A Yong Heng adventure in cooling

[Rodeo]

Not long after getting my Yong Heng I found posts from people who used radiators and computer fans to help cool their compressors. Neat idea but seems to me to be quite a bit of $$ to put together. I like to tinker (on the cheap) so I thought I'd try a poor man's version. The "before" set up:

The YH works perfectly well for SHORT run times with just water in the bucket. With ice in the bucket I can extend the run time. I worried about water left in the bucket getting "funky" and forming mineral deposits. I filled the bucket each time which was a bit of a pain but sure beats hand pumping. I thought about adding Water Wetter (which I did do later) to stop the "funk". That would then limit me to short fill times - can't add ice - or I would have to use frozen water bottles - I did not want to clean them afterwards. I wanted to be able to have my Yong Heng set up and ready to go for short fills of guns or topping off my 90 cuin bottle but also be able to fill my 6.8L tank with longer run times (additional cooling needed).

Enough marinating, here's the meat. Lol. I used a 20' length of 3/8 copper tubing, a wet saw pump, and some vinyl tubing and started experimenting. First a baseline test. Just a 6" fan blowing on the compressor head (this was used in each test) and a bucket of water- no ice:

I do have Water Wetter added. These tests were done over a 6 month period and not in the order that I'm presenting them. I mention this because I bought a 3 pack of gauges for the YH that read in °F instead of °C part way thru this process. I started with a metal probe style thermometer for the bucket temp then switched to the more accurate °F unit. Yes, I know that I should have used the same testing set up for consistancy. When I started this project it was for my own curiosity. I did not have posting the results in mind.

Next test. Plumb the copper coil in line to receive the heated water from the YH then into the bucket to be recirculated. Additional window box fan blowing on the coil.

This had just the opposite effect that I thought would happen. Temp went up more rapidly. I think that the coil restricted the water flow too much.

Next test. Use a second water pump to circulate water from the bucket thru the coil and back to the bucket. Use the box fan to cool the coil. Original YH pump circulates bucket water thru compressor.

No improvement over baseline test.

Next test. This time I put the coil in the bucket and circulated ice water thru the coil from a second pail. YH water pump circulates bucket water thru compressor. Second pump/pail (ice water) chills water in bucket.

Again, the idea being to have a "ready-to-go" no hassel set up for short run time fills with the ability to use additional cooling for filling large tanks.

I was kind of surprised at how well it actually worked. Surprised enough that I ran this test a second time to confirm the results. From the 6th minute to the 21st minute the temp held at a consistent 116 °F. Only after the ice was depleted did the temp start to rise. Seems like more ice would make for an even longer run time. When done the second pump and tubing coil up and store on top of the main bucket.

 

[Chickenthief]

A YH is something like 1800Watts or just shy of 2½horsepower.

One thierd of that will go to actual work in compressing air. The rest is roughly split between heating the compressed air and residual heat in the compressor. So for simplicity lets say that you need to get rid of @600Watts or a little less than one horsepower of energy.

Icebuckets and all fancy tricks aside, you could do the same with a very small car radiator and fan from the scrapyard for $20.

You dont need to cool the compressor to stone cold just to get rid of the added heat. (If a car radiator will do that on a 75hp/60.000watt engine it will do fine on a 600w comperssor!)

A 4 fan PC cooler will do that just fine.

Just remember that liquid to liquid heat transfer is fast but liquid to air is slow so way more of it to achieve the same result.



If you add a 120mm fan to the back of the YH you have allready schredded 3-7degC~5-8degF from your cooling all in all.

 

[cj_86]

Good info and thanks for sharing! I use 4 gallons of water with 1/3 of the bucket filled with ice and my YH temps are basically exactly what you've recorded. I have tried leaving water in a bucket ,but the water does get funky after sitting for so long and its just easier for me to empty the bucket after each use. A coolant additive in the water is an option ,but I don't like having that kind of material when I have very young kids around. 

 

[qball]

I have 45 minute tank and use cold water and a strong blower fan. It takes almost exactly 10 minutes to go from 3200 psi to 4500 psi and the temp would be around 55c. When the weather gets hot ice would be a must but for now just plain water works for me. 


also might just do top offs more frequent during summer from 3500 psi to a bit higher to reduce run time, I probably would shoot a lot less by then anyways.

 

[bandg]

I have 45 minute tank and use cold water and a strong blower fan. It takes almost exactly 10 minutes to go from 3200 psi to 4500 psi and the temp would be around 55c. When the weather gets hot ice would be a must but for now just plain water works for me. 


also might just do top offs more frequent during summer from 3500 psi to a bit higher to reduce run time, I probably would shoot a lot less by then anyways.

This seems to be a good general area to expect. Mine stays upper 40's max with ice and an external fan, and I only use a tool box as reservoir so maybe 2 gallons of water at most. I think the smaller volume makes it easier to handle and needs less ice. All the "additives" aren't worth the trouble IMO. Surely wouldn't hurt but what advantage? And a couple of gallons is a lot easier to handle than 5 gallons. I suppose 5 would be better if one isn't using ice.

 

[biohazardman]

I bought all of the radiators, fans and other stuff needed to make a super cooling system. But found that if I just put one or two half gallon frozen jugs of water in my 2.5 gallons of water in the bucket I have near twenty minute run times without reaching the 65deg limit of the compressor. So no need to do more to fill my large Great white tank from 3,200psi to 4,100 and a couple of guns to 3,600.

I used to just change out my water every few months when the slime was beginning to grow but recently added some Water Wetter hoping it will cure the problem. I guess time will tell.

I will at some time in the future experiment with all the cooling parts I have or I'll use them in another computer build so no big loss.

