"Landaiche Kenneth (NET-BBS/Petaluma)" wrote:
>
> Doug,
>
> What does this radiator look like? I can't quite picture how the five
> tubes connect. Would you do it again?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ken L
Hi Ken,
Gosh, it seems like a short time ago I posted that message
about my efforts to create a radiator for the air inlet,
but in looking back at the post, it was June of 1997.
Man, time is flying by! Anyway, the following is a copy
and paste, with some additional comments, of what we
talked about now many years ago....
doug
********
I used about 12 foot of 3/4" thick wall copper tubing (the
same stuff used for household plumbing) and made a five
tube "radiator" using a bunch of T couplings and two 90
degree elbows (excuse the crude drawing):
IN from pump
||<--all T's
||---------------------||<---elbow
||---------------------||<---T
||---------------------||<---T
||---------------------||<---T air flows in parallel
||---------------------||<---T
^ ||
| OUT to tank
elbow
My thinking was to cool off the hot humid air as much as
possible to get the water to condense in the tank before
it got into the lines. I connected it between the pump and
the tank and mounted it in front of the flywheel/pump fan
where it would get a breeze. I thought it would be best
to pull out as much heat as possible before sending the
air into the compressor tank so the vapor could condense
there. I used 1/2" soft copper tubing and compression
fittings to run pipe from the head to the radiator and
from the radiator to the tank. I think this has helped to
isolate the radiator from the vibrations of the pump.
I also had a small 110 VAC boxer fan laying around for
years, so I wired it to the compressor pump switch (on one
leg of the 220VAC) so that it runs whenever the compressor
is running and blows directly on the top of the pump
cylinder head.
My theory was that the high conductivity of the copper,
with a steady supply of cool air blowing against it, would
cool the air before it entered the tank, and would cause
the water to condense in the cool tank. Using 3/4" pipe,
and five tubes in parallel, should cause the air to move
rather slowly through the radiator giving it more exposure
time to the heat dissipating ability of the large copper
"radiator."
It has worked great--I get noticeably more water draining
off the tank drain valve now, apparently stopping it here
before it gets out into the lines. The tank itself stays
much cooler even when running the sandblaster.
I used to notice that once the tank got hot to the touch,
I would start getting more water in the lines. I think
pulling the heat out before the air enters the tank,
causes the water to condense and stop there instead in the
cool lines. Keeping the tank cool is a big plus in keeping
water out of the lines.
It took about $20 worth of copper tubing and fittings, and
quite a bit of sweating for all the couplings.
I only regret that I didn't do something like this a long
time ago--it seems so nice not to worry about water
vapor. The only problem I have had, as mentioned, was the
solder in the first T-fitting would melt and the pipe
would blow out under constant running. Once I took the
advice of someone on the list (sorry to say I cannot
remember who, now), and silver soldered the first
fittings, I have had no problems.
And I guess now I can say it has worked very well for over
four years.
For what is is worth.
doug shook
///
/// shop-talk@autox.team.net mailing list
/// To unsubscribe send a plain text message to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// with nothing in it but
///
/// unsubscribe shop-talk
///
///
|