I've got the 'water in my air line' blues

[Glen Blanchard]

Actually it's not at all uncommon in areas with Dallas' humidity and heat. I bought a cheap dryer at Harbor Freight a year or so ago and to my surprise it has been working fine. However that has recently changed. There is a very small diameter manufactured hole adjacent to the regulator handle. My guess is that it is designed to be a pressure release port. In any event, it is now venting air out as soon as the compressor begins to develop some pressure which it never seemed to do in the past. I am speculating that there is some kind of diaphragm there that is no longer functioning as intended. Not sure. Anyway, I am looking for alternatives. What is the least expensive way of getting rid of water in an air line? Just run a serpentine copper line up the wall in the compressor room?

[Marty Tippin]

I had the same problem with a cheap filter/regulator from the BORG (Campbell-Hausfeld, I think). I took it apart but was never able to figure out why it wouldn't work.

So I replaced it with a JET filter/regulator (JFR-12) and haven't had a problem since.

[Jim Andrew]

I bought one recently from North Central Air. He said the secret to it is not to mount it too close to the compressor, as the air is hot coming out of the compressor when it is running. Put it on the wall a couple feet away, and it will work right. The one I bought is like a trap, with a clear container to collect the water.

[Charles Lent]

I modified a 2 hp 20 gal compressor by adding an automobile air conditioning condenser coil between the compressor output and the tank. With it mounted so that air is drawn through it by the fan in the compressor pulley. The air is cooled before it reaches the tank, the water droplets fall to the bottom of the tank, and the air in the lines never condenses, so there is never water coming from the nozzle. You just have to be more religious about draining the tank. When painting or using my sand blaster I put a filter in the line just to be sure, but never seem to get anything in it.

Charley

[Mac McQuinn]

A good quality dryer along with wall mounted hard lines will minimize your problems.
Mac

[Mike Heidrick]

You can get Wilkerson coalescence filters on ebay for a good price.

[Michael Mayo]

I modified a 2 hp 20 gal compressor by adding an automobile air conditioning condenser coil between the compressor output and the tank. With it mounted so that air is drawn through it by the fan in the compressor pulley. The air is cooled before it reaches the tank, the water droplets fall to the bottom of the tank, and the air in the lines never condenses, so there is never water coming from the nozzle. You just have to be more religious about draining the tank. When painting or using my sand blaster I put a filter in the line just to be sure, but never seem to get anything in it.

Charley

This is what I did. Used a condenser off a late model Ford Explorer. I plumbed mine with a water trap below the input pipe to the tank so that no water ever makes it to the tank itself. I also have a couple filters on the air output so I never have any water problems. Cost $50 for the condenser and another $50 for the other parts.

[Mike Cutler]

Glen

Without actually seeing the regulator in question, that port that is weeping air is an indication of either a diaphragm failure of the regulator, or that the downstream pressure sensing is not working properly.
In a simple, cheap regulator that knob puts pressure on a diaphragm/needle valve. The Knob has a spring wrapped around the stem shaft. It is this spring pressure, acting on the diaphragm that, is your actual pressure setting which is simply a math function of inlet pressure.
In a downstream sensing regulator, the outlet pressure of the regulator is ported back internally and places pressure, along with initial spring pressure as a feedback mechanism to maintain a consistent downstream pressure as long as their is sufficient pressure on the inlet side to maintain it.
Either way, you're probably correct that you have a diaphragm, stem, leak. If you have such a leak the air being vented will set up an eduction process and condense moisture in your regulator assembly.

The absolute best way to remove moisture from air lines is to put a vacuum pump on the closed lines. Pulling a vacum on the lines decreases the boiling point of water and will cause the moisture in the lines to flash and be pulled out. In a small system it may only take an hour or so to evacuate the lines. In a big system it can take days. I guarantee that no home shop has a "big system".

The best way to keep water out of an air system is to install desiccant cartridges with active drying on the pre filter side of a system. Unfortunately most home and small shop style compressors do not facilitate this because of the way they gather inlet air.
The next method is to install a condensing loop and filter on the outlet. The condensing loop is mechanical
and is exactly what it sound like. It is a section of tubing shaped in a circle, a few coils, that has a drip leg that can be blown down, on the very bottom of the final turn into a moisture trap and then into the downstream desiccant filter cartridge assembly and then onto the actual system. The purpose being to mechanically scavenge as much moisture as possibly and decrease the burden on the filter. As the air makes it through the loop is condensing water on the internal tube walls, which can be gathered in the moisture separator and blown down when needed.

If you weren't having moisture intrusion issue prior to your regulator issue, it's a pretty good bet that you are educting excess moisture into your system. get the regulator issue resolved and you may find the moisture issue resolved to within tolerable limits.

Yes, I do this type of work for a living on very, very, large air/gas systems.