Hey everyone

**Livyx** · Oct 3, 2016, 09:47 PM

Hi group. Registered to find some cool stuff and hopefully contribute something worthwhile.
-zach

**Jon** · Oct 4, 2016, 11:58 PM

Hi zach - welcome to HomemadeTools.net

What are your hobbies?

**Livyx** · Oct 5, 2016, 01:24 AM

Hi Jon, a little bit of everything, really. Mostly automotive related things though. I'm always being kept busy with my 65 Lincoln so I'm on here to see what kind of tools and tricks I can pick up. I stumbled upon the site while looking for a DIY solution to get clean, dry air into and out of my compressor. Store bought stuff is always so expensive! I like to see reasonable solutions from regular folks!

**Jon** · Oct 5, 2016, 10:18 PM

Did you solve the compressor issue? Need a hand with anything?

**Livyx** · Oct 6, 2016, 03:44 AM

No, I haven't come up with a solution yet. I am trying to get something together to get as much moisture out of the air before it goes into the tank. So, basically, an aftercooler. If you know of any good ones, post up some links!

**Jon** · Oct 6, 2016, 09:20 PM

I'm going to move this one into our Tools in Progress subforum, so you can get some member feedback.

**roadman5312** · Oct 9, 2016, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Livyx

No, I haven't come up with a solution yet. I am trying to get something together to get as much moisture out of the air before it goes into the tank. So, basically, an aftercooler. If you know of any good ones, post up some links!

Check this out.

**bartl** · Oct 9, 2016, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by Livyx

No, I haven't come up with a solution yet. I am trying to get something together to get as much moisture out of the air before it goes into the tank. So, basically, an aftercooler. If you know of any good ones, post up some links!

It's tough to get the moisture out between the pump and tank as you have to provide a place to collect and drain off the moisture, as well as significantly cool the air to condense the water vapor into a liquid, but you really don't want the air to be below the ambient temperature when it's ready for use....

I might start by trying to find a scrapped out portable pancake or submarine compressor, like a contractor would use for a nailer, and grab the 2-gallon tank to use as the collection tank, and the condensor from a car air conditioning system. Mount the condensor so your compressor cooling fan is drawing air through it first, then pipe the air from the pump into the small tank into a stand-pipe protruding about 1/3 of the way into the tank and pulling the air right out the top. Add an automatic drain to the bottom and water separator(s) to the outlet line from the main tank.

All-in-all, I don't know if I'd go to this much trouble unless I lived in the swamps somewhere.... what I'd typically do is mount some loops of baseboard radiation to a sheet of plywood on the garage wall and let gravity go to work with drains from the bottom of each loop at the bottom. Add a water separator and that's usually good for most climates.

**Loose Ctrl** · Oct 9, 2016, 06:33 PM

Check out powder coating forums.Those guys come up with some pretty neat DIY set ups to keep moister out of their power guns.

**chief36chevy** · Oct 9, 2016, 09:26 PM

Here is a post that I added to hotrodders.com.
New compressor
I picked up this 2 stage air compressor off e-bay. I added an automotive AC condenser to my old compressor and it worked quite well, so I added the home made condenser to the new compressor. It is simple but effective. The condenser is on the unloader side of the system, and when the condenser bleeds off air down to about 5 psi the filter opens and spits out any water in the system. Thus the little container to catch the water.
Since I kept my older compressor I installed a set of circuit breakers with a flipper between them so that only one can be turned on at a time. I also added the hour meters to keep track of service time.

What I used was an AC condenser off a car. I rerouted the compressor to tank line through the condenser and an air water separator I got at Lowe’s. I use the Lowe’s air water separator as at low pressure they will dump the water. I also added a 20” box fan to the back of the condenser and wired it into one lead of the compressor switch, so the fan would turn on whenever the compressor ran.
I later bought a 2 stage compressor and built a condenser out of ¾” baseboard radiator tube.
I can get more photos if needed.