Gazz292
Member
- Messages
- 208
- Location
- Scarborough
i mentioned this in a reply to a recent thread about these timed tank drain solenoids that seem popular, but thought i'd start a thread for all to see, as i keep seeing people mentioning the noise issue with them.
My compressor lives in a dog house behind my workshop, switched on and off from inside the workshop by a NVR type button arrangement i made up using a contactor, so except for checking the oil level and that, i don't really go behind the workshop, so i'd not be round there to operate the tank water drain manually often enough.
So i fitted one of those ~£12 chinese solenoid timer drain valves to take care of keeping the tank empty of condensate, i set it to 'fire' for 5 seconds every 45 minutes, and fire it does... it makes such a pop/bang that it never failed once to make me jump.
But i found the solution is very cheap and easy.... an air muffler...
I got one that's an orange plastic thing like this:
They are only a couple of quid or so, available in different thread sizes,
Just screwing this onto the end of the drain valve changed the sharp loud bang/pop to a muffled farty hiss noise, and water comes out of it or course (be useless if it didn't
It really was dramatic how much it quietened the blow off down.
But i didn;t want it blowing the water inside the compressor dog house, and was worried something might chew/eat the filter if i just positioned it outside the dog house... so i used a length of 12mm nylon pipe (the push fit stuff used for truck air brake lines... all my compressor lines are run with that) that extended the drain valve outlet a couple of meters, a couple of push fit to screw on fittings made the connections for the valve end and the muffler end.
Then at the edge of my workshop i dug a little pit, about a foot square or so, dumped a bit of pea gravel down on the bottom, ran the nylon pipe to the edge of the pit, a 90 degree fitting and then a short length of pipe with the muffler on the end so it was just above the bottom,
Then i backfilled it with more pea gravel.
Now i have to be really listening out for the valve blowing off to hear anything at all.
My compressor lives in a dog house behind my workshop, switched on and off from inside the workshop by a NVR type button arrangement i made up using a contactor, so except for checking the oil level and that, i don't really go behind the workshop, so i'd not be round there to operate the tank water drain manually often enough.
So i fitted one of those ~£12 chinese solenoid timer drain valves to take care of keeping the tank empty of condensate, i set it to 'fire' for 5 seconds every 45 minutes, and fire it does... it makes such a pop/bang that it never failed once to make me jump.
But i found the solution is very cheap and easy.... an air muffler...
I got one that's an orange plastic thing like this:
They are only a couple of quid or so, available in different thread sizes,
Pneumatic Plastic Silencer Muffler 1/8" 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" 3/4" 1" PSL Male Thread | eBay
âPneumatic Mufflers Pneumatic Mufflers. âUsed with: Cylinders, Valves, Crank cases, gear boxes, oil tanks, reservoirs, air tools. âHigh quality Polypropylene (PP). âBSP thread: 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", 1".
www.ebay.co.uk
Just screwing this onto the end of the drain valve changed the sharp loud bang/pop to a muffled farty hiss noise, and water comes out of it or course (be useless if it didn't
It really was dramatic how much it quietened the blow off down.
But i didn;t want it blowing the water inside the compressor dog house, and was worried something might chew/eat the filter if i just positioned it outside the dog house... so i used a length of 12mm nylon pipe (the push fit stuff used for truck air brake lines... all my compressor lines are run with that) that extended the drain valve outlet a couple of meters, a couple of push fit to screw on fittings made the connections for the valve end and the muffler end.
Then at the edge of my workshop i dug a little pit, about a foot square or so, dumped a bit of pea gravel down on the bottom, ran the nylon pipe to the edge of the pit, a 90 degree fitting and then a short length of pipe with the muffler on the end so it was just above the bottom,
Then i backfilled it with more pea gravel.
Now i have to be really listening out for the valve blowing off to hear anything at all.