@quoddy 3 hours drive, wow! Man, you are going to be so happy having this! After testing the two side by side, I can tell you that you definitely made the right choice going for the Turbo.
The moisture purge system is there to protect against putting moisture into your tank. The more you purge, the drier your air will be, and the slower your tank will fill. So, your Alpha filter is actually acting as a redundant drier system. You may never have to change out the desiccant, ever.
I actually pushed my moisture purge numbers up a little in duration and frequency for a little added protection against moisture. The Alpha Turbo fills so fast that it should have minimal effect on the whole process. And, the darn thing is so quiet that the “psssshhhhtt” sound acts as a nice reminder that the unit is still running. It’s in a another room behind a closed door so, I can barely hear it if I have other things going on.
Here’s a lesson I learned this morning… I connected, and then opened up, a bottle with ~4000 psi in it and then turned the machine on to top it off. The pressure from the bottle put too much strain on the internals and the motor was having a hard time getting started (it was trying though!). Kind of like trying to get a car going from a stop in 5th gear. I stopped the compressor, bled the line, and turned it back on. Once it got chugging along, I slowly opened up the bottle valve and the compressor hardly noticed. I didn’t put a stopwatch to it but, I can tell you it was done before I thought it would be.
@mag13 Distilled water is too pure. I was told any the compressor guy at AoA that distilled water could allow the machine to overheat in certain extreme situations. Something about the way distilled water boils at a different temperature due to the lack of impurities. I don’t think the coolant solution in either one of my machines even comes close to boiling so, I think this precaution is for extreme events where something else is wrong. It is mentioned in the manual a few times so, their pretty adamant about it.
Tom
@Quoddy 3 hours drive, wow! Man, you are going to be so happy having this! After testing the two side by side, I can tell you that you definitely made the right choice going for the Turbo.
The moisture purge system is there to protect against putting moisture into your tank. The more you purge, the drier your air will be, and the slower your tank will fill. So, your Alpha filter is actually acting as a redundant drier system. You may never have to change out the desiccant, ever.
I actually pushed my moisture purge numbers up a little in duration and frequency for a little added protection against moisture. The Alpha Turbo fills so fast that it should have minimal effect on the whole process. And, the darn thing is so quiet that the "psssshhhhtt" sound acts as a nice reminder that the unit is still running. It's in a another room behind a closed door so, I can barely hear it if I have other things going on.
Here's a lesson I learned this morning... I connected, and then opened up, a bottle with ~4000 psi in it and then turned the machine on to top it off. The pressure from the bottle put too much strain on the internals and the motor was having a hard time getting started (it was trying though!). Kind of like trying to get a car going from a stop in 5th gear. I stopped the compressor, bled the line, and turned it back on. Once it got chugging along, I slowly opened up the bottle valve and the compressor hardly noticed. I didn't put a stopwatch to it but, I can tell you it was done before I thought it would be.
@mag13 Distilled water is too pure. I was told any the compressor guy at AoA that distilled water could allow the machine to overheat in certain extreme situations. Something about the way distilled water boils at a different temperature due to the lack of impurities. I don't think the coolant solution in either one of my machines even comes close to boiling so, I think this precaution is for extreme events where something else is wrong. It is mentioned in the manual a few times so, their pretty adamant about it.
Tom
