream of your drop on your main system.

WHY would you want the regulator at the compressor to be FULLY OPEN just because you are using another regulator at the tool? I would never put full pressure on the hoses, just set the regulator at the tank for the maximum or slightly higher than you will set on the regulator at the tool. "IF" a hose should rupture or a connector come off at the end of the hose, the less pressure that you have set to go through the hose the better, as it won't whip the hose around as bad, (which can really beat you and other things to pieces before you can get it unplugged from the drop).

[John Coloccia]

OK, I use it mostly for painting, point taken. But I was hoping someone could suggest a reasonable regulator & dryer (not HF or Borg)

Mike

I've had good luck with Campbell Hausfeld. Honestly, though, I've although had good luck with Husky regulators (.i.e Home Depot). Anyhow, back when I was doing a lot of metal work, my setup went as follows:

I also had a 3HP/60Gal comp that went into a filter/dryer (not really a "dryer" but does catch some water). From there, it went to a tee. The top of the tee was a small 1/4" regulator. The bottom of the tee was a large regulator. The large regulator then went into an oiler. I had a dedicated hose reel hooked up to the bottom tee. That was for running my die grinders, drills, nibblers, etc. The top tee had a DIFFERENT dedicated hose that was strictly for clean air and painting. Notice also that the clean air drop is on top, i.e. condensing water won't collect there by and large.

This is a bit more costly because of the extra regulator and hose, but it made everything sooooo easy.

If you look about 1/2 way down you'll see a picture of my old setup in the background. Also notice that I put a lot of quick connects in the system. Made maintenance very easy.
http://www.ballofshame.com/flying/rv-7/buildLog/20051113.php

re: regulator being fully open.
You probably have some guns with attached regulators, yes? I have some like that too. I just crank the regulator at the tank to 50psi, or something like that. Heck, go up to 90 if the regulator downstream can take it. I don't know what compressor you have, but mine could keep up with any tool I threw at it. There's no way you're going to have pressure or air flow issues with any gun that I can envision.

I prefer to have the filter right after the regulator, but I just got lazy and put it right off the tank. I was living in the desert at the time so I wasn't too concerned with trapping water. I would drain the compressor once a week and remove about a thimbleful of water, if you can believe that. Out here in Connecticut, I could take out more than that on the first charge up to pressure if I bothered.

[Josiah Bartlett]

The way to dry air without an expensive refrigeration unit is to cool it to room temperature and then collect the water droplets that condensed out. The air can either be cooled by some sort of radiator or by running it through an oriface like a regulator so that it expands and cools. The water is either collected in a low spot of a pipe, a tee, or in a dessicant dryer. A regulator followed by a mid-sized length of sloped black iron pipe with a spit valve usually works pretty well. When I'm painting something I use 2 regulators, one at the compressor and one at the gun. The one at the compressor gives a pressure drop so the water separator near the tank gets most of the water out, and the one at the gun evens out the pressure drop across the hose and takes any extra water out. I always use a disposable dessicant between the small regulator and the gun, and I have gotten great results with that.

It doesn't matter how much money you spend on a filter/dryer, it will work better when it is further away from the compressor tank or if there is a regulator between it and the tank. The cooler the air going in, the better it will work.

[Gregory Paolini]

I wanted to do the same as you - using clean dry air some times, and then having the option of oiled air. So I grabbed two drier/regulator/oiler combos from harbor freight - when on sale they're 10 bucks each - And I seperated my system into 2 parts with a plumbing T. Now my shop air comes from one regulator assembly, and when I need the oiled air, I just use the air from the second assembly.

All of my oil stays contained to 1 line, and I never have to worry about contamination

Hope this helps

www.GregoryPaolini.com (http://www.GregoryPaolini.com)

[Mike OMelia]

So you have no issues with the HF setup?

BTW, I noticed that the Borgs sell the SAME air stuff that HF sells, only with blue or orange paint!

I like the double setup. Thanks!

Mike

[Mike OMelia]

Do you mean this one?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95439

Mike





I wanted to do the same as you - using clean dry air some times, and then having the option of oiled air. So I grabbed two drier/regulator/oiler combos from harbor freight - when on sale they're 10 bucks each - And I seperated my system into 2 parts with a plumbing T. Now my shop air comes from one regulator assembly, and when I need the oiled air, I just use the air from the second assembly.

All of my oil stays contained to 1 line, and I never have to worry about contamination

Hope this helps

www.GregoryPaolini.com (http://www.GregoryPaolini.com)