Thread: moisture trap question

i have a question about moisture traps. my compressor already has one but there is never any water in it and i keep getting spits of paint when im airbrushing small lines. my guess is i need a moisture trap closer to the gun letting the air cool down more. BUT where do i get one of those? if i get an inline one doesnt that mean i need another hose and im confused on how to attach my old hose to it and stuff. idk im confused on this whole setup. im on a budget as well and just bought a hose for 25bucks. and suggestions?!?
thanks everyone!

Moisture traps are made to trap water in it's liquid state not it's gaseous state (steam). The air coming out of your compressor is heated by the motor and compressor as well as the environment, so the water comes through with the air as steam.

Add a 50' hose with a second water trap at the airbrush end to your compressor setup even if your compressor isn't 50' away, though that would be better for your compressor. That length of hose lets the air coming through have a chance to cool down, and the second water trap will let you catch and drain the liquid out before it can get to your airbrush and painting. The little watertraps that hook onto your airbrush might be okay for a grip, but they are very inefficient when it comes to actually catching the water.

If your problem still persists, then you might add a desicant dryer system into your setup, they have an absorbent replaceable core that filters everything out. Bare in mind that they are not cheap to buy, the filter or the replacement cartridges, but if you get one pricey project ruined because of junk coming through the line, then you could probably have paid for the filter with the savings from not having to redo the work.

but i already have a hose. and idk how much 50 foot hoses are but im on a tight budget right now. and my hose is brand new so i dont wanna not use it ya know. and how would i connect my hose now to a normal compressor hose? or is that hose your referring to an airbrush hose?

could you post a pic of the setup please?

I am about 95% done with mine.

The pics show my little ghetto tank that I can't wait to upgrade once I win the lottery or somethin'.

I ran 50' of hose from teh tank to the water trap. The water trap is a Husky from Home Depot. I ran another 50' of hose to the guns. On the HVLP guns I always have the desiccant traps that screw on the bottom of the regulators.

I recently got a little mini water trap that fits on the bottom of my Iwata AB. I haven't noticed any problems with the water since I put that on. It also works really well for an added handle for my big gorilla hands.

What i want to do now is get a splitter with the 1/4 in hose and an adapter for the iwata AB to fit into the HVLP system. This is kind of a thread jack but how in the heck do I do that?

i cannot find a water trap that fits onto the handle of my paasche talon.

Time to get an Iwata j/k

I googled this lil badboy: Moisture Trap (pasmt) Paasche Airbrush Comp. Airbrush Accessory

I haven't used this but it looks like all you would need to do is cut your line and put the trap in the line. You probably wouldn't want it to be too close to the AB so that it doesn't weigh you down.

Redneck, your room temperature will play a part to a certain extent, but it's the tamk temp and the air inside it that are really key factors. More often than not, your compressor and tank would be shut off over night, and that gives the air inside time enough to cool and let the water settle at the bottom of the tank. That's why it's preached to empty your tanks and traps everyday before you start, that water sitting there can get blown out rather than getting mixed back in with the air again.

For the little traps that screw onto your airbrush. If you still have water going to your airbrush from standard watertraps and a desicant dryer, then you have some real moisture issues, and it means you need to either get a better desicant dryer, or change the cartridge in the one you have.

For your Talon, or any other brush for that matter. If you are dead set on adding an inline filter, then I would suggest you add two things and a different hose to your setup. I would add an Iwata/Olympos size airbrush hose, an inline filter, and then a G-MAC to hook all your airbrushes to.

The new hose lets you add the traps without having to cut your hose(s), and the G-MAC gives you a quick connect and MAC valve for all your brushes.
The quick connect male ends are available for all makes and models of airbrushes, so you wouldn't be limited to having a filter and MAC valve for only the one brush. All the manufacturer's of the quick connects seem to follow the standard of the 2mm male/female connect size, so you aren't forced to by additional pieces from one manufacturer or dealer, though I would guess that most of those ends are probably made by the same manufacturer anyway.

The 50' hoses are very inexpensive at places like Harbor Freight, you don't need high pressure rated hose for your setup.


For those with moisture problems, disconnect your long air hoses at night or during long periods of non-use, and let them drain out any moisture that might be trapped within. This is where the use of quick connects on the big hoses, traps and filters makes it easy to do.

how exactly do you add an inline filter to a hose tho?

The style Paasche have and sell requires you to cut the airbrush hose, and insert the water trap/filter into the two cut ends of the hose, it has a barbed male end that goes into the hose, then the hose is clamped around those ends to avoid leaking.

The type Iwata and most others sell has a male and female threaded fitting that are the same size threading as the Iwata airbrushes, which is different than the Paasche, Badger or Aztec airbrushes. Your airbrush would screw into the female fitting on the filter, and the male end of the filter would screw into the hose's female fitting. As I said though, if you have moisture getting that far, your setup has some real moisture issues.

Like Oz, I have large hands, but I learned many years back not to hold my airbrush in a fist-like hold, so the filter being their as a "grip" is wasted on me.
Those filters are an expensive novelty, and if you have it on only one brush and airline, then you are stuck with ONLY having that feature for the one brush currently connected to the hose. For the cost of those little filters, you can get a second watertrap for your big hoses. Yes, this stuff costs money, but nobody ever said everything would be free.

Jeremy,
I got this set up at lowes, it is called a decantestant dryer and i used quick connects between the air lines. It was about 12 dollars.

Just keep in mind that unlike traditional watertraps, desicant dryers need to get their filter or filter material changed periodically, otherwise they just act like a wet sponge for the air to pass through on it's way to your airbrush.
That's why having one as the very last step in your filtration setup works best. By letting traditional water traps catch the majority of the moisture, you leave little if anything for the desicant dryer to soak up. It lives longer, and you get dryer air. Even on that small compressor, I'd put a long hose and a second watertrap on before I added the desicant dryer. Those little compressors get pretty warm or hot with use, and that heats up the surrounding air, including that air being sucked into it. THe long hose lets that air cool back down and lets the H2O condense back to it's liquid form so the traps can do their job.