I’m guessing! I actually have two separators and made sure I purged the supply before using the nozzle, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. I guess I need more water extracted from my air supply. I should look into a dryer.

 

Pan left of your blast cabinet, show us your compressor and piping after treatment.

I recently had to verify with Wilkerson that coalescing filters flow "inside out", instead of "outside in" like all other air system filter assemblies.

This effects piping orientation (in/out) to the filter head, and thus water drop out efficiency.

Not that my forgetfulness is your issue... it's just that I recently needed reminding.

 

The blaster and air nozzle are fed from the second smaller separator. I purge the drip leg and both separators, but I’m guessing I need a grid to cool and dry the air. I think the compressor is 60 or 80 gallons. I’ve also got an extra 100 gallon tank tied in with the line going over the top of the compressor for additional volume as well as a hose reel and air drops.

 

Nice 2 Stage compressor pump. It looks as if it is pressure lubricated instead of splash lubricated.

It also looks as if you already have a fan pully cooled intercooler of sorts in between the first and second stage, with the copper coil wrapped around the pump shaft. A good four 360 wraps helps cool the air which helps water drop out when the air expands into the tank.

That you have a second tank also helps water drop out, but your idea of adding a grid of channels with more exposure to ambient (or fan cooled) air would help. Perhaps a you can fashion a fin and tube coil to that big giant fancy shop fan that you recently rebuilt?

Imagine a hook hanging system on the shop fan, where you hang a radiator type heat exchanger rated for 175 PSI at 250 F, and feed it from above with a flexible hose having a quick disconnect once rolled into a suitable position, and then build a short portable quick disconnecting downward oriented rigid discharge pipe below the heat exchanger at the output port that incorporates a deep drip leg T, where the bull of the tee is fitted with a true coalescing filter. Just riffing ideas here unedited as they occur to me while typing.

Looking at the two filters that you do have... they each appear to incorporate a pressure regulator dial at the top. The presence of the regulator function makes me wonder if these devices are filter-regulators, rather than true coalescing filters.

 

Would something like this be more appropriate for my application? Looking at my plumbing,
I'm thinking if I reroute my supply through the other tank I will get less moister in the lines. I will probably do that and the set of coalescing filters I listed.

 

Well after a delay in rebuilding the wheel cylinders (I found cracks in the old ones after honing them and ended up ordering new ones) I received the passenger side cylinders and decided to put them on the truck.





Got the shoes installed. I’ll wait until another day to put the hub and drum on.

 

Yes... absolutely allow the expansion chamber of your second, taller tank to work for you in dropping the moisture out of the air.

Run a copper coil or, loop de loop of several switch backs with a drain point, or an after cooler, enroute between your compressor's tank and your storage tank... thinking of them as a wet tank vs dry tank... or more accurately... a soggy saturated tank vs a moist tank.

I don't comment on products sold on Amazon... but didn't see your edited post until today, which inspired comment.

Only the middle filter of that set up that you linked from Amazon is the coalescing filter. The two outer filters are not coalescing.

I would be inclined to select a larger dedicated coalescing filter from a known brand to obtain replacement bowls, cartridges, and seals that have a knowable and searchable part number for each component. Brands that come to mind are Wilkerson, ARO, Parker (who I think now owns Wilkerson), Norgren, and the like.

A lot more expensive, to be sure, but I find that many nameless import products only look like and pretend to be what they claim to be.

 

The last wheel cylinder was delivered yesterday afternoon. Got the wheel cylinders mounted on the driver’s side.




Got the brake shoes and the air chamber installed. Still have to do the air chamber on the passenger side, then on to the hubs and drums.

 

Your latest thread bump caused me to look at your air compressor tank photo again... the second photo, showing both vertical tanks.

It is hard from the photo to determine exactly how you have these tanks plumbed, but from what can be discerned from the piping that is showing, there appear to be some opportunities to extract more water from your compressed air with your existing equipment, by just changing the piping arrangement (unless there is other plumbing not visible in the photo.)

The compressed air output from the second stage of the compressor pump should enter the first air receiver (that the compressor head is bolted to) in somewhere in the middle of the shell (vertical wall) of that tank.

The air should then exit from the head (top cap) of that first tank, and be piped to somewhere in the middle of the shell (vertical wall) of the secondary air receiver (the taller tank to the left in the photo).

The air should then exit from the head (top cap) of the second tank, and then be piped to service points (through regulators, contaminant filters, coalescing filters, desiccant dryers, and then to service drops with secondary filters for paint, or oilers for tools.

I might suggest a regulator in the line between tanks, such that the first tank might be 175 psi, while the second tank is 120 psi. That pressure drop will allow the second tank to even more water out of the compressed air.

When the air is compressed by the smaller second stage of the pump, and remains compressed through the relatively small diameter of the pipe between the pump and the first tank... when the air enters the larger expanse of the tank itself, the confined air can finally expand in all directions... which is why it is best to plumb the air into the middle of the tank shell. The expansion into a larger space helps knock out the water entrained in the air.

That water will fall to the bottom of the tank, which is why the output from the tank is plumbed out of the top head of the tank. With two tanks, you get two shots at this expansion effect, where compressed air confined in a relatively small diameter pipe can then rapidly expand in all directions again into a larger receiver that knocks out the water.

As it presently appears, the current plumbing in your photo shows a T fitting between your service drop and the secondary tank. In that arrangement, the secondary tank is only serving as a volume storage facility, when it actually could serve double duty as a water knock out chamber if plumbed in series, rather than in parallel with the service drops.

 

A better way to describe it is the amount of heat input from the energy and shear to compress the air becomes distributed over a larger volume of space, with no further heat input, when the air enters a large tank. Since there is no further heat input, and a much larger area to distribute the existing heat, the air cools, as the temperature seeks equilibrium with the surrounding environment. It is this cooling effect that causes the water to precipitate out of the air.

 

I've been looking at it a little myself. I'll try to diagram it out when I get a chance so you can understand my plumbing better.

Thanks!

 

I got the hub on, but realized I don’t have a socket to tighten it. I ordered one on Amazon.

What are the torque specs for this Rockwell RS15120 rear axle;

Hub inner locknut

Hub outer locknut

Axle flange nuts

Lug nuts

 

Here is a better picture of the compressor layout. I’ve had a stomach bug the last couple of days, so just getting back in the shop.
It looks like if I disconnect all my shop air from the main supply at the compressor and tie it to the lower output of the secondary tank, I might have better results

 

For anyone that might be as curious as I am how this brake system works, here is a snapshot of the insides of the air chamber as I've called it. (Parking Brake Chamber)

On the left is the outer housing
In the middle is internal component with the coil spring caged, meaning the parking brake would be disabled. Doing this should allow the vehicle to free wheel and be moved manually.
On the right is the uncaged coil spring from another unit, meaning the parking brake would be engaged.

 

Finally got both hubs assembled.