I’ve had a good week of production. I have cut (>30) lots of bottle openers, >30 table top flowers (like below pictured), and a few larger projects like 29" saw blade designs. All with largely no problems. Been happy with life.
Then today happens. I am losing arc halfway through cuts.
Is this from water in my air lines? I have a desiccant air dryer only. I know I will need to upgrade, I just haven’t had it in my budget yet. I was trying to get some income before putting another $500+ in the system.
The swirl marks on the electrode are tell-tale of moisture. I would also look at the inside of the tip: You are likely to see swirl marks there as well.
There are some things you must be a fanatic about with your limited moisture control on your system:
Drain the compressor tank regularly (at least every morning but preferably morning and evening). It is very easy to do if you install an autodrain valve.
If you’re new, you should be checking your consumables before each session. There’s no reason why they should go that bad as that only happens if you neglect your equipment.
I live in a dry climate, and I would still see signs of moisture in my consumables until I got a refrigerated setup. No such thing as “overkill” when it comes to removing moisture from your air supply.
Well, yeah I have to say that I’m new. So far, I’m putting an auto drain on the tank. I’ll fun that into a bucket next to the tank.
I’m getting the Motorguard filter and I’ll add it after the desiccant dryer that I have. I need to get some desiccant beads to refill the dryer. I’d like to get the Derale radiator to go between the compressor motor and the tank, but I’m a little intimidated with trying to remove the existing tube and run a rigid line to the radiator. I live in Southern Louisiana, so its pretty much the most humid place on Earth. I need a refrigerated air drying system, but I can’t afford it. This will have to do for now.
Make sure to replace the swirl ring also as it may look good but I can tell you its bad now. Also check the holes in the retaining cup and make sure they are all open.
No need to be intimidated if you run it after the compressor tank. I felt the same way about interrupting the charging tube from the compressor to the tank. You will find lots of discussion of the pros and cons of putting the cooling before or after the tank. You are not going to find complete consensus on either side so I don’t want to start up that debate: just explaining there are two ways to do it (maybe more).
Here is one such conversation but there are at least a half a dozen threads that discuss the placement in depth:
I started to comment on the after cooler placement. Then I seen @chelanjim insisted not to go there .
.my views have changed on the placement. @ARDynamics I recommend a lot of research before deciding where to add a after cooler.
Don’t use my comment to control what you want to say. I just did not want to be the one that started the debate up again. You can…if you want: INSTIGATOR!!!
So rather than do my boring ass day-job today, I have been reseaching the most cost effective way to remove water from my system. I started with trying to find someone with the same compressor that I have (Quincy Q13160VQ), but no luck. I did find a conversation on here where @Zen was installing exactly what I would like, and he used what looks to be flexible jumper lines to connect to the cooler and the water separator.
I have about made up my mind that I’m going to do this. I can fab a frame to mount the Derale cooler to and then mount the water separator to the same frame. The only thing I am hesitant on is the fittings coming out of the compressor head and into the tank. My suspicion is that they are only 1/2" NPT fittings, but I’m just not sure. But this would alleviate my intimidation of running rigid compression fittings, as I have never done that before and am already feeling overwhelmed by this hobby.
I’ll have the Motor guard filter after the desiccant dryer that is in line after the tank. If I can most of the water out before the tank, I don’t think I’ll need to totally overhaul my “after tank” setup (aside from adding the Motorguard filter).
@ChelanJim If the Derale cooler works well before the tank, I may put one in after the tank as well since it is so cost effective. Just as you described.
Anyways, it is a starting place.
I had one pre tank and thought it was great until we had a decision in another thread. I then began testing and found that it in fact does put unnecessary strain on the compressor…
The bottom line is your tank will still have moisture in it regardless.
A post tank cooler will achieve the same effect it’s purpose is to drop temps so the rest of you air drying equipment will work at it optimal capacity.
Here is another option: Get something that is designed for a larger footprint of cooling and you might be able to pick this up cheap from a HVAC installation company:
The cooler will do the same amount of work whether you mount it pre or post tank. The only “benefit” you will get from putting the cooler before the tank is less water in the tank. The reason I put benefit in quotation marks is that the tank is designed specifically to cool the air, collect and drain the water so why change that? The list of cons is pretty long here are just a handful of them. Increased head back pressure, increased cycle times, more compressed air loss at the end of each cycle and your air cooler will be subjected to pulsing and vibration from the compressor. Review the thread Jim posted. I would be surprised if after reading that you still choose to mount your cooler pre tank.
I still have the derail pre tank. I do not have a refrigerated air dryer. I do not get close to the life I should out of my consumables.
I suspect the air leaving the tank is too cool to get any more moisture out of it with coalesce filters. It is a short run between the tank and filter. The moisture overpowers the dessicant and gets past the motorguard.
I plan to put the compressor back as built, add an auto drain to the tank, put the derail after the tank and see if the filter will pull any moisture. It has never had any moisture in it.
I do plan on adding a refer at some point as it seems to me, learning from all of you, that is the most sure solution.
