Cerakote Air Filtering/Cooling

[williamf]

Hi all. I have searched the forums here for this topic and have found some good info. I wanted to be a little more specific though to figure out what exactly i need to setup my compressor plumbing. This would be a brand new garage build and would have a blast cabinet, spray booth, and workbench air. I'm trying to figure what is considered "overkill" on filtering my air. From what i can tell, there are many ways to skin this cat, and everyone tends to do it differently.

Options to cool the air: Multi Level drip legs(when i refer to this..i mean looping up and down several times with a ball valve on each end..before even running pipe to anything else), refrigerated air dryer, desiccants, desiccant/oil combos like a dad-500, etc. I'm sure there are more but i'm just now getting into this so its a bit overwhelming.

Whats considered overkill? Do i need that drip leg system if i have the refrigerated air dryer? Do i do both? Do i get the dad-500 if i have a refrigerated air dryer? What is considered enough? I know if i have the air dryer..i'll still need an oil/particle filter right? I should i be filtering for everything before both the cabinet and the spray booth right?

I guess i'm just trying to get the best system without spending more than i need to. The last thing i want is to spend an extra grand when i didn't need to lol.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[IkeEng]

Keep it simple.

I oversee the department that maintains 3 compressed air systems for our manufacturing company and unless you're running something that has specific requirements, all you should need is a compressor > air tank > filter\separator & refrigerated air dryer.

I imagine it gets a bit humid in Louisiana so I would recommend a good automatic tank drain which will keep fluid build up in the tank low and help reduce the amount of rust that develops in the tank.

Anything more than that, I think would be overkill unless you're planning on running machines with specific requirements or that have small calibratable air motors.

Look for a good screw compressor especially if you're planning to run things that drain your air tank and constantly make the compressor kick on. Electric motor piston compressors can be deafening no matter how low they say their decibel ratings are.

If you're plumbing the system using copper pipe it needs to be soldered using silver solder to hold up to the pressure.

If you find that you need something more than that, you can always add components to the system later with a little plumbing work.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck with the project.

Ike

 

[Easy_E]

We installed three blast cabinets ,compressor and airlines last year . The airlines are the aluminum doit yourself kits sold everywhere hooked to a Saylor beall 7.5 hp two stage with a three pot water filter . Water hasn't been an issue but the compressor only runs once twice a night not making much heat . Another thing that helps is the line runs along the ceiling with several drops before getting to the spray booth .

As far as noise I started out with a single stage 5hp that would rattle the shop the bigger slower turning two stage is quiet we can talk with it running and with more reserve air I can spray most the night without having it kick on .

 

[Bgriff008]

I have air plumbed into my basement. My compressor is in the garage. I have a two hoses. One to my media blast cabinet and a hose for cerakote. I have a simple water trap and haven’t had any issues applying cerakote. My paint booth is a simple wood cabinet with a fan behind the filter to draw overspray. Works great.