My under $100 air dryer...

Plasma Cutters can be used to make some amazing products & projects. Upload some pictures of projects you've completed using your plasma cutter.
Post Reply
User avatar
Oldsarge
3.5 Star Member
3.5 Star Member
Posts: 636
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:12 am
Location: Lacey, WA

My under $100 air dryer...

Post by Oldsarge »

Spent the weekend doing maintenance in the shop, and discovered this on You Tube while doing a search for homemade air dryer, so the idea isn't mine, but I adapted it to my compressor/setup. First a picture of the finished project...
20130722000108_SAM_0179.JPG
This is an air conditioning coil from a late 90s Surburban. I chose this particular one because of the size, and the lines are 1/2" od which matches the flex copper tubing you can get at HD. $22.50 at the Pick-A-Part. Basically I routed the line from the compressor head to one side of the coil. After the coil, the line enters the bottom of the expansion tank I built from shop scrap.... it has baffles inside to help keeping water from splashing around too much.... Air exits at the top, and enters an oil/water separator rated for 220 psi before entering the tank.

The temperature at the head is around 235 degrees with the pump running. The temperature at the coil inlet is about 185 degrees, and the temperature at the coil exit is 80 degrees! Scrubs over 100 degrees off! the line exiting the expansion tank is cooler than the ambient air, and even running the compressor for almost an hour straight and the tank (80 gallons) never got over 85 degrees!

I'll add more pics later, but so far this is working out very well!

Oldsarge
Attachments
20130722000148_SAM_0185.JPG
6x12 Home Built Table
Hypertherm PowerMax 85
CandCNC Dragon Cut 620 DTHC IV
CorelDraw X7, Sheetcam, Mach 3
"Better to attempt great things and fail than to live in the gray twilight where there is neither victory or defeat"
I Lean
3 Star Member
3 Star Member
Posts: 395
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:03 pm

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by I Lean »

Plumb and automatic water drain at the bottom of your expansion tank, and another at the bottom of your air receiver, and you should be trouble-free for a long time. Nice work! 8-)
User avatar
pertneer
2.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
2.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:05 pm
Location: 127.0.0.1

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by pertneer »

I would like to see how you build the expansion tank. Thanks for the sharing this with us.
4'x8' CNC Plasma w/Water Table Running a Powermax 65 :D
CandCNC, Mach3, SheetCam, Millwrite Plasma V6
User avatar
Oldsarge
3.5 Star Member
3.5 Star Member
Posts: 636
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:12 am
Location: Lacey, WA

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by Oldsarge »

Thanks! The expansion tank is just a section of 4x8 tube 1/4" wall. I cut 1/4" end plates and welded them on. I laid the rectangle tube on the table and referenced the z to the top and cut the holes for the weld on bonnies, 1/2" for the top and 3/4" for the bottom inlet. You can use just about any kind of tank that matches the psi output of your compressor. I screwed a pressure gauge in to one of the bonnies and ran it up to 165 psi... Had a few small leaks, which I plugged and let it sit overnight Saturday. Sunday morning it was still at 165 so I powdercoated it and hung out on the wall. I'm ordering an automatic drain valve for the main tank, and I'm also thinking about fabricating my own desiccant dryer as well for just after the tank..... Since the coil scrubs almost all the heat from compressing the air I don't think I need to worry about the 25' thing... Also, the way I hung the coil next to the compressor is because the air from the fan on the compressor blows directly on the coil....

I'll post an update later this week on the performance... I see this extending the life of the compressor as well. By scrubbing off all that heat the pump doesn't have to work as hard as the tank gets closer to full, and you get a denser fill in your tank because the incoming air is so much cooler. I grabbed an extra coil that I may end up adding to the circuit to make it even more efficient if necessary, but so far it's looking like it's working extremely well! Total cost was just over $23 for the coil, $48 for the tubing and fittings at HD, and the expansion tank was scraps I had in the shop!

Oldsarge
6x12 Home Built Table
Hypertherm PowerMax 85
CandCNC Dragon Cut 620 DTHC IV
CorelDraw X7, Sheetcam, Mach 3
"Better to attempt great things and fail than to live in the gray twilight where there is neither victory or defeat"
User avatar
pertneer
2.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
2.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 196
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:05 pm
Location: 127.0.0.1

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by pertneer »

Does this contain the baffles or did I misread your first post?
4'x8' CNC Plasma w/Water Table Running a Powermax 65 :D
CandCNC, Mach3, SheetCam, Millwrite Plasma V6
User avatar
Oldsarge
3.5 Star Member
3.5 Star Member
Posts: 636
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:12 am
Location: Lacey, WA

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by Oldsarge »

pertneer wrote:Does this contain the baffles or did I misread your first post?
Yes. just a few pieces of 14g bent at 45 degrees and tacked in above the inlet just to divert any water vapor entering the expansion chamber....

Going to start work on a desiccant dryer as well... I have a few ideas for a dual chamber setup that should also cost less than $100 or so....
\


Oldsarge
6x12 Home Built Table
Hypertherm PowerMax 85
CandCNC Dragon Cut 620 DTHC IV
CorelDraw X7, Sheetcam, Mach 3
"Better to attempt great things and fail than to live in the gray twilight where there is neither victory or defeat"
plain ol Bill
3.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
3.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
Posts: 689
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 6:22 pm
Location: Tenino,WA

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by plain ol Bill »

Interesting Mike - necessity and ingenuity put into application!
plain ol Bill
Hypertherm 1250
Duramax machine torch
Corel Draw X6
Sheetcam
Mach3
5 x 10 self built table
Lots of ineptitude
User avatar
modelaratrod
2 Star Member
2 Star Member
Posts: 86
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by modelaratrod »

Mr Sarge can we get the part #'s for the HD 1/2 pipe fittings you used? I'm on my way to pull n pay to pick up a AC rad and was thinking I'll stop @ HD and grab the fittings so I can make sure they fit while I'm there. They have a few Suburbans and a couple of full size pickups so I hope I can find one that works.
User avatar
modelaratrod
2 Star Member
2 Star Member
Posts: 86
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by modelaratrod »

Are they just 1/2 compression fittings?
User avatar
Oldsarge
3.5 Star Member
3.5 Star Member
Posts: 636
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:12 am
Location: Lacey, WA

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by Oldsarge »

modelaratrod wrote:Are they just 1/2 compression fittings?

