Shop Air Suggestions

[chevyIIpost]

Moisture/condensation will need to be addressed once you have settled on material for your plumbing. The best drier/filter will get overwheled from moiture quickly if you don't separate a majority of the moisture from the air before filtering it. IMO the filter is for the last 5 to 10 %. You have two weapons for removing moisture gravity and temperature. The mioture will seperate from the compressed air as it cools while passing thru your pluming. I would not run my piping horizontal anywhere. It should always be going down hill at an angle. Start high near your compressor and run it down hill a 1/2" or 1" per foot. The more the better and then have a verticle drain running to the floor at the end of that run of pipe. At each preasure port or quick connect run the piping 12" verticle from the main feed line. The moisture is heavier than the air and will tend to seperate out and collect at the end of the run at the lowest point and can be drained daily. I also have a seperate 20 gallon tall thin vertical tank mounted just inside my shop. My air compressor feeds into the bottom of it and the air cools as it enters allowing the moisture to condense and fall to the bottom of this tank and the verticle drain that runs from the bottom of this tank toward the floor at this inlet. Air leaves the top of the tank near the ceiling and then goes to a verticle pipe that runs almost to the floor with a ball valve on the end of it for daily draining. At approximatly 5' from the floor I have a tee fitting that feeds my main (not so) horisontal pipe that runs along the wall. The only place I use a filter is the one air line that I connect to my paint gun to. I use no drier/filter on the rest of my system and with the listed plumbing my air is nice and dry.