after a ton of research on here and reading about the importance of clean dry, i am going with an aftercooler (Derale 15300) with a auto water seperator before the tank inlet, then into a Harbor Freight Refrigerated air dyer, then a desiccant bead filter, then into a motor guard filter right before plasma inlet.
question is what type of filters and models do i need for the desiccant bead,motor gaurd, and water seperator??
can the water seperator just be a cheap auto drain off amazon?
Well, Motor Guard is the brand of the actual filter so you named that already.
As for desiccant, there are various sizes in which people will chime in. If you have sufficient air volume at your disposal, then you won’t have to worry about going “too big”, but something to consider if you’re in the realm of say 8cfm or less.
Depending on where you live, will determine how much filtering you may need. Not to mention budget/efficiency.
I’ve seen some really nice copper tube setups with plenty of drops, and those users have really dry air with minimal filtering.
I’m in Central CA, so for me the HF refrigerated air dryer is enough. But I do have a desiccant filter after as well as a motor guard filter (as it’ll keep crud from my desiccant dryer out).
but i dont know what model of motor Guard. i see the model i believe m-45 but also seen M-60 and just curious what i need, im in Lower Alabama in Extreme Humidity so i need a good setup,
do i need a regular water seperator before the tank inlet like a cheap single stage or just a $50 doller auto drain water sep. will do?
Most of the motor guard filters are basically the same, except for the inlet/outlet size. They use the same filter, but have larger or smaller inlet/outlet threaded ports for different sizes of air lines.
FWIW I use a passive radiator that I put in between my pump and the tank and it attaches to the protective cage of the belt drive. I put a water separater in line as well and it has never captured water. I have an auto drain on the tank and when it goes off there is no moisture from the tank. I do powder coating and the sand blast cabinet uses are at way higher capacity than the plasma table with two 60 gallon tanks spread across my air system and I never get moisture at the blast cabinet. I went with the radiator just because it uses no additional maintenance or service other than blowing a little dust that has settled on the fins over time. I used softer copper tubing to go in between the connetions and fittings along with some compression adapters.
I added a cooler and a truck air dyer to my compressor and I would have to say i am very impressed with the amount of water it purges out every time the compressor stops. the desiccant fitter replacement for these you can find for around $25 bucks. It is a Bendix AD9 dyer that I bought for a truck salvage year for $45 dollars. I also have a water trap just before my plasma cutter that i have yet to drain it. I will try to get a video of it purging so you see the water that comes out.
Welcome to the forum. Nice to see some re-purpose of salvage yard part.
There’s been an ongoing debate about whether to put that first filter before or after the air tank. It appears yours is before the tank. Can’t tell for certain though. One of the cons is the possibility of back pressure on the compressor. You may want to confirm for yourself if that is happening in your setup. It happened on mine, so I relocated my first filter to a position after the tank.
If your filter right at the plasma cutter has water in it, you probably need to add additional filtration to your system. I say that because unless that last filter there at the cutter is 100% effective, that would mean you are still getting water through to your consumables. The goal of that last filter, often a Motor Guard, if to trap particulate, not water, since we try to get all the water prior to that last step.
Just my two cents as well although this poor horse…..
I also added a after cooler between the pump and tank then we had a discussion on one of the threads here which made me do some testing.
I found my cycle time doubled there was no change in the speed of the motor or pumps. With that the air pressure had to bypass through the reeds in the pump head or bypass the piston rings. They definitely are not made to do that.
I quickly changed my stance on it and removed it.
It does appear in the picture that it is pre tank. This could definitely cause premature failure of a compressor pump.
Oh I understand I hope it works well for you. The pressure I am referring to is the extra strain on the compressor to push air through the filter . I am guessing your compressor isn’t designed for that. My compressor also will bleed off the lines when it shuts down. I assume all do.
My concern with my setup was that the motor nor pump changed speeds but it took almost exactly twice as long to cycle. I am not knocking your setup. Just sharing my experience.
Honestly unless all moisture is removed from the air it is best fitted post tank. Do you see moisture in your tank now?
Interesting I will have to check this extra stain thing out, I might not have this problem because my compressor it new, and going back to the truck thing, the filter is right after the compressor. Thanks for the info. As far as water in my tank, I have had this working for a couple months now and I have an auto drain on my tank with a catch pan and I have seen nothing yet, maybe I will check in manually. Just a question, you think that a gauge before and after will tell me anything? Thanks
You do have a clean setup and nicely done by the way ..
There are several guys with after coolers between the tank and pumps. Time will only tell. I just noticed what I had didn’t work.
I honestly am not real familiar with the dryer you have it may be designed to work better. As for the pressure gauges I don’t think that will tell you much. As to test if you wanted to I would time a cycle from in to out then bypass the dryer and see how it does. My system couldn’t push the air through the restrictions I had. I was using a 2 stage pump with a 7.5 HP motor.
The desiccant beads I use work best below a certain temperature. I would be curious to see if you ran air through one of those cheap disposable desiccant filter say from harbour freight to see if and when they began to change. I assume the air is rather warm when going through your filter.
I’m with you. I regret championing the after cooler. I tried to go back and edit my thread to add a disclaimer, but alas, it’s locked down because it’s so frequently referenced. I have run without an aftercooler for a long time now. Less maintenance, no noticeable difference in consumable life or even desiccant consumption.
I think if I change the filter in this unit once a year, I will have no problem with restriction. I like the AD9 filter it hold any water in it for the purge, every time it purges you can see the water. Time will tell.
I used a dryer from a truck, that will purge every time the compressor shuts off, plus a cooler and a auto drain on the tank. This system is working very well for me; I know this isn’t for everyone, but when I see the water, it purges it lets me know it is working.
