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.