 

[Rodeo]

Chickenthief, I did contemplate using a car radiator or a transmission cooler but either of those with parts to plumb it = $CA-CHING$. A used one has the chance of some scale breaking loose and clogging the small ports of the Yong Heng so I'll rule that out. I looked at PC cooling systems. For the reason you stated it would take a large or multiple small units to achieve the same end. Again $$. I only spent $40 for the materials for what I did. Yeah, you can call me cheap. I did this low budget on purpose just to satisfy my curiosity. I would be interested in a closed loop PC cooling set up that will maintain an operating temp below 55°C. Although I have a feeling that it will be prohibitively expensive.

Cj_86, thank you. When I run my YH with the fan and ice in the bucket it stays in the mid 40°C temp range. My kids are teenagers but I do have multiple pets so I understand not wanting chemicals in the water. That is one of the reasons that I did not want to simply add frozen water bottles to the bucket. Too much of a mess to clean up and the chance of one of the pets liking up some tainted water.

qball, I also thought of just doing more frequent top offs but I bought a 6.8L tank to avoid doing that.

Bandg, I agree that with ice a large quantity of water is not necessary. The water works as a heat sink so a large volume of water is better when not using ice.

Biohazardman! (I have to chuckle a bit every time I see your avatar - thanks for that) I have had Water Wetter in my bucket for quite a few months now. Nothing growing in there. I am interested in what PC cooling parts you got and how much they cost. If you build the cooling mod let us know how it works out.

 

[bandg]

What I was trying to say is that IF one wants to use ice then less water is probably even better than more. Certainly easier to handle but also it seems you will need less ice to cool the "system". A while back I added a PVC valve through the lower part of my tool box "tank". That makes it easy to simply drain out about half the water and refill with ice without taking much time or needing to stop. Keeps everything nice and cool and as the ice melts you can repeat the process in just a few seconds. In the past I was scooping water out and then adding ice but the valve makes it faster and easier.

 

[airgunfans]

Not sure if I have understood it right. Your experiment shows that the cooling can be made better by :

1) restricting the water flow by adding a copper coil in the passage

2) distributing the water to two buckets, one filled with ice and the other just water ( and wetting agent )

It appears to me that it's just passing the heat from the YH cylinder to the water / ice more indirectly. Can't undestand why the cooling is better.

 

[Rodeo]

Airgunfans, I will try to clarify. My goal was to be able to leave my Yong Heng ready to run for short duration fills - meaning leave the bucket filled with water and not change it out. In order to leave water in the bucket and not have the water go "bad" I added Water Wetter. I also wanted to be able to fill larger tanks (longer run times) but the bucket water needs to be chilled to do this. If I add ice to the bucket then the water needs to be changed after each fill - plain water gets "funky" if left to sit.

I put a copper coil into the main water + Water Wetter bucket. This bucket supplies the water mix to cool the YH. I attached a second water pump to the copper coil that circulates ice water from a second bucket thru the copper coil and back into the second bucket.

For short fills I run the compressor "as is" - just the bucket with water + Water Wetter mix. For longer fills I add ice water to second bucket to chill the water mix in the first bucket.

This set up is not intended to make the cooling better. Rather, it is a way to remove a step in the filling process when doing short run time fills. I can fill guns and small tanks without needing to fill and empty the water bucket. It is still the same basic process when filling large tanks. I am still changing out an ice water bucket. Using the Water Wetter does also help prevent the possible build up of mineral deposits.

Hopefully this helps to answer your questions.

 

[bandg]

 "I am still changing out an ice water bucket."

Nothing wrong with your method, apparently it works for you. My question would be is it actually needed? Seems to still be an extra step. If it is convenient and works for you then all is well. I've used the smaller reservoir mentioned above, now with a recently added valve to drain it very quickly and not have to move it, for a long time. When I run the compressor I simply add ice, pour in some fresh water, and run. If running long enough to need ice replacement then open valve, drain most water, close valve, and add ice. Takes just a few seconds and all while running if desired but it isn't usually needed for a top off, other than mid summer at very high temps, even on a very large tank. When finished I can drain the tank in just a few seconds and be ready for the next run with fresh water. Before I added the valve I would disconnect hoses and carry the tool box out to dump the water to maintain water quality. With the valve it's even faster than that and nothing needs to be disconnected and reconnected. This arrangement easily maintains temps in upper 40's but I personally believe the external fan is responsible for a very large part of the cooling. I use a ducted drying fan that blows a relatively narrow stream and aim it directly across the heads. More than one way to accomplish the needed cooling.

 

[Rodeo]

Sounds like your system works very well. If I correctly understand how you use your set up, you add ice for each fill and change out the water? That would be the difference between our systems. I do not need to change out the water or add ice. I only use ice if I'm filling a large tank. Like your set up I do not need to disconnect or reconnect anything.

Is your ducted fan a high velocity unit like a floor drying fan?

 

[bandg]

Exactly, on both questions. That type fan seems to focus the air flow a little better than a simple desktop fan but I guess anything would help. And yes, I fill the box with ice then water to the top with the pump on one end and the return emptying on the other end. One fill is often good for a top off on a Great White but if it gets down to 3k then a second batch of ice might be needed to get back to 4.4k. Your system seems to work quite well for you also and I can certainly understand the advantage to not using ice. As noted, more than one way to accomplish the goal in most cases.

 

[Rodeo]

If I did not need to move my compressor I would hook it up to a 15+ gallon reservoir. That would give a pretty long run time before heating up. 

 

[bandg]

It would probably be interesting to compare the large reservoir concept using room temperature water with the same reservoir filled with ice to see if any real (and beneficial) temperature change would be noted. All I've ever used in mine has been the tool box with ice so I have nothing to compare it to. Adding the fan was the last thing I did and that did make a very noticeable difference in maximum operating temperature reached.