Drained the air tanks today!

Usually drain mine as soon as I see water vapor coming out of the tool, then oil the snot out of it once I get the water out
 
Wanted to share this.

We have been working on getting an old shop cleaned up for the training program I've been involved in. Big old tank in the back of the shop hooked up to a big ingersoll rand 480v compressor thats in it's own building behind the shop. Tank is at least 8 feet tall and 3 or so feet in diameter. I had the guys bleed the tank off and drain the water. Didn't have a hose and I didnt want water all over the floor. They drained 14 gallons of water out of it!

Not sure how long the water has been in there but I decided to have a company come in and inspect the tank and the air compressor service come in and service the compressor. Along with the dryers and separators.

150lbs in a tank that large would make quit a boom if it failed. Rather be safe.
 
The air compressor that I now have I drain after each use. It is a 30 gallon 6hp Craftsman that I bought use & had some water in it when I got it. Before I got this air compressor I had a compressor I built that use a 80 gallon vertical tank that I would only drain every couple of months. I had originally thought about adding to the other air compressor until I inspect that tank. I feel lucky that it had not turned into a rocket ship from the amount of rust on the bottom of that tank. So now I drain the tank after each use. I have seen what happened after the valve was knocked off of a full scuba tank & would never want to be around something like that.
Charlie
 
Mine has an auto tank drain feature built into it. When the compressor shuts off it sucks out off the tank. Only end up manually draining the tank every couple months. Which is due about now, Thanks for the reminder.
 
I drain mine every time I use it. I added a ball valve and a length of copper pipe to the shop sink. Works great.
Work had the air compressor from hell. 135 CFM @ 90 psi. Had a 35 horse motor and a 660 gallon tank.
 
Mine has the bottom drain. 60 gal upright. When I don't notice oil on the wter that is drained i and about a cup full hoping ot keep the rus to a minimum. don't know if it works or not bu whats a cup of oil a few times a year.
 
I added a Harbor Freight auto drain valve a couple years ago. Works good and not real expensive. Thinking $20 or less. It gives a little squirt every on/off cycle of the compressor. Not my video bty.(
). And it tees into the regulator unloaded line to make it work. I've used electric drain valves but they work by time not cycle. And the ones I had you could only set the timer for every hour or less regardless if the compressor was being used or not.

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Only thing I'd maybe do different in my post above would be is add a in line strainer at the bottom of tank before it goes into the drain valve to keep any rust or dirt from clogging it up.
 
That would be cheaper and handier than the water filters on the outlet line. Going to check into that. Thanks for posting the setup.
 
chieffan said:
That would be cheaper and handier than the water filters on the outlet line. Going to check into that. Thanks for posting the setup.
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You still may get some water thru your air lines. That all depends on how long and how hard the compressor works while you're using it. The longer it runs the hotter the air gets. But it definitely eliminates any condensation or water once the air cools.
 
My air tools are not used for any long periods. Usually a couple 3 uses and done for the day. Definitely need the dryer for painting.
 
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