AIRBRUSH TECHNIQUE - LEARN TO AIRBRUSH - View Single Post

fontgeek · 06-15-2008

Water traps aren't made to capture steam, but water in it's liquid form.

The compressor super heats the air, so all the humidity of your environment gets pushed as very hot air through your compressor and hose, the water trap right at the compressor only catches the liquid, and that is usually when you just start up. While that helps, it doesn't solve your problem, adding the hose, and I would go for at least 25' if not50' of hose, lets the air cool down, and lets the steam turn back to it's liquid state (water), so that a second trap at the other end of the long hose can catch it. While running a longer hose will help on it's own, unless you are able to remove the water from the line, it will catch up with you.

The water doesn't "dissipate" within the hose, it has no place to go to. That hose and it's fittings create a closed environment.

I had a student who got the longer hose, but decided to forego the second set of traps and filters, when he first started this, it worked "OK" for a bit, but then he accumulated enough water in the hose, that as soon as he actually lifted the big hose to work on a new project, he dumped all kinds of water back into his compressor, and up into his airbrush.

The lesson?

There is no such thing as having air that is TOO CLEAN or TOO DRY.

So adding a a long hose, and second set of traps and filters at the far end of the long hose, emptying the tank and traps before and after EVERY paint session. cam save you lots of time, money, and aspirin.
Adding a second regulator at your work place will also help you keep much better control on your spraying. Run a much higher pressure at the compressor, and let the second regulator do the fine tuning. This keeps the pressure consistent, and lets you keep the moisture and gunk from accumulating in your hose.

06-15-2008	#8 (permalink)
fontgeek magazine subscriber Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 449	Re: Air compressor moisture Water traps aren't made to capture steam, but water in it's liquid form. The compressor super heats the air, so all the humidity of your environment gets pushed as very hot air through your compressor and hose, the water trap right at the compressor only catches the liquid, and that is usually when you just start up. While that helps, it doesn't solve your problem, adding the hose, and I would go for at least 25' if not50' of hose, lets the air cool down, and lets the steam turn back to it's liquid state (water), so that a second trap at the other end of the long hose can catch it. While running a longer hose will help on it's own, unless you are able to remove the water from the line, it will catch up with you. The water doesn't "dissipate" within the hose, it has no place to go to. That hose and it's fittings create a closed environment. I had a student who got the longer hose, but decided to forego the second set of traps and filters, when he first started this, it worked "OK" for a bit, but then he accumulated enough water in the hose, that as soon as he actually lifted the big hose to work on a new project, he dumped all kinds of water back into his compressor, and up into his airbrush. The lesson? There is no such thing as having air that is TOO CLEAN or TOO DRY. So adding a a long hose, and second set of traps and filters at the far end of the long hose, emptying the tank and traps before and after EVERY paint session. cam save you lots of time, money, and aspirin. Adding a second regulator at your work place will also help you keep much better control on your spraying. Run a much higher pressure at the compressor, and let the second regulator do the fine tuning. This keeps the pressure consistent, and lets you keep the moisture and gunk from accumulating in your hose.