OK gents, when is the last time you cracked the drain valve on the bottom of your air compresssor tank and drained all that rusty water out??

I "try" to remember to do mine each month. Damn tiny valve is on the bottom, shades of one of those auto radiator drain valves. Always had to use 6" Channel Locks to open it, as it sort of grew tight between drains. And it was tucked up under the 60 gallon vertical tank, could not even see it. A pain to drain.

So, yesterday, had enough. Left the compresssor switch off, used up a tank full of air, then replumbed the drain and installed a new stainless 1/4 turn ball valve.

Now the valve is out in the open, even put a hose on it, so I can drain the water in a small pail.

I instal alot of air compressors and when I do the operation and maintanince walk throughs I allway stress that the tanks have to be drained on a regular basis but still most of them dont.
The state shops are the worst about it.What realy gets me about these gov. funded job is they will spend all kinds of money on art and crap in the offices but wont spend a few bucks to have auto-drain valves on the compressors.

John what are you guys feeding those deer up on hurricane ridge? For blacktail they sure are growing some nice racks.

I like to blame it on Tourists feeding popcorn all summer to the bucks, but in reality is is a combination of good summer feeding range, the mineral content up in the high country, and letting the things live long enough to grow good antlers.

If the fall snows are heavy enough, sometimes a few big bucks head down to legal hunting areas and a lucky hunter or two connects. Real iffy, depends on the snow level, and if the hunter is both skilled enough and knows the secret spots and is in the right place at the right time. One of my customers got a very nice 4 point last year, about 3 miles up from the shop, with a 6mm Rem I built for him. If I can get the scanner to work I will post a photo.

I can see the ridge from the shop window, it's about 5 miles south.

If the snows are heavy enough, most of the deer come down low, and the Cougars follow. One of the guys got a big Tom 2 years ago, near a Cell tower that is a mile above the shop on a ridge. The hunter was glassing for BlackTail, and Mr. Tom walked into view.

Next time you visit the Ridge, give me a call and drop by. Details on the web page bllow.

[ 03-08-2003, 20:25: Message edited by: John Ricks ]

John, have you thought of using an oiler on your compressor tanks? If you need extremely dry air this won't work, but it only introduces a small amount of oil and does help prevent rusting. Lot's of shops (mechanical) here use oilers for their tools, but some have started using oilers for the compressor tanks as well, and the staff tell me they work pretty well. - Dan

There are automatic drains on the market that mount onto the bttom of the tank that essentially keep the water out of the tank, and blow on their own accord. The three basic types are mechanical float, timed solenoid, and float solenoid.

The mechanical float types work essentially like the float in your toilet tank. There is a small reservoir (looks like a 3" long aluminum footbal) with a float on a mechanical arm inside. When water level in the drain reservoir raises the float high enough, the other end of the arm unplugs an orifice through which water escapes until the level is reduced enough to allow the arm to seal it.

The timed solenoid is not a good choice for a home shop, because it works strictly on a timer, whether or not there is water to be expelled. If the timer is set incorrectly, not all the water will be drained with each blow, and water will slowly build up in the tank.

The float solenoid has a 110 v plug, and basically uses a small reservoir (about 3" square) to store water from the tank. Once water reaches a certain level, the conductivity of the liquid between two contacts actuates a solenoid that unplugs the drain orifice, allowing liquid to escape. They are slick, and can be had at any industrial compressed air supply house for about $100. Good ones are made by Zeks, Domnick Hunter, Pneumatech, and others.

Automatic drains are the only sure way to keep standing water out of your air receiver. They are not a bad investment. Just make sure that you route a tube from them into a 5 gallon bucket with a lid on it. Drill a hole in the lid barely big enough to push the tube through, otherwise you will have oily, rusty water spraying everywhere when they blow.

Automatic drains are a pain in the butt. If you ANY oil in the tank it will plug them up over time.

If you don't have anything else, get this one:

Harbor freight AUTOMATIC COMPRESSOR DRAIN KIT, ITEM 46960-3VGA

$9.99

They work OK and are better than nothing. I always thought about plumbing in a sump under my large compressor but never got around to it, just drop down an inch or two with pipe then go into a piece of 2" pipe then put the drain onto that. That would keep the water out of the tank, it would condense and drain down there. If that ever corroded it would be much easier to replace 3 inches of pipe than a tank.

Now that's a good idea, a little oil injection into the tank. But, could be a bad move for spray painting if the separator does not remove all the oil.

I have water separators on the air hose stations, and automatic oilers on the hose stations where the air tools are used.

Best thing I ever did for the shop was to run overhead air lines every where. NO more fighting the hoses, just have a QD at each work station and use a short whip.

A note on oilers, don't have one in the line where the paint spray guns are used!!!! Dry, oil free air only. Watch those hoses also, don't use a hose that has had oiled air through it for spray painting.

I will take a look at automatic tank drains. Since I have the drain plumbed out, would be easy to install a auto valve.

John,

Domnick Hunter Drains

The ED2100 would fit the bill for you. It's wholesale price is $114.

I design and sell industrial compressed air and pneumatic actuation systems. This'll work well for you.

Central air conditioning helps also.

John Ricks is you taking any orders yet?I know that you where in the middle of moving or something and stoped taking orders for a while