Quest for Dry Air, On the Cheap Options

[jmill]

I'll be painting sometime soon and recently there has been several timely paint related threads. In the Midwest we're plagued by humid weather and lots of water in our compressed air. I figured I'd share my project to rid myself of water so my paint job isn't ruined.

There are several high dollar units out there to separate water from the air but I'm cheap. I decided to design some piping meant to drop the water out of suspension. All you need is 25' or more of piping, some valves, fittings and good old gravity. I wanted to use copper but it would have cost me over $150 in materials. Going with PVC cost me $40.

I still need to finish the drain and inlet/outlet piping but you'll get the idea.

[jmill]

Actually I had the same PVC in my shop with 6 guys working full tilt all day for 18 years. We had about 6 blow outs in that amount of time. Shards fly everyplace and shock the entire line sometimes causing a break down line. It's pretty safe but it can break.

I'm surprised this stuff shatters apart when it breaks. Figured it would just split. Can't argue with experience.

I gotta say I knew a bunch of folks would have issue with it. Some people just don't like PVC even when the pressure rating is clearly printed on it. I also had my doubts and built my house with copper water lines. I suppose I'll find out if the rating is accurate.

On a side note. I've seen plenty of rubber air hoses break. Had to fix an aircraft skin after a hose end broke, whipped around and smacked it 150 times before the air got shut off. I also saw a guy get slapped silly inside a cargo bay when the hose end broke. Now that one was kinda funny but scary at the same time. Strange that no one mentions the rubber hose. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)