How to Know When Your Air Compressor Requires an Air Dryer

Air dryers are essential for air compressors. They keep compressors free of moisture, and prevent condensate and rust problems from occurring.

Air compressors produce a lot of water. While this water can be drained, the moisture isn’t removed entirely from the system. Water present in the compressor, in the form of vapor and aerosol, is the most difficult to remove.

Accumulation of this moisture, over time, can cause serious damage to the compressor. It can corrode valves, pipes and even machinery controls.

Malfunctioning of controls, in turn, can bring the production processes to a halt, or impair tools, leading to additional money and time costs. As such, air dryers need to be given due importance.

How to tell when an air compressor needs an air dryer?

Air compressors need an air dryer if one or more of the following problems arise:

The compressor manufacturer specifies “Dry Air” is needed.
Pipelines begin rusting and corroding
Liquid water comes out of your hoses and lines.
Your air tools show water spots
The tool exhaust sprays out water vapor

In most air compressor problems, the root cause is moisture accumulation. It’s therefore important that air compressor users invest in good air dryers. After all, what good is an equipment if it requires spending money on maintenance and repair frequently?

Therefore, invest in a good quality, properly sized air dryer, and increase the life and productivity of your air compressor.

What to look for when buying an air dryer?

The most important thing to keep in mind when buying a compressed air dryer is that the maximum pressure and the capacity of the air dryer (liters per second of the air) must be right for the compressor.

The kind of air dryer, desiccant or refrigerated air dryer, is also a vital call; though, in most cases, the latter, owing to the economy it offers, is considered.

The upfront costs of purchasing the air dryer and its installation aren’t the only costs that are incurred in total. There are other costs that also need to be considered here, such as additional energy consumption and, the way the dryer is regenerated (in case of desiccant air dryers).

For instance, extra drop in pressure caused due to air dryer will require running the compressor at higher pressures, which means more energy consumption.

The bottom line

Air compressors don’t come cheap; they entail significant investments. Moreover, they are used to power some very important tools.

As such, compromising with their efficiency and productivity wouldn’t be wise. Investing in a good air dryer will not only ensure your compressor yields better returns for longer, but also help increase your production levels by reducing equipment failure problems due to moisture, reduce the loss incurred due to moisture-ruined equipment, and increase overall profits of your business. In totality, air dryers are worth every penny spent.

What next?

Need more help in understanding why your air compressor needs an air dryer? Click here for the significance of an air dryer for air compressors.