Shop Talkers,
Well, you are probably thinking, thank goodness, but the never-ending
air compressor experiments are now finished.
Thank all of you who wisely suggested higher temperature solder,
brazing, etc.--I think it could have worked, but I got to the point
where I was questioning whether I was even on the right path.
I ended up simply taking 8 foot of soft copper with compression fittings
to run a lazy loop from the pump out in front of the flywheel/belt cage.
It made a clear difference in the temperature of the air entering the
tank (it no longer blisters my skin to touch it).
I then took the "radiator" (I had put so much work into it that I could
not give up) and attached it off the compressor tank outlet so now it
stands vertically from the outlet to the garage floor). I put a drain
on the bottom of it and then ran copper pipe back up the wall to the
regulator/filter. I guess I have about 18 or 20 feet of 3/4" copper
pipe between the tank and the regulator (most of it in a four pipe
parallel "radiator").
Because the radiator was "boxed" in between the tank and the little
refrigerator that stands next to it, it forms a nice "chimney" for the
radiator. So I took an old boxer fan (a Radio Shack item) that has been
laying around the shop for 20 years, and wired it into the compressor
switch so it operates whenever the compressor is running. I positioned
it facing upward directly under the radiator so that that it blows
vertically up the length of the radiator to enhance the chimney effect.
To summarize, it works great. I ran the compressor for an hour straight
at 120 psi with a air nozzle so that it could never quite kick out. The
bottom (outlet) of the radiator with the fan blowing was always cold to
the touch. The water trap pulled out noticeably more moisture (no
misting in the spray) and the compressor tank was much cooler and
trapped more water (from the soft copper loop between the pump and the
tank).
I'm not certain how much was solved by the soft copper "primary" cooling
or by the radiator, but I think I have whipped the moisture problem I
have had for blasting.
thank you,
shook
B50SS advocate
TR6 keeper
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