The importance of dry air..

[everlastsupport]

i have built, without exaggeration, over 1500 of these boat saddles over the past five years. the clips and angle iron that contain the wood are of HOT DIPPED galvanized. big difference between hot dipped and zinc coated. i have suffered no ill effects at all. galvanized is welded every day of the year down here. it is very common around salt water. it appears that you guys that live inland have the biggest problem with it. position yourself correctly, don't work in confined space without exhaust, get a fan!!

in the first photo i am using a carbon arc setup to remove old weld from saddles.

after i finish this post i am headed to the gym, i will be doing forty to fortyfive minutes of cardio on a cross trainer at level 42, same as i was five years ago. i am in my sixties.
i mention this only to illustrate that it can be done with no deleterious effects if you simply take minimal precautions. seriously, you wouldn't suck exhaust from a car, would you?

i have visions of some of you guys going to work in space suits.

that frazinator is interesting i am thinking of adding one to the compressor i use in the field.

Don't get me started. Tack welding all after noon, no gloves. All tack work. Not saying that's the thing to do, but use your head.

The space suits got me to chime in. FDC, was it nice this AM or what. Other than the wind from hurricane Sandy. Had to flip to stick welding for a bit.

Let me know how the franzinator project goes, it has been on my list for some time.

[Shield Arc]

Here are some pictures of an air dryer I built years ago.

Well the pictures didn't up load in order!

[redbeard]

Post #10 in this thread http://allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=1424 has an interesting idea for a simple water cooled dryer. I might just have to try something like that.

[Steve]

How do you drain that? The secret to getting dry air is to keep the moisture that has been removed from the incoming warm air away from the newly dried air. That is the problem I see with the idea of using an air conditioning condenser. The condenser does cool the air but there is no way to drain that moisture out of the air stream quick enough to keep the newly dry air dry. It will pick up the condensation in the condenser and make it wet again.

That is what is nice about the franzinator. It dries the air and keeps the dry air away from the moisture. It also makes the air change direction which also makes the air dryer. Plus it is so simple to make and does not cost much. It is a tried and true idea that seems to work really well. So far I am happy as can be with this simple thing. I'm pulling lots of water out of the air and it is making my plasma cutting much easier. Plus my tools don't have any water coming out of the exhaust ports any more.

On the subject of galvanized metal. Welding it is not a real problem if you use common sense. The guy who died was melting galvanized pipe in a forge and was being exposed to massive amounts of zinc. He did not allow for ventilation or keeping the dust out of his lungs.
As with everything, too much of anything can be harmful.

[Shield Arc]

The system has 6 drains.

[Steve]

The system has 6 drains.

I think 6 drains will work just fine! That is quite a set up there. Very nice.

I have three drains as my system is portable. One on the Franzinator, one on the main tank and one on the external filter. I can move the tank to where I need it or if I need to paint and don't want the air compressor in the same room as where the painting is being done. That is what I like about the Franzinator is that it is so simple and not very expensive. My filter life in my Motorