[Shop-talk] the continuing water saga

[Arvid Jedlicka]

I can give you data from my air cooled after cooler that might be relevant 
... or maybe not.

When I bought my air compressor I opted for the air cooled after cooler. It 
is designed specifically for the application. It is 18 inches wide, 8 inches 
high and 1.5 inches thick. It has 1 inch inlets and outlets and has 15 
[guesstimate] 3/8 inch outside diameter finned tubes running from the inlet 
to the outlet manifold. It rated for 35 CFM though the pressure drop at that 
flow rate was not stated. It is mounted on the belt guard and is right next 
to the large pump pulley. The pulley acts as a fan to draw air over the 
cooler and the pump when it runs. The compressor is in the basement so the 
ambient temperature is right around 70 all year.

I do remember being somewhat awestruck by both how high the input 
temperature was ... I expected lower ... and how low the output temperature 
was ... considerably lower than what I had expected given the simplicity of 
the setup.  The inlet is well past 200 degrees ... the exact value escapes 
me at the moment but 250 to 260 seems to ring a bell ... and the outlet was 
under 80 degrees ... again 76 seemed to be what I remember.

I have a refrigerator unit, Have not had a problem with water ... other than 
the auto drain isn't as auto as it should be ... so I have never gotten 
around to hooking it up. Probably should be a Craig's List item.

I'd forgo the hassle of the water drum and simply use a big fan.

Arvid

-----Original Message----- 
From: Scott Hall
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 10:30 AM
To: shop-talk at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] the continuing water saga

No thoughts on what you should get other than I was just thinking to ask
the same question of the list--and about making my own, too.

I'm about to upgrade to a bigger compressor and was thinking of making
an intercooler to put between the compressor and the tank.  Basically
remove the copper line and plumb it instead to an old a/c A-frame
condenser sunk in a 55-gallon drum of water.  Or maybe skip the water
and just have a fan blow over the A-frame?  Then a water trap between
the 'intercooler' setup and the tank?

I'm not married to that setup specifically, more asking opinions on the
merits of desiccating the water before it gets to the tank.  We
more-or-less stay near 100% humidity here most of the year, and I was
hoping to spare the tank some rust if I could.  Would I be crippling my
ultimate output pressure or flow with something like that?