Looking for advice on setting up first air compressor

[#18FAN]

Just wanted to share a little info I got as I was worrying about over sizing it and actually thinking about getting the 1/4” NPT rated at 25 CFM since it was even closer to the 24 CFM rating of my compressor.

First I called Tyler at Moisture Boss, super helpful. I talked to him about getting a filter that closely matches the output and he did indeed say that if the filter is too over sized from the output of the compressor that the filter will indeed not be as efficient at removing the water. He wasn’t entirely sure how less efficient it would be just that it would be.

I was hoping to figure that out since I’m undiagnosed OCD lol. I called Walker Filtration and they got me to the distribution manager. I asked these same questions and he was under the impression that it was actually the other way around, but appreciated the question and wanted to get an answer himself. He said he was going to go talk to the engineering team and have me talk with them. They called back and this is what I was told. The oversized filter will actually be more efficient and remove more water than one that is rated near the output of the compressor. So I told them I had 3/4” pipe and fittings coming from the inter cooler and they said it would be even worse if I were to step down in size using reducers, make the filter even less efficient. If they made a 50 CFM rated filter with 3/4” NPT, it would be great still, but the one rated for 125 CFM would do even better even though there is only 24 CFM going through it.

They said if I bought one rated for 250 CFM and hooked it up to a compressor that only offered 2-3 CFM then that is when you start losing efficiency, when you’re talking 24 CFM then you don’t have to worry about losing efficiency.

Who knows, they could have been trying to sell me the more expensive model, but I don’t think that is the case. Hopefully I relayed that info in a way easily understood.

So basically if you have a decent compressor that’s bigger than a pancake you’ll get better performance from a filter that highly overrated and whose fittings match that of the pipe, not requiring reducers.

Dan

With Walker I hope they were talking about a Centrifugal filter. I look at mine was explained the concept yes I think I understand by looking at the way it should work and believe oversized is not the way to go. Will the setup hurt no will most water be dropped in the filter yes the amount of water in the tank downstream of the filter will be the truth No water it worked little water or a good amount is it as efficient as it can be.

 

[saabracer23]

With Walker I hope they were talking about a Centrifugal filter. I look at mine was explained the concept yes I think I understand by looking at the way it should work and believe oversized is not the way to go. Will the setup hurt no will most water be dropped in the filter yes the amount of water in the tank downstream of the filter will be the truth No water it worked little water or a good amount is it as efficient as it can be.

Truthfully I don’t know enough about the technology to have made that decision on my own, which is why I called.

This is the specific model we talked about and the one the ended up selling me. That model number being on my invoice.

A30125WS Water Separator - Filters.com

Walker Filtration A30125WS Alpha Water Separator

www.filters.com

We discussed the 1/2” 50 CFM model and the 1/4” 25 CFM model. They were throwing words around to definitely make it seem like they knew what they were talking about and the info was coming from engineers of the product. Of those three models I was looking at they said all would get a significant amount of water out of the air, but the 125 CFM unit would be the most efficient at it and the in the end the air coming from the 125 CFM unit would have the least amount of moisture in it.

It would be interesting to buy all three and run each of them for a period of time when the humidity is the same and such and to see how long it takes each to collect a certain amount of water.

Dan

 

[#18FAN]

Truthfully I don’t know enough about the technology to have made that decision on my own, which is why I called.

This is the specific model we talked about and the one the ended up selling me. That model number being on my invoice.

A30125WS Water Separator - Filters.com

Walker Filtration A30125WS Alpha Water Separator

www.filters.com

We discussed the 1/2” 50 CFM model and the 1/4” 25 CFM model. They were throwing words around to definitely make it seem like they knew what they were talking about and the info was coming from engineers of the product. Of those three models I was looking at they said all would get a significant amount of water out of the air, but the 125 CFM unit would be the most efficient at it and the in the end the air coming from the 125 CFM unit would have the least amount of moisture in it.

It would be interesting to buy all three and run each of them for a period of time when the humidity is the same and such and to see how long it takes each to collect a certain amount of water.

Dan

Reading and going over more info I would go with the recommendation they gave with the 3/4 inch unit. I believe the design allows it to work and will not hurt performance maybe even gain some. Looks like the filter is a great choice and solution to keep water to a minimum from entering the tank.

 

[saabracer23]

Reading and going over more info I would go with the recommendation they gave with the 3/4 inch unit. I believe the design allows it to work and will not hurt performance maybe even gain some. Looks like the filter is a great choice and solution to keep water to a minimum from entering the tank.

Exactly what im looking for! Should be here next week, thanks for pointing it out!

Dan

 

[tnt_motorsports]

I took the plug out of the bottom of my compressor and installed a 90 degree elbow with a ball valve and short piece of pipe. I drain my compressor peridically to try and keep the moisture out of the tank. FWIW, living in Iowa I have moisture come out every time I open the valve. That being said my compressor is ~12 years old and going strong. It is a 2 stage ~50 gallon Sanborn from Menards

Just my $0.02

 

[saabracer23]

I took the plug out of the bottom of my compressor and installed a 90 degree elbow with a ball valve and short piece of pipe. I drain my compressor peridically to try and keep the moisture out of the tank. FWIW, living in Iowa I have moisture come out every time I open the valve. That being said my compressor is ~12 years old and going strong. It is a 2 stage ~50 gallon Sanborn from Menards

Just my $0.02

The one I picked up has the exact same thing you did, they brought it through a leg of the compressor for strength. In addition they put a timer on it, so now I need to figure out where to plug it in lol. I opened the valve manually for thr first time and there was maybe an 1/8th to 1/4 cup of water in it. Though I’m waiting to run it all that much until I have it setup the way I want it.

Dan

 

[#18FAN]

Yes but

The one I picked up has the exact same thing you did, they brought it through a leg of the compressor for strength. In addition they put a timer on it, so now I need to figure out where to plug it in lol. I opened the valve manually for thr first time and there was maybe an 1/8th to 1/4 cup of water in it. Though I’m waiting to run it all that much until I have it setup the way I want it.

View attachment 73927

Dan

You ran it with valve open no load run th that pump near 175 psi and you'll create much more heat and water

 

[saabracer23]

Yes but

You ran it with valve open no load run th that pump near 175 psi and you'll create much more heat and water

I keep it at around 150, don’t see any reason to go any higher and I’ve read the pump will last much longer. This was from the 1 hour burn in and probably 15 minutes total of run time under load. I blasted some scrap steel to try it out and did a deep cleaning of the garage using the air gun to dust everything out.

Dan

 

[#18FAN]

The one I picked up has the exact same thing you did, they brought it through a leg of the compressor for strength. In addition they put a timer on it, so now I need to f

igure out

Exactly what im looking for! Should be here next week, thanks for pointing it out!

Dan

Final filter I run in my setup.
https://www.compressorworld.com/35-cfm-coalescing-filter-with-float-drain.html