Best placement of water trap for home spraying?

[JOEPRO]

Hi All,

I restore classic MBs as a weekend hobby. This includes spring waxoyl underbody seal and priming panels etc. I could spray a whole coupe soon but don't do that very often FWIW.

Here is my recent new used compressor. 200L 3HP SIP. I can also connect this to my 100L 3HP compressor but for spray painting limited areas this should not be required.

I am not sure if the water trap type device counts for much when on top of the compressor like this?



I am talking about the outlet on the top left on picture above.

I have an old custom made remote water sep stand



For which I just bought a replacement water trap for



I am also upgrading all quick connects to PCL XF.

And buying a new "clean" PCL XF 10m hose. I would keep this hose clean and dry indoors for spraying operations post water trap.

Questions:

Am I better to use a remote water separator like this or is it OK to quick connect it right at the air tank? Is this perhaps less effective?

Am I better to take the air from the tank directly then use only the regulator at the water separator to set the air flow?

Bear in mind this all has to be modular and portable due to me having 2 garages and a Clarke tent garage so I can't wall mount anything.

I will be black waxoyling some underbody areas in my w140 resto next Sat so want to ensure I have dry air for shutzing that on.

 

[brightspark]

i have a seperator on the tank and a portable one on the end of the hose with a conector on it .then use a 4 meter plug in tail on the spray gun. less chance of moisture in the line

 

[ajlelectronics]

The ideal is a copper pipe matrix with drop legs and stop cocks. Mine starts outside for maximum cooling and is another good reason to install the compressor there.

 

[JOEPRO]

i have a seperator on the tank and a portable one on the end of the hose with a conector on it .then use a 4 meter plug in tail on the spray gun. less chance of moisture in the line

Its strange when I Google it there are different responses. Some saying keep it at least 20 foot away from the compressor. Others saying at the compressor. I can always order an additional water separator and attach to the tank with quick connects if that is best provision.

The ideal is a copper pipe matrix with drop legs and stop cocks. Mine starts outside for maximum cooling and is another good reason to install the compressor there.

Note I cannot mount any of this to a wall it needs to all be fully portable as described in post #1 but good suggestion for others.

 

[ajlelectronics]

Note I cannot mount any of this to a wall it needs to all be fully portable as described in post #1 but good suggestion for others.

A coil of copper pipe in a big bucket of cold water, followed by a drop leg / trap?

 

[brightspark]

i use a secondary tank on the end of the line for cooling and water collection then the water trap on blasting pot it works very well using a large volume of air

 

[MetalMonkey]

Water separator and regulator at the end of the line. The closer it is to the compressor the hotter the air and the less water will condense out of the air, making it less effective.

 

[charlysays]

I always use an on gun filter in addition to a copper pipe cooler as some more water inevitably condenses in the rubber air line sooner or later and then spits out of the spray gun. Although since I fitted the additional coalescing filter after the main reg I never see any water in the on gun filter anymore.
My set up goes; 200l compressor (got a 150l one in addition but usually just use it for extra storage), 50ft 1/2" copper pipe with 3 drop legs, basic separator, main reg, Clarke 1/2" standard coalescing filter separator, air line, ongun filter regulator.
I run the main reg about 100psi and dial down to 30-40psi at the gun. Works well.
As AJL said you could substitute the copper pipe runs for a coil in a bucket of water.

 

[brightspark]

Water separator and regulator at the end of the line. The closer it is to the compressor the hotter the air and the less water will condense out of the air, making it less effective.

yes never have to empty the one on the tank just he end of the line one

 

[JOEPRO]

Hi All,

I restore classic MBs as a weekend hobby. This includes spring waxoyl underbody seal and priming panels etc. I could spray a whole coupe soon but don't do that very often FWIW.

Here is my recent new used compressor. 200L 3HP SIP. I can also connect this to my 100L 3HP compressor but for spray painting limited areas this should not be required.

I am not sure if the water trap type device counts for much when on top of the compressor like this?

View attachment 390317

I am talking about the outlet on the top left on picture above.

I have an old custom made remote water sep stand

View attachment 390316

For which I just bought a replacement water trap for

View attachment 390315

I am also upgrading all quick connects to PCL XF.

And buying a new "clean" PCL XF 10m hose. I would keep this hose clean and dry indoors for spraying operations post water trap.

Questions:

Am I better to use a remote water separator like this or is it OK to quick connect it right at the air tank? Is this perhaps less effective?

Am I better to take the air from the tank directly then use only the regulator at the water separator to set the air flow?

Bear in mind this all has to be modular and portable due to me having 2 garages and a Clarke tent garage so I can't wall mount anything.

I will be black waxoyling some underbody areas in my w140 resto next Sat so want to ensure I have dry air for shutzing that on.

I received the new water separator from Amazon today. I went ahead and welded on the supplied bracket to my custom holder. Its a heavy steel plate and can't be tipped over. This is portable so I place it near the car and use the last few meters of hose from this to spray gun

 

[Farside]

This is my water seperator.
The comp is downstairs from it, and the outlet of the coil runs off to the left, T-ing off that is a drop leg of 1" pipe for water accumulation and drainage, the main air flow carries on above that to the workshop air ring main (a grand title for some 1/2" copper / PEX runs) with drop legs, each of which has a stub at the bottom for any remaining water to drop out and be drained.
Since I fitted that, I haven't had a drop of water in my pipes.

 

[Erie Fred]

I see some people use the chemical ones:

Desiccant Compressed Air Dryers

Van Air Systems’ Desiccant Air Dryers removes water and moisture from compressed air for better overall performance and reliability.

www.vanairsystems.com

And plasma cutters I see these allot (added them to mine lately, don't have any time on them yet)