There are several options.SWBMQCraig wrote:Ok so if i set it up on my air con i would run the oil separator on the exit air line from the compressor and tap in the capillary tube and run it to the inlet air line of the compressor? do you run a little air filter on the inlet too? and if you have it set up with a tank do you have a solenoid on the tank so that it will automatically activate the compressor if it goes below a certain pressure (ie 80psi)?ISUZUROVER wrote:
You can get an oil separator from anywhere that sells parts for tradies compressors.
you want one with a polycarbonate bowl (like the one above) so you can drill ant tap it about 4mm from the bottom to take a small pushlock fitting - phich you can get from festo, sang-a, or anywhere that sells pneumatic parts to industry (same goes for the capillary line).
Thanks Craig
If you run a york like some of us do, it has a seperate sump so loses very little oil.
This is a york. They have a higher output than the barrel type, but take up more room:
If you run a sanden/barrel type, there are several options:
(1) Run it dry, it will eventuually di but they are cheap from a wrecker
(2) Do the mod that sootygu posted in the link above and use grease (a la ENDLESS AIR)
(3) Fit a tool oiler to the inlet, and regularly drain the oil from the filter/coalescer/separator on the outlet side back into the oiler
(4) If you have an engine which breathes heavily, connect the inlet to the engine breather (then drain the filtered oil back into the engine instead of the tool oiler)
(5) my preferred option - use a capillary line to continually recirculate the oil - you just need to periodically drain the water out of the very bottom of the filter/separator bowl (which is why you don't tap the capillary line into the very bottom). You need to put oil into the system when you first set it up, and maybe check every few years that there is still enough oil in there.
You are right that you either need a filter on the intake or plumb it into the air intake system or engine breather system. The capillary line (if fitted) feeds either into the intake or the oil filler hole. On the oulet side you need (at minimum) a filter/separator, an air chuck (connector) and a safety valve (to release excess air). If you want to run an air tank you also need a pressure switch (I use one from an industrial compressor - about $30 new), and a one-way valve (mine is from the vacuum brake line of an 80's japanese car (they are metal, others are plastic) - about $2 from a wrecker.
