High Side Chinese Filter Dryer Hack

By way of follow up, I have had the filter with the mods in place for about 5.7 hours now. For details on the runs you can see my log here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oygaCsqJRjNGGTpXGPIYnAU1ZkyqWbBh5Tz7ODzHb24/edit?usp=sharing

As you will see I had a couple of issues, unrelated to the filter, but I have been able to make the corrections and all is working fine now.

I did a 900psi top off into my 44cf tank yesterday. Today I opened up the filter to examine the interior of the filter tube, the PVC, o-rings, tampons and the 13x Zeolite.

Once the PVC tube was extracted from the tube, my first observation is that the o-rings are till in place, and showing some signs of compression against the face of the caps.and PVC ends.

The tampons show no evidence of water staining. Shaking the pvc, no sound of moving granules is heard, so it is still packed as tightly as it was when placed inside.

Not having a proper scale, I improvised a simple balance. I dumped the "used" zeolite into one of two identical containers. In the other I placed fresh Zeolite, matching as closely as possible the volume of the used container. Placing them on the balance showed that the used material was slightly heavier.

The inside of the filter tube was pristine, no signs of any adverse processes.

Fully acknowledging the less than scientific methodology, I am still pleased. The o-rings were in place and are showing signs of compression, the tampons also held their position, and I believe that the weight difference probably demonstrates that the used material was holding moisture.

Six hours does not make for much of a trial, but before I went too far, I wanted to check things out. I put all of the same components back into the filter and will extend their run for a bit to see how things look. In future trials I will weigh the Zeolite prior to use so that I have a baseline that might yield a more definitive result.

Submitted for what it is worth....thanks for reading.

"RAJOD"I think the shoeboxes low output insures more dwell time. Its the compressors that can fill a 98 cfoot tank in 10 minutes that need to be throttled down.
Think of it this way. 
Shoebox - takes 4+ hours to fill a big tank but its the same amount of air as a bigger compressor. So 4 hours to squeeze all the water out

Big compressor - 10 minutes to squeeze all the water out of the same amount of air that the shoebox took 4 hours to do.

So the big comressors have far less time to remove all that water. And the dwell time is going to be less no matter what. So bleeding it seems would be very important as the filter can't hold it all.

Click to expand...

Thanks Rajod

We are in agreement regarding the slower output being an advantage in dwell time. If you consider the relatively low volume displaced by the third stage piston which is 1/8" in diameter, it will take some time to output enough volume to move air through the length of the filter.

Thanks for the interest.

Hi Bizill

Yes, there is about a 1/16" gap around the PVC in my set up as well.

And I do agree with your logic that it could create a situation where the PVC could expand to some degree and even crack. I can say that has not happened to mine so far, and I don't think it will, and here is why.

I believe that the o-rings probably leak a bit, having the effect of equalizing the pressure on both sides of the PVC contained in the aluminum canister.

So why is that not a concern for our goals of filtering the air? I believe that while the o-rings do leak a bit, once the pressure is balanced inside the aluminum canister, the path of least resistance for the air to flow through the system is the through the PVC, the tampons and sieve material. It is easier for it to go down that path than to force its way past the orings and go around.

If folks consider that space around the PVC a concern, it could probably be addressed by wrapping the PVC in an appropriately thick sheet of plastic, like Kydex, or perhaps a closed cell foam.

It is not an absolutely perfect, refined system, but I do believe it is quite effective, and leaves about $300 in the bank, which is a significant consideration.

Hope that helps.

Rod

Ok Guys, I am back with another update.

After 12 hours of run time on the same set of beads, I took things apart tonight for a bead drying session.

Opening the filter casing I was greeted with this view.



The O-rings were showing signs of being compressed, and the filter was spotted in center matching the input orifice in the cap. The other end showed the same spot. So it would seem that the air is flowing as intended. The filter was not damp to the touch.

Pulling the filter out and dumping the 13x Zeolite beads out, they looked just like they did when I put them in there, which I expected to be the case, so onward with the experiment

I placed the beads in a container which I had placed on a scale and zeroed for the container (yes I bought the scale for this experiment...what can I say?).



From there I transferred them to a baking sheet and placed them in a toaster oven set at 11....



My time was limited tonight, but I baked them for 40 minutes at around 475 to 500 F



After they cooled, being ever so careful to not drop so much as a single bead and even capturing the dust from the sheet, I replaced the beads in the same container, having first re-zeroed the scale with the empty container in place. and here is the result



Yes, there was a difference, starting weight was .182lbs and post bake it was .162lbs. I think that difference had to be moisture, not much, but definitely something.

I sealed the beads up, and will continue the bake for a couple of hours and see if there is more to be gained, but I think this is encouraging.

From the standpoint of practical observation, I have seen no moisture anywhere in the hoses, tanks or guns, so I am pretty pleased.

Back with more when I have a chance to run more tests.

Thanks for reading.

Rod

The o rings I used were from an assortment pack.
They were approximately 1 inch in diameter and 1/8 inch thick (or 25mm x 3mm).