Condensation in the air cylinder

[skotl]

I wheeled my Wolf 90L out into the sunshine to power some air-nailing at the weekend.
I parked it back in the garage on Wednesday night with the cylinder full, but the hoses disconnected.

Went back to it today (Tuesday) and spotted that the gauges still read pretty much full, so I opened the drain valve and pfffffffffffftttttt! peed water all over the garage floor. As in if I emptied a wee plastic bottle of water all over the floor.

Normally if I leave it with pressure the hoses are connected and the air gently dissipates so when I remember to open the drain valve there's only a bit of water.
So should I be emptying and draining it every time I stop using it? Or leaving the hoses connected so it has a chance to dissipate? Or was being in the sun (it is yellow!) making it worse? Or am I over-worrying?

 

[ronan]

Dunno Skoti, but in the warm summer weather (once in a blue moon) i used to crack open the valve on the air receiver of the compressor at work maybe three or four times a day as it was running constantly to keep up with an air operated pump (the compressor was a bit undersized) and i always got a good drop of water out of it. If the receiver is under pressure it will blow the water out , rather than letting the water just dribble out.

 

[cianh91]

Iv always drained with pressure in the tank

 

[anto44]

I never drain my compressor, it hasn't been drained fully since the day i got it about 8 years ago, i just open the drain valve for about 30 seconds about once a week. It does depend on the weather and how much your using it, just drain it more often when its hot out or being used heavily

 

[rtbcomp]

I just empty the water at the end of the day. Warm humid air causes the most condensation, cold dry air the least.

If the compressor is being overworked the air in the tank will get hot and carry moisture with it to where it's being used, otherwise the air will stay cool and water will condense out in the tank.

 

[Kent]

I think you need play it by ear because it depends, the booklet doubtless says every day (mine does) have yet to get any noticeable amount out though.

 

[pedrobedro]

Mine says after use drain down so I do it when I've finished what I'm doing. It's not as if it's difficult and it must help preserve the vessel to a degree. I did see a 150ltr which had "never been drained and not had a problem" but we opened the tap out of curiosity and it must have had 4 gallon of horrible oily, rusty water in it.

 

[langy]

Drain mine every day under pressure, my bigger compressor I fitted with an auto drain unit off ebay, bloody marvelous !!!

 

[rikrobson]

Warm humid air causes the most condensation, cold dry air the least.

He's in Scotland, So its always cold damp air

I leave mine on all the time and drain it once a week. The RH is the workshop is pretty low and ive not had much water out of it.

 

[brightspark]

i do mine when i can be bothered which isnt verry often. a few pints of water isnt going to make much odds after a few months

 

[skotl]

All good advice - thanks, folks.

I only use mine at the weekends, generally, so I think draining once a week seems reasonable. And what rtb said re hotter air being more humid makes sense and would definitely explain what I saw on Tuesday.

Cheers

 

[SmartWerks]

Drain after use as per instructions.

 

[skotl]

Drain after use as per instructions.

Problem with that is that I don't always know when "after use" is! I leave it charged thinking I'll go back to it and end up getting distracted doing something else

 

[SmartWerks]

Problem with that is that I don't always know when "after use" is! I leave it charged thinking I'll go back to it and end up getting distracted doing something else

I do it after I've packed up. To make it simple drain tank then pour a beer

 

[skotl]

I get distracted. I've been doing some welding and cutting then think "better cut the grass". That takes an hour longer than it should have done, so I put the mower away and go have my tea. Sit down and open a beer and then think "did I turn the compressor off?"...

 

[rtbcomp]

...........and then think "did I turn the compressor off?"...

Then a neighbour calls round at 03:00 to tell you that you didn't.

 

[skotl]

Then a neighbour calls round at 03:00 to tell you that you didn't.

Luckily, I'm blessed with a garage that is ~200m from the nearest house.

However, I did leave the compressor draining a few weeks ago and shut the garage up, only to open the door to an alarmed neighbour who said "you've got a gas leak in your garage!". Turns out he was hearing the hiss of the draining air (it takes a good 15 minutes to empty through the drain plug)

 

[Gareth J]

I generally open it before I use it for anything water sensitive (plasma, paint e.t.c) as that's when I think about it. As the machine cools, more water will condense out so draining after use won't get it all anyway.

 

[rikrobson]

Good job he didn't think it was a hissing snake

 

[skotl]

Good job he didn't think it was a hissing snake

(genuine question) do you get snakes in Scotland? I'd have (honestly) thought it was too cold.