Air Compressor Oil/Water Separators & Filters

[supersuk]

I've been chugging away at my 68 fastback build and am at the body/paint portion of the work. So far, I've painted the interior and a couple portions of the exterior of the car. Yes, i'm panel painting, but this car is straight black. I'm using the PPG DBC9700 black and PPG DCU2021 Clear. Everything up to one part of the paint work came out nice. The one small part I had problems with is because my compressor started to shoot more and more oil out of the air lines. Looked like very very small fish eyes. I know its air contamination because when I used my blow gun to shoot air onto my nice shiny paint, I can see all the oil residue on the paint. Over time, I did notice more and more oil in the oil/water separator that I had. Therefore I decided to sell the compressor and purchase a new one. The old one was a 60 gallon porter cable single stage unit that I had for many years. The new compressor that I've purchased is a Quincy 5hp dual stage 60 gallon unit.

The question I want to ask is what is everyone using to get rid of the water and oil mist/particulates from the air stream? I purchased a bunch of SMC stuff to help with the oil/water removal, Specifically the AMG350C water separator and AMD350C micro mist separator. You guys think these filters will be good enough? I also have about 30 feet of 1/2" copper pipe that I use to somewhat cool the air before going into the water separator. See the pic below, which shows the old compressor and old setup. And yes, there is a drain at the bottom of each leg.

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68 Fastback Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5396323#5396323

[jspbtown]

Wow...I am surprised you are getting any contamination with that set up.

I would suggest before you do anything else that you get it all cleaned up. If contamination was getting all the way through that then its probably loaded.

I have used this filter for the past several years:

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/devilbiss-camair-qc3-air-filter-dryer-130525-p-16233.aspx

Never had a contamination problem with it. And of course the small filters at the gun.

[supersuk]

Honestly I was a bit surprised too. It just suddenly happened. I want to assume that it was because of the air filter that was pretty clogged from previous clear coat application session. But I just decided it was time for new equipment. I will be changing out the airlines after the most separator, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I was looking at that exact same filter setup from devilbiss. What area do you live in? Here in Hawaii, moisture is a big problem year round with the humidity being around 60% most of the year. Do you have any other water separators in your system other than that item and filter at the gun?
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68 Fastback Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5396323#5396323

[jspbtown]

I am in the northeast. There is decent humidity but clearly not to your level.

After painting a car I probably can drain out 6-8oz of water from the bottom of my compressor.

That filter also has a petcock on the bottom that allows you to drain off water.

And I just use those two filters. I run 1/2 copper pipe from one corner of my 24x24 foot shop to the other so that's about 60 feet of copper from compressor to where I hook up my rubber line.

[kman]

Put a drain valve at the bottom of your copper tubing setup. Before and during the time you paint open it up slightly (a slight hiss) so that it continuously drains off settling water. Should work.

[jspbtown]

[supersuk]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give that a shot when I'm ready to spray the body. Still waiting for my compressor to come in.
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68 Fastback Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5396323#5396323

[slfisherf1]

Saw this post and thought I'd share my solution for setting up a large (60 gal) garage compressor to assure clean dry air to paint with without breaking the bank. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF6S1uUuDS8.