I apologize, as I know this has been around the track dozens of times,
but I recently had an idea (a very rare occurrence for me), and need
some advice.
I was thinking about using 1/2 or 3/4 inch copper pipe to make an
"intercooler" for my compressor. My thinking was to create a 3 ft., 5
pipe, "heat exchanger" to mount on the belt shroud, something like the
following (use your imagination):
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My thinking was to use the left-over copper tubing I have from some
plumbing work I did to create a good mechanism to cool the compressed
air and condense the water out of it. There is a pretty good fan built
into the compressor flywheel, so I thought why not?
But, alas, I look in the venerable TIP catalogue, and it says to use
only threaded iron pipe, not copper or PVC. Any idea why? Me being one
who has used PVC for air in the past (yes, I know the "shrapnel"
argument, but most of mine is buried underground and I was more
concerned about cost and rusting), I don't want to make a mistake with
copper, but I think my "heat exchanger idea might make sense. I might
even use the pressure switch on the compressor to turn on a squirrel
cage blower I have setting around to create a regular radiator. Copper
is a much better conductor than iron, so I am tempted. What do you
think?
shook
B50SS advocate
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