moisture trap?

I live down here in the hot and humid south and just have the one moisture trap on my compressor ( which is an 80 dollar tank compressor from Wal-mart BTW). I never get any moisture from the AB so I would think you would be ok without the second one.

I'm not an expert on this sort of thing; but I wouldn't think you'd need two of them; unless you're in a really, really humid environment. 

See what others have to say.

In a compressor with a receiver (tank), moisture will be less of a problem in comparison to a compressor without a receiver. As damp air is pumped into the receiver, it has a chance to condense there before going through the moisture filter & then going through the airline, on a compressor without a tank moisture can only condense in the filter or the hose.......

I would try it without the additional filter, let it get up to operating temperature & do some test spraying & see what happens.

No, you do not need more than one moisture trap.  All it will do is increase the pressure drop between the compressor and the airbrush, and reduce your max output capacity.

I have never found any water in my trap, even during 20 years in the humid Atlanta area.  Now that we live in Colorado, which is very dry, high desert climate, I probably don't need one at all.

airedale

I have a small tank compressor with a miosture trap attached to it and I have been using an old paasche hose with a tube style moisture trap. I recently bought a new longer iwata hose and I wondered if I really need the second moisture trap? The old paasche trap never seemed to collect any water. I know iwata makes a pistol style moisture trap, but I didn't want to add another cumbersome devise if it wasn't needed. 

I agree with all the other replies that you should not need a second moisture trap, particularly living in Michigan.

However, pistol grip or inline moisture trap can be had at Harbor Freight or Ebay for $5-7. It is a small price to pay for peace of mind if you want to have one.

Cadet Chuck

No, you do not need more than one moisture trap.  All it will do is increase the pressure drop between the compressor and the airbrush, and reduce your max output capacity.

I have never found any water in my trap, even during 20 years in the humid Atlanta area.  Now that we live in Colorado, which is very dry, high desert climate, I probably don't need one at all.

I agree with you.  When we recently lived in Colorado Springs, the air was so dry that I rarely saw moisture in the trap.  But since moving back to Northern Virginia, it is sure a different story...

Hutch

I just bought my first compressor last winter (Harbor Freight). Has a moisture trap attached to it, which did the job, until spring hit. I ended up cutting the hose down to about 2ft. and adding a Paasche, inline trap. I set the compressor (by the valve on the built in trap) to about 45psi, and use the screw on the inline trap to adjust from there, usually around 20psi. I do get water out of the second trap, but none makes it past there. I have about 3 inches between trap and brush. So, yes, even here here in Michigan, moisture traps are needed.

thnaks for the replies. i think I will hold off on a a second moisture trap and keep a close eye on things in the spring.

airedale

thnaks for the replies. i think I will hold off on a a second moisture trap and keep a close eye on things in the spring.

If you decide to need one, go to Ebay's airbrush section and search for "mosture filter". You will find many imitation of the Iwata Pistol Grip Moisture Filter at a fraction of the cost.

Not sure that hobbyists such as ourselves need a moisture trap because we don't often leave the compressor on long enough for it to build up heat.    Personally I spay roughly 5-10 minutes at a time. 

I think that moisture traps are better for the auto shops where they often spray at 30 minutes or more.  So their compressor is sending hot air through.

At least that's how I understand the problems of moisture.

now Im way down south in Florida very hot and humid and only have one simple trap...never had any problems...you should be ok..

HabaneroHal

brickshooter:

Not sure that hobbyists such as ourselves need a moisture trap because we don't often leave the compressor on long enough for it to build up heat.    Personally I spay roughly 5-10 minutes at a time. 

I think that moisture traps are better for the auto shops where they often spray at 30 minutes or more.  So their compressor is sending hot air through.

At least that's how I understand the problems of moisture.

 

You should come try spraying on the gulf coast then. Hot and humid here and I have two traps. One's at the compressor and one in-line. The in-line trap will fill with moisture and spurt water if used for any length of time.

I'm in Southern California.  That's equivalent to living in the middle of the desert but with good irrigation.  Maybe that's the reason I don't need any water trap.

But hey, we've earthquakes that will disrupt our spraying.

The moisture in our compressors has more to do with the actual process of compressing the air and the amount of moisture in that air. The following link gives a very good description of why we suffer from this problem.

Moisture in Air Compressor's

Jester75

The moisture in our compressors has more to do with the actual process of compressing the air and the amount of moisture in that air. The following link gives a very good description of why we suffer from this problem.

Moisture in Air Compressor's

I don't know who wrote that piece of junk. He completely misunderstands what humindity is and has no idea what he is talking about.

R.H. or Relatively humidity is a ration of vapor pressures.

Specific humidity is a ratio of masses.

That guy forgot that the mass of air does not change when compressed. Just the density increases.

R.H is both a function of pressure and temperature. But compression alone does not cause condensation. We all noticed that a hot running compressor condenses much more than a cool running one.

keilau

 

But compression alone does not cause condensation.

Then why does an F-15 or any other fighter leave contrails when in a hard maneuver?

I thought that was the moisture being squeezed out of the air?

GreenThumb

keilau:

But compression alone does not cause condensation.

 

Then why does an F-15 or any other fighter leave contrails when in a hard maneuver?

I thought that was the moisture being squeezed out of the air?

Air is a mixture therefore moisture cannot be squeezed "out". A common misconception. Air IS NOT a holder of water vapor.

Jet exhaust transports a lot of vapor which forms condensation trils or contrails when temperature, winds and humidity in the upper atmosphere are right, mostly, but not exclusively, through cooling of the exhaust.

Uh oh, physics! My brain hurts already.

If you're looking on eBay, you might also take a look at the typically large selection of in-line desiccant filters.  I'm in humid Texas, but run a tank compressor (Seaco 1010 - $100 or so on Amazon, fairly quiet, work supremely well).  I've got to drain water out of the tank every day when it's in use, but I'm still on the same desiccant filter after a year of occasional spraying, and it's not changed color (meaning ready for replacement) yet.  Got two of them for something like $15 including shipping.