Shoebox DRY AIR on the cheap

[Motorhead]

Water ... our PCP's Nemesis 
Been experimenting this winter with water filtration and wanted to share the success i have gotten using inexpensive $8 Harbor freight "Desiccant" filters.

Item used is this:


What done was thread 2 together so a bit of redundancy & making sure air was mostly dried out before entering SB compressor.
* Filters shown have @ 13-15 hours run time on them from this winters shooting fills where average humidity has been @ 60%
The 1st one is about done having desiccant about saturated, 2nd one is still dark blue and just now taking on moisture.





So for you Shoe Box owners who ARE NOT filtering for moisture and getting or wanting less Gun and storage tank moisture ?
An inexpensive way to dry up your HPA production on the cheap 

[Wheelchair Bob]

Is the squirrel cage blower needed that much or is your add on overkill?  The new Freedom 8 comes with a small pancake fan and I was trying to figure out if it was sufficient or if the system needed more air moving across all the moving parts to keep the cooler and the resulting air cooler also. It really seems like the small pancake fan is not well enough vented to draw or push enough cool outside air the way it is set up from the factory.  Maybe some vent holes behind and in front of the pistons to draw cool fresh air in the front and blow the heated air out the back?  I would be very interested in your thoughts on the matter.

Wheelchair Bob

[wwonka]

What done was thread 2 together so a bit of redundancy & making sure air was mostly dried out before entering SB compressor.

Thanks - this is v. helpful.

Is there a threading coupling at the top end of the filter built-in and ready to be chained to the second filter?

What's the replacement process once the colour changes completely - do you reuse the container and just replace dessicant inside, or buy a new one?

[Motorhead]

YES ... rebuildable
   
After posting last night UNSCREWED the top cap off the saturated one pouring desiccant beads into a small tin cup.
Placed cup on the corner of the wood stove and went to bed .... this AM all the beads are DARK BLUE once more. So poured them back in and re-secured the cap.

Wa-la done !
Easy Peezy

[Motorhead]

Is the squirrel cage blower needed that much or is your add on overkill?  The new Freedom 8 comes with a small pancake fan and I was trying to figure out if it was sufficient or if the system needed more air moving across all the moving parts to keep the cooler and the resulting air cooler also. It really seems like the small pancake fan is not well enough vented to draw or push enough cool outside air the way it is set up from the factory.  Maybe some vent holes behind and in front of the pistons to draw cool fresh air in the front and blow the heated air out the back?  I would be very interested in your thoughts on the matter.

Wheelchair Bob

SB I own is a 1st gen chain drive W/O any fan and runs HOT without one blowing on cylinders.

[Frank in Fairfield]

Hmmm,
I have 7 of these filters Scott.
Now you tell me I can refresh the beads.
I have cans of these in the safe and the instructions that came with them say to put the can in the oven @ 300 degrees til the pink turns to blue.
I guess with the plastic housing, the best way is to take the beads out, first.
Excellent advice.
On the Benji pump, too:

[rsterne]

30 min. in a toaster oven at 250*F will regenerate the beads.... I use exactly the same setup....

Bob

[Motorhead]

Hmmm,
I have 7 of these filters Scott.
Now you tell me I can refresh the beads.
I have cans of these in the safe and the instructions that came with them say to put the can in the oven @ 300 degrees til the pink turns to blue.
I guess with the plastic housing, the best way is to take the beads out, first.
Excellent advice.
On the Benji pump, too:

Frank,
These filters are clearly marked flow direction ... yours as set up is down side up 
Air in at 1/4 pipe MALE end and out at the black cap 1/4 pipe Female end is how there set up.
* Likely has to do with the Sintered bronze filter doing a pre-filter before air enters desiccant cavity 

Tho ... in application under such low air flow as a hand pump, likely makes little difference

[Frank in Fairfield]

Ok

I will turn that bad boy around...

