Compressor and Auto Drains

[Jay Albrandt]

Hello All,

I have a 60 gal. Ingersol-Rand Compressor and I use it once/twice a week. If you have an auto drain on your system, I would like your input on how easy it is to install and if you think it is worth it.

Thanks,

Jay

[Tom Veatch]

I installed one of the Harbor Freight drains (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42221)on mine (60 gal Kobalt from the blue borg). Had a little difficulty getting the pressure line connected but that was due to the location of the pressure switch on my compressor. Other than that, it installed easily.

For a few months after installation, I checked the operation by doing a manual drain at random intervals (IOW, when I thought of it.) but no condensate was ejected during any of the manual checks. Haven't done it for quite a while now and probably should just to verify continued operation. There is evidence of ejected condensate on the concrete floor below the compressor.

I think it was worth the $10.00.

(The link says max pressure = 100psi, but I run my cutoff pressure at 135 and it seems to work fine)

[Larry Fox]

I bought the same one as Tom mentions and my initial install was a little dicey on an Ingersol Rand compressor. It worked ok (not great) for a while but after a bit it started sticking in the open position and becoming more of a pain that it was worth. I eventually took it off to see if I could get it to work properly. I ended up getting fed up with it and tossing it in the trash. I just have the habit of draining my compressor every Saturday now.

[Jim Becker]

I have an IR autodrain and it was a snap to install. This is an electronically controlled timer valve and just connects to the drain on the bottom of the unit...I only had to extend the drain which I would have done anyway for convenient access.

[Phil Salvati]

We have a Rol-Air compressor. The condensation build up isn't that bad. I use in-line air filters and dryers, with another paper dryer for the plasma table. It's better to use the higher end components like Milton, I never had any luck with the cheaper ones.

We empty the tank every other week.

[Rick Levine]

I have an 80 gal. Porter Cable compressor and bought the HF auto drain valve but had not installed it. Since I live in New Mexico where supposedly there is very low humidity I didn't think I had to rush to install it. Wrong! After not checking the drain for several months I purged the system and had to mop up a few quarts of oily water. I immediately installed the valve routing the tube to a bucket and now I only get less than an once of moisture when I open the valve but the bucket always has moisture in the bottom. It seems to work fine for me.

Harbor Freight actually has two different valves. The one I bought is rated at 145 psi. I run mine at 150 psi and have had no problems. Here is the link.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=46960

[Wayne Cannon]

I installed the Harbor Freight automatic drain a couple of years ago. It's been working fine so far. It was staining the concrete floor, so I just put a throw-away aluminum baking pan under it to catch the little bit of water that is thrown out each time.

There was a significant bit of difficulty matching/adapting the fittings and tubing to tee in between the compressor (Campbell Hausfeld) and the pressure switch. I wound up replacing all of the fittings and tubing in the circuit.

[Matt Meiser]

I have the Harbor Freight valve too. I replaced plastic tubing with copper because it wouldn't work for me and I felt better with the copper anyway.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I have the Harbor Freight auto-drain on my Craftsman Upright Air Compressor (I don't recall how many gallons). The drain itself works great but the tubing is metric and not very high temp stuff. The unload line that you tap into was weakening and melting the supplied tubing causing it to burst. I replaced the first 90% of the tubing with copper and left a small piece (about 4") of the original tubing to connect to the valve. I couldn't get the copper to attach to the valve itself.

I think it has been on there for 5-6 years without a problem.

[Ben Cadotte]

I had the HF one on my smaller Craftsman compressor. I had to make my own copper tubing as the plastic one supplied kept blowing off. It worked good for several months. But it kept sticking open. After some tinkering I found the o-ring was rolling out of the groove and causing the drain to stay open.

On my big compressor I have a raised manual drain installed. I took out the original petcock and installed a 90 deg fitting. Then ran a line out and up to a manual ball valve. From there a small line to where I can hold a glass under. Just open the valve and any water gets pushed out. I don't hold a glass under it any more. Don't get enough water. Also since I travel for work, I empty the compressor when I am gone. The valve is in a nice handy place for easy releasing the air. Works good.

[Wayne Cannon]

I couldn't get the factory tubing to work for me either; so it was replaced it with high-pressure high-temperature plastic tubing designed for that purpose, but it also required replacing all of the fittings to fit the new tubing.

[Rick Levine]

I should mention that I also replaced the plastic tubing on mine. I used aluminum tubing because that is what the Porter Cable compressor used between the pressure relief valve and the tank. I used a matching T to connect the HF valve.

[Jerry White]

I have the IR 60 gallon compressor coupled with the IR electronic drain, probably the same setup as Jim. I leave the compressor powered up full time. The electronic drain opens every 40 minutes for 3 seconds. This turns out to be very effective. Although I am in the humid Gulf Coast climate, I accumulate almost no moisture in the system.

Initially, I attempted to economize with the auto drain mechanism and used a very well made float operated drain (got a good buy on eBay). After the float hung up in the open position twice I bought and installed the IR electronic unit. Everything has worked great since.

Edit: Forgot to say....the IR was a snap to install, just as Jim said.

Good luck.

[Stan Welborn]

I routed some copper tubing up and through the wall with a ball valve installed. (up so I wouldn't have to bend over) I just open it up for a few seconds till the line is clear every time I shut down the shop at the end of the day.

[Larry Robinson]

If you only use your compressor once or twice a week, then I would stay away from an electric type drain.

First, they will open every hour or less and drain. This will happen if you have water or not. This could be a large waste of compressed air and energy. If you live in the North part of the country, you will get very little water if any during the fall, winter and spring months anyway.

The other problem with Electric drains is they tend to fail in the open position. If you do not catch this failure, your compressor could run for extended periods of time. This is because the typical solenoid valve used for this application is not designed for particualte (rust). The water causes the tank to rust. When you drain the tank, water, rust, and oil ( if you have a oil lubricated compressor) are ejected. The rust will accumulate in the solenoid valve's chamber and eventually prevent the valve from closing properly. Some type of strainer should be used to catch the rust. And yes, it has to be checked and cleaned occasionly.

For your situation, I would recommend getting a small 1/4" ball valve and drain it once a week during the summer months.

Larry

[Bruce Page]

I put an IR brand ADV on my compressor. I wouldn't want to be without it, and was easy to install.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17659

[Matt Meiser]

I turn my compressor on and off via a 30A disconnect switch. If you did something like that, you could probably run the ADV's power off the switched power so that the ADV would only fire every 40 minutes that the compressor has power. If you just use the little lever on the pressure switch that wouldn't work though.

[Bob Slater]

I am in the process of hooking one up to a Shulz 80 Gallon compressor. I am going to wire it to a light switch on a control panel and will shut it off when the compressor has not been used.

[Bruce Page]

I didn’t like the ADV going off unexpectedly so I wired in a simple on/off switch.