hello friends i have learned alot from this forum and have decided to go with the copper pipe to get rid of water and cool the air down. My question is is bigger better? Should i run as much pipe as i can or is there a certain length i should stick to. My plan is to run straight from my compressor and run the pipe along my wall and have four dips it would be about 60 feet of pipe than have a motor guard filter after the four dips and then into my plasma. Any help is appreciated and thank you in advance. I also plan on adding an after cooler at the compressor down the road
do some research on this…there are a lot of pictures…the best course of action is to cool the air before it gets to the tank…right off the compressor head into a wall cooler of some sort…
there is no magic number of feet of pipe…the real trick is to not let the water pool in the drops…have an auto drain or release the water often.
5/8" copper is the best as there is more surface area to cool the air…1/2" works…
some people use a transmission rad cooled by the compressor fan to do all this…
but again it is best to cool the air before it get to the tank…this helps keep water out of the tank…which in turn should be drained the same amount as the cooler.
the long run into the shop does not hurt to have drip legs…thise are “T’s” with a drain valve.
then you should go through a refrigerated electronic cooler…but not absolutely required…then to keep an eye on your efficiency then run the air through a desiccant bead dryer. this will show you how dry the air gets…then…through the motorguard…the motor guard should be the very last before the plasma to keep any particles from the plasma.
this is what I have discussed with a few engineer friends…and is very similar to what we run in the hospital for our control air.
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alot of good advice. thank you again. i will keep this all in mind
In the US it’s easiest to find it in either 1/2 or 3/4" sizes as these are the typical sizes used in household plumbing and you can find it at the local big box pretty easily. 1" is also available but the cost rises disproportionately when including the fittings needed.
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I’d use an a/c condenser out of a big Ford Truck or van. It’s much easier to deal with an will give the same results. You can get one online for about $70 bucks and can add a 12volt fan for another $30. Some solder fitting and you’re up and running.