Hi Super 55, Congratulations on getting away from spray cans. You will soon wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Are you sure you have a moisture problem? If you are only painting small parts and your compressor is not working hard and running for lengthy periods, you may not have much of a problem in the first place. I used a 2hp compressor similar to yours for years and as long as I could do a job without it running a lot, I never had a water problem. I never took any special precaution to deal with moisture and I only had a problem on hot, humid days or when I worked the compressor hard. The temperature of air leaving the compressor will be high but it will mix with air already in your storage tank, will cool considerably there and much of the moisture will condense out at that point. If, on the other hand, your compressor is running for lengthy periods, the average temperature in the tank will get higher and higher. As the temperature of air leaving the tank gets significantly higher than ambient temperature, further cooling in the downstream plumbing will result in additional condensation and possibly spitting of water droplets at the gun. If that is the case, you will need to do something to deal with it. Anything you can do to promote cooling of the air and removal of the resulting water before it gets to your gun will help when you have a moisture problem. The concept you have to deal with it is an excellent one. In effect it is a poor man's refrigerated air dryer. The specific problem I see that you might have is that there appears to be no provision for drainage and subsequent removal of the condensate. It would seem to just puddle within the coiled section of your hose. The air could possibly just bubble up through it and perhaps carry some very small droplets (mist) into your filters. That might not be a problem. However, it is also possible that slugs of water could be thrown into your filters at a high velocity, which is not desirable. I am sure it will work the way it is, especially if you only use it for short periods so that water doesn't build up a lot in the hose coil and you disconnect the hose and drain it frequently. If you would like a more permanent setup though, the following would be my suggestions that you might want to consider for improvements. Food for thought, if you will. Please don't take them as being critical; they are not meant to be: 1. It would be preferable for the exit from your tub to be at the bottom rather than up and over the top. Consider installing a waterproof penetration in the side and near the bottom of your tub to accomplish this. It is to facilitate drainage of condensed moisture to some low point and to be later easily removed from the system. 2. Coil your hose inside the tub such that the inlet comes in from the top, is higher than the outlet and the hose is always sloped down in the direction of air flow. You want gravity and the air flow itself to assist in the drainage of condensed moisture and not to oppose or restrict it. 3. After you come out of your tub, install a moisture trap with manual drain valve at some low point prior to continuing up to your filters, etc. Drain this trap regularly. In this way you will get rid of the majority of any water prior to it ever reaching your filters. Also drain your main tank prior to each use. 4. It is not clear where your main pressure regulator is located. If it is at your tank, consider moving it downstream of your tub. Basically to your filter location. You want the air pressure in the area where most of the cooling takes place to be the highest possible. The dew point of air changes with the pressure. The higher the pressure, the higher the dewpoint and the easier it is to condense it out by cooling. Ideally, your hose in the tub should see the same pressure as your storage tank for maximum effectiveness. 5. Consider using a coil of copper tubing in your tub instead of hose. It would be much better for heat transfer and would further improve the effectiveness of your setup. This would obviously add to the cost and could be pursued at a later time if experience dictated a need. 6. Consider putting ice cubes in your cooling water to lower the temperature and again improve the effectiveness. Good luck and have fun painting that Oliver. Rod
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