Yes, I dont have the part numbers here at the house, but they are Watts brand. 1/2" od compression fittings and 1/2"od copper tube... the types of fittings you use are going to depend on the size of tube on your compressor... mine just happened to be 1/2" od which worked out perfectly.

Also, I removed the bleed down valve from the tank of the compressor and moved it to the inlet of the expansion tank so when the compressor shuts down, the pressure/moisture from the cylinder head bleeds down into the expansion tank.... this also required me to run some 1/4" copper tube from the valve to the pressure switch....

Hope this makes sense, I'm beat from my day job, but I'll try to get some better pictures tomorrow.

Oldsarge
6x12 Home Built Table
Hypertherm PowerMax 85
CandCNC Dragon Cut 620 DTHC IV
CorelDraw X7, Sheetcam, Mach 3
"Better to attempt great things and fail than to live in the gray twilight where there is neither victory or defeat"
User avatar
modelaratrod
2 Star Member
2 Star Member
Posts: 86
Joined: Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:41 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by modelaratrod »

Sarge I've been working on my after-cooler and I have a question, right now the pressure/ bleed down is located in the fitting that goes into the tank, it's just above the check valve. So when I go from the cylinder to the after-cooler would I move that fitting to the in side of the cooler? If I put it on the in side of the expansion tank it would have to bleed down the cylinder and the cooler, but if I put it there that will leave 175 psi in the cooler and expansion tank.
5x10 Torchmate 2 w/AVHC
Hypertherm PM85 w/ machine & hand torch.
thames49
1.5 Star Member
1.5 Star Member
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 10:45 pm

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by thames49 »

Hope you guys are hydro static testing the tanks that you are building. If one come apart under pressure it can be bad and possibly cause injury to people or equipment.
User avatar
Oldsarge
3.5 Star Member
3.5 Star Member
Posts: 636
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:12 am
Location: Lacey, WA

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by Oldsarge »

modelaratrod wrote:Sarge I've been working on my after-cooler and I have a question, right now the pressure/ bleed down is located in the fitting that goes into the tank, it's just above the check valve. So when I go from the cylinder to the after-cooler would I move that fitting to the in side of the cooler? If I put it on the in side of the expansion tank it would have to bleed down the cylinder and the cooler, but if I put it there that will leave 175 psi in the cooler and expansion tank.

I pulled mine out of the main tank and put it in the input side of my expansion tank... It does take a little longer for the line/coil to bleed down, probably about 10 seconds or so.... but it's better than letting that bit of hot moist air drain into your main tank. My air has never been better.

Thames, I agree... if you're not comfortable with welding something like this together I suggest you use a certified tank rated for the pressure your compressor puts out.... I've been running mine a few weeks now with moderate use and I have no leaks, and this setup really scrubs off the heat and the expansion tank captures most of the moisture.... After the expansion tank the coalescing filter removes most of the water before hitting the main tank. I still do get a little bit of water in the main tank, but no where near what I used to see. I think the system works really well... If you have any more questions just let me know!

Oldsarge
6x12 Home Built Table
Hypertherm PowerMax 85
CandCNC Dragon Cut 620 DTHC IV
CorelDraw X7, Sheetcam, Mach 3
"Better to attempt great things and fail than to live in the gray twilight where there is neither victory or defeat"
i_r_machinist
2.5 Star Member
2.5 Star Member
Posts: 131
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:22 pm

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by i_r_machinist »

OldSarge,
Have you noticed any increase in electrode and nozzel life?
thanks
i_r_machinist
beefy
4.5 Star Member
4.5 Star Member
Posts: 1504
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2013 3:19 am

Re: My under $100 air dryer...

Post by beefy »

I took a window A/C unit (got it free) and built a wooden enclosure to hold a car A/C condenser and evaporator. I plumbed the condenser and evaporator in series and the compressed air passes through both of these. The enclosure creates a closed loop air circulation path so the cold air from the window A/C unit passes directly through the fins of the car condenser and evaporator.

My "pre-cooler / pre-condenser" is a 4 foot tall LPG tank (got that free too) buried in the ground. I have a tiny tube coming from the bottom of the tank to inside the workshop, and get plenty water blowing out from there.

A lot of car condensers have aluminium tubes it seems. I actually used an expensive superglue to glue the copper tube inside the aluminium condenser tube. It cost $30 for 2 tiny bottles and they came with a black powder and a grey powder. The grey powder was used for aluminium. You poured the powder into an voids then just squeezed the super glue onto the powder. It soaked into the powder then after a few seconds went hard. When I put a drop of this glue onto some tissue paper some smoke came off it :shock: Not your average $2 super glue.

Keith
2500 x 1500 water table
Powermax 1250 & Duramax torch (because of the new $$$$ync system, will buy Thermal Dynamics next)
LinuxCNC
Sheetcam
Alibre Design 3D solid modelling
Coreldraw 2019
Post Reply

Return to “CNC Plasma Cutter Project Picture Gallery”