YH Compressor cooling with just tap water good enough?

How long are you running the Hen?i never run mine more then a 20 min. at a time.I fill a pony tank.When ya put it up disconnect the pump line and blow through it that should drain everything out of the head.

Water wetter isn't exactly snake oil, it reduces the surface tension of the water and allows for better heat transfer. Distilled and water wetter wouldn't be a bad mix. It would also keep the corrosion down as I've seen a couple tear downs and the aluminum doesn't appear to be anodized.

Keeping it cooler (reduced run time or colder water) cannot hurt it.

I may be picking one up soon, so my information may be subject to further investigation.

Smitty

Some of the higher end compressors advise against distilled water. I don't know why other than being a waste of money. Just straight tap water is best, additives are a waste of money and can do more harm than good. Just keep an eye on it, you will find it will heat up very quickly and reach it's operating temp and stabilize. It is winter down here at the moment and I run mine yesterday for over 1/2 an hour and it didn't get any hotter than 45 C, no ice just tap water. When I used it last summer, it would go to 55 and settle at that. You will be able to feel the water in the bucket. If it doesn't burn your hand, you won't need to change it. The water coming out of my return hose yesterday was only luke-warm. 65 degrees is a fairly conservative upper temperature, It's 35 degrees lower than the boiling point of unpressurized water. 

NO! You must use purified water (NOT distilled) with a coolant such a Purple Ice and an anti-corrosive additive. Follow the manufacturer's instructions.

You will have corrosion issues with the aluminum no matter what you do. You can minimize it by using automotive anti-freeze, but the water with anti-freeze won't cool quite as well as normal water. That is not a problem if you increase the flow rate a bit. It is no problem to use distilled water, but it is not necessary. Using de-ionized water IS important, because it prevents calcing. I would use 20% anti-freeze and de-ionized water. With that concentration, I don't think you will see a temp rise over plain water.

I just use tap water but I run compressed air ( in the big gold filter ) through the water passage after every use to minimize the accumulation of hard water stains which may reduce heat transfer effectiveness. 

I agree with airgunfans. If you were running a closed system, there would be some benefit, using glycol to control corrosion or electrolysis. If you empty it after every use, you shouldn't have any problems. How long do you think these things are going to last. I will be more than happy if mine lasts 30 hours. I plan on repairing and replacing a few parts here and there but there will come a time when it will be broken up for spares or just tossed in the bin.

I find it amazing how many experts dont have a clue the difference between purified, distilled and deionized water. Or how regular vehicle antifreeze has additives to help with heat transfer, its not just corrosion inhibitors. Please do some research before spouting the gospel of misinformation.

I find it amazing how many experts dont have a clue the difference between purified, distilled and deionized water. Or how regular vehicle antifreeze has additives to help with heat transfer, its not just corrosion inhibitors. Please do some research before spouting the gospel of misinformation.

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I'm a little bit confused with your comment. What misinformation are you referring to? It is clear at least to me that the makers of these inexpensive compressors designed them to cool with tap water. I think the OP's query was "is that the best way to go?" Ultimately the answer is no, it is not, but that has to be moderated with the cost factor. There is no free lunch. You pay now or you pay later. Most of the replies are suggestions that do not cost much and extend the live of the compressor. What did I miss?

I have an Omega compressor which included Purple Ice and anti-freeze additives for the cooling system.

In my job as a power plant operator we have used plain old tap water for cooling lubrication oil coolers for many years. This is without building up all the scale that some have called into question. Is it the ultimate best to use , no. Is it going to hurt a machine that may only run an hour a week, no. 

The point I was trying to make was that some say you can only use deionized water, which is pharmaceutical grade clean, or purified which means it went though reverse osmosis, or distilled. All can be used but why waste the money on a 300 dollar machine?

For a compressor that costs only about 180 bucks I wont worry too much about what kind of water is the best for it. If the thing breaks down, just replace the failed parts. So far I have been running tap water thru it and the temperature flats off at about 50 deg C so it looks OK to me. What I do worry about a lot more for such class of product is safety. If there are anything that can be done to minimize the chance of myself being injured while using it, I will be the first to want to hear it. 

The point I was trying to make was that some say you can only use deionized water, which is pharmaceutical grade clean, or purified which means it went though reverse osmosis, or distilled. All can be used but why waste the money on a 300 dollar machine?

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Just for clarity, deionized water is not necessarily pharmaceutical clean. It can be of course, but deionized water is water that has been passed through a deionizing process which removed charged dissolved minerals. This is typically done using charged plastic resin beads that are a mixture of anionic and cationic beads. These are what you find in Brita water filters and high end coffee machine filters. These beads are inexpensive and are available in aquarium supply stores or on the Internet in bulk. In point of fact, you can buy dissolved particle meters on eBay for $5. Deionized water is now being specified for most water cooled motorcycles and new cars and it makes very good sense to use in any case.

Yes, hawkeye, and the instructions expressly state to use purified water, NOT distilled.

Yes, hawkeye, and the instructions expressly state to use purified water, NOT distilled.

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Perhaps you can enlighten me. I have no idea what purified water means. The adjective should have specifications behind it. What are they? I'm clueless.

This webpage says that distilled water is purified water : https://www.drinkmorewater.com/distilled-or-purified-water . It makes sense to me. 

I have never gone that far to check the water I drink. Not sure why this is such an important issue for water feeding a cheap compressor. 

I have never gone that far to check the water I drink. Not sure why this is such an important issue for water feeding a cheap compressor.

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Using may not be important to you, your call. Using hard water in a cooling application will cause crystallization of the dissolved minerals as deposits. These deposits insulate the unit being cooled and eventually plugging up the works., neither of which is very good and Brita filters are pretty cheap.

I have never gone that far to check the water I drink. Not sure why this is such an important issue for water feeding a cheap compressor.

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Using may not be important to you, your call. Using hard water in a cooling application will cause crystallization of the dissolved minerals as deposits. These deposits insulate the unit being cooled and eventually plugging up the works., neither of which is very good and Brita filters are pretty cheap.

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In open recirculating systems as water evaporates the dissolved solids are left behind. Closed systems not so much. I don't think there is much of an issue with the YH setup especially if you use fresh water each time you use the compressor. But as been pointed out earlier Brita filters are are not expensive, and as always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.