Do these things have a service life? I’ve got one by THB which is a combo regulator and trap. It’s been working fine until about three weeks ago, when I was spraying away in weather that was perhaps a bit too humid for my own good. Evidently it got saturated, as water started coming out the airbrush. Accumulated about a cubic cm of water which poured out the valve, but emptying it out had little effect.
I left it alone for a week, with the valve open and removed from the air compressor to allow for evaporation. I still can’t seem to get more than about 10 minutes running time before the trap gives up, usually with plenty of condensation on it, but no accumulated water.
How and where is the water trap connected to the compressor?
What kind of compressor is it?
Is it connected directly to the compressor where it may be getting heat from it and causing this problem? If so I would run a 3-5’ hose from the compressor to the water trap and then have your airbrush hose connected to that.
Water traps have a shelf life. Most use a compressed filter to trap the moisture and once full, they need to be replaced. Sometimes the filter itself can be replaced, and sometimes the whole trap has to go. I’m not familiar with the one you have, so you’ll have to see if the filter can be replaced.
I buy a cheap trap at the Canadian equivelent to Harbor Freight. I’ve had it for two years now and have never seen a drop of moisture. Mind you, I live in a near-desert and the humidity here is very low.
I have the same water trap you do. It comes off a small tank feed by a compressor. I just looked at my trap and it looks just like yours. If the clear part comes off, it won’t do so easily.
I then took off all the plumbing to the tank and looked inside. [:O] [:(] [BH]
along with the water (about half an ounce or so), there is sort of like a mud at the bottom of the tank. [yuck] there are also the inevitable spots of rust.
I have it all taken apart right now to get the moisture out. how will do I get the “mud” out? and what, if anything, can be done to the inside to stop/slow the goop buildup???
The crud in the bottom of your tank is dirt and rust, unless you have a airfilter on the inlet side of your compresser, what ever you suck in will go into the tank. best to drain after each use if in a high humity area, or get an auto drain for the tank.
I think I have the same regulator/moisture trap as you. The glass dome on the bottom does come off. There’s a rubber gasket inside of it that makes the dome hard to unscrew. If the humidity is high, I get water in my airhose after about 15 minutes of spraying. Yesterday, the humidity was lower (getting colder here) and I sprayed for 2 hours with no water in the hose. When the humidity is high, I spray for about 10 minutes, empty the trap and hose, and go back to spraying.
Here is a trick to get rid of water, go get a 5 gal air tank and another dryer. pump from the compresser to the airtank then through second dryer. no moisture. the air tank gives the air time to cool and condense. I have this setup on a 20 gal compresser and used back east in high humidity, and in Cal with no humidity, with no water ever in airbrush. also makes the air flow even for spraying if you have pulseing from the compresser
I made the mistake of taking it all apart. No biggie, but there is a plastic piece that screws into the regulator body and holds the moisture filter in place. The filter was loose so it true fashion, I tried to turn a bit more. Not much, mind you, but enough. Enough to stretch it and now its in two pieces. I will call Hobbico later to see if there are replacement parts…from someone, somewhere.
Anyway, at the above link, you can get the manual. not very informative, but its something.
I have a feeling I’ll be ordering a new one. I think I will take Sermans advice and also have a trap between the compressor and the tank. good insurance.
Oh. The trap does open. After reading that manual, I gave it another try. I had been reluctant to use too much force in case I shattered it in my attempt to open it up, but the bottom finally came off. Not sure the filter comes out as easily, but at worst, I’ll just leave the bowl off the filter and allow both to air-dry for a day or three. See what happens.
Try Neff Engineering. I used to use a lot of items like that, and many were real odd balls. But they always came thru for me. Might add here that the ideal setup would be the existing regulator/water trap going into a true coalescing air filter. It’s almost as good as a true air dryer, but for about 1/100 of the cost. You can even get a regulator ontop of one from Wilkenson. They even make it with an auto-drain! I had a couple small ones and gave them away thinking I’d never need one in my after life (dumb).
The reg/mt you pictured does have the drain valve, having a little moisture in the trap is okay, it shows that it is working. If you are getting debris through your airbrush then it is coming from something after the moisture trap. Your hose may have decay or been pinched and cracked the rubber lining.
You said you were not using a tank, so rust from the compressor itself is a possibility but it too should be caught by the moisture trap. If your compressor is a sliding vane type the blades inside could be damaged and beginning to deteriorate. Piston type compressors need lubrication from time to time.
If moisture is a constant issue, then where the compressor is located is a high humidity area. You may not think so but when a compressor does its thing, it is squeezing air through the trap separating it from the air. Hence your trap fills up.
Another thing I do with my compressor w/tank is add some alcohol to the tank and to pick up as much moisture as possible. I drain it often. I run the compressor with the bleeder valves open for a few minutes each month to flush the system out.
I use to design and work with compressor systems that are as large or larger than most folks living rooms. Given the volume of air a hobby compressor moves the moisture trap filter should last a long long time if you have no tank. If you are using a tank, then it could become contaminated with rust from the tank or debris from the compressor itself.
You may want to run a dehumidifier in your workshop to keep your humidity at a level around 40-60%. Pick up a humidity gauge at your local hardware store. I have a digital one which works very well and it was about $20.
Oh, if the moisture trap isn’t assembled correctly it will allow water to pass. Usually it is simply an o-ring not in its proper place.
FWIW, I took off the bowl, let it all airdry over a day or two. I’m still only getting about 15 minutes of time before water starts coming through. Condensation appears on the bowl, but not an accumulation of water, for whatever reason.