[Sfttailrdr46]

And here I thought the HF desiccant filters were throw away now you tell me the top can be unscrewed . Thanks Scott now I really feel like a dumb butt. So do you think that double up works better ?

[Motorhead]

And here I thought the HF desiccant filters were throw away now you tell me the top can be unscrewed . Thanks Scott now I really feel like a dumb butt. So do you think that double up works better ?

Being quantity of desiccant is not much per unit, did a double up for redundancy and just a tad more chance NO moisture gets into the SB compressor, tanks & guns.

Clearly seen is that the first one is taking on moisture and not necessarily catching it all .... Second one is there for that reason 

[Frank in Fairfield]

After turning the filter around on the Benji Pump, I looked at my setup on the Shoebox.
Had that one backwards, too.
Now that I know we can refresh the beads, I will double them up too, going into the SB.

[Motorhead]

After turning the filter around on the Benji Pump, I looked at my setup on the Shoebox.
Had that one backwards, too.
Now that I know we can refresh the beads, I will double them up too, going into the SB.

Those darn pesky FLOW ARROWS   

[HYspd]

well foooo...
as if needed more proof I'm crazy instead of stupid...
that exactly what I'm gonna do with my Shoebox..

I say "gonna" cause the local spring cleaning sales
start on April Fool's Day so I have had the 'box
sitting here for a week biting my nails while I wait
for the compressors to go on sale...I NEED air!

being in the south where the humidity is higher than
the average of the local IQs water control is worthy
of concern...dual inline dryers from Harbor Freight
is my chosen solution too...

although I may end up with one of those dryers that
is the size of a 45 minute SCBA tank in the end...

[Humdinger]

For $48 shipped from Zoro Tools, you can get a high quality Wilkerson X06-02-000 desiccant filter with an easy removable snap on bowl and rechargeable desiccant blue beads that will last for many many recharges.  I only have to recharge mine about every 30 hours of Shoebox Freedom 8 runtime.  My understanding was that those Harbor Freight $8 apiece filters weren't meant to be taken apart but thrown away after they get saturated.  Wilkerson makes even larger filters but they are overkill and dwarf the Shoebox.  They are over $120 and would be like putting a 100 gallon gas tank on a VW Beetle.  The Wilkerson is user friendly, doesn't require a double filter, and is the perfect desiccan't filter for a Freedom 8 or Shoebox Max.

[Sfttailrdr46]

  Black & Decker toaster oven 40 minutes at 140* f and beads are nice and blue again with the HF descant dryers

[Case Stuffer]

YES ... rebuildable
   
After posting last night UNSCREWED the top cap off the saturated one pouring desiccant beads into a small tin cup.
Placed cup on the corner of the wood stove and went to bed .... this AM all the beads are DARK BLUE once more. So poured them back in and re-secured the cap.

Wa-la done !
Easy Peezy

Thank you for pointing out these (see OP)    are capable of being recharged.

I purchased a couple of the orange Motor Guard ones and they are a sealed unit so no simple way to dry them. Then I went and made this one so my MotorGuard may last foreve.


FWIW I have read that some of this color changing Silicant bead desiccant should not be dried at over 250F as it decreases its effectiveness.

[marty2]

Purchased the SB Freedom 8 and Joe B's HP filter as a combo used. Wanted to dry the air coming into the SB as best as I could. I was using the Motorgaurd filters in tandem and getting about 3 hours out of each. At $9 a pop and not being serviceable this could get quite costly in he long run.
I ordered the coalescing/desiccant combo filter from Amazon. I had the small coalescing filter on hand. I fill the coffee can that the coalescing filter sits in with ice to cool the air and it removes some moisture. Works well. Ran the SB for 4 hours yesterday and the desiccant beads still look like the have a lot of life in them and no moisture came out of the HP filter when I bled it.Need to make a better setup for mounting the filters though.

My setup.
Scott... your valve works great no issues, thanks again.