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Thread: Air drier

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    South Dakota
    Posts
    1,627

    Air drier

    I dunno if this is correct spot for this but I’ll give it a go.
    Is an air drier beneficial when spraying water base finishes? I’m not opposed to spending a few dollars to buy a decent refrigerated air drier if there is a benefit, so I’m wondering if there is a significant benefit to having dry air when spraying water based finish’s.
    The Plane Anarchist

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
    Posts
    8,957
    Depends on where you live, and how dry the air is. I wouldn't want to spray anything here without one, solvent, gelcoat, or water borne. It eliminates concern about how your piping runs too. I bought one for my 10 hp compressor off CL. It's old enough that it uses R22, but it still works like a charm. You can buy rebuild kits for them that have a few parts and a new automatic drain for not that much. I see them pop up on CL fairly often, but they're usually pretty large ones. Mine will do 54cfm, which is more than that compressor will produce, but it works great.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,599
    Hard to imagine you'd need one in ND. I don't have one in NY and have no trouble spraying WB's and shellac. I have nothing more than the stock coalescing air filter/regulator on my 60 gal compressor and another one 20 ft from my spray gun to step the pressure down for spraying. I use a cheap inline filter to catch anything that gets through the filters and hoses. I've been using this simple set up for over 10 years and have never had a problem with water in the air. I spray every month of the year. The compressor sits in my unconditioned garage.

    John

  4. #4
    I won't speak to the used market, but if buying new, take a look at desiccant dryers. If not familiar, they typically use 2 desiccant 'towers': 1 drying, the other regenerating. They also use very little energy - just solenoid pair to bleed air off the active (drying) side to regen the wet side. A timer swaps flow between the towers every 4-5 minutes. Should give you -40degF dewpoint and desiccant should last 3-4 years in a home shop.

    They work VERY well if you can run compressor >> wet air receiver >> dryer >> dry air receiver >> point-of-use. Manually drain the wet air receiver as needed.
    Last edited by Malcolm McLeod; 05-24-2022 at 6:01 PM.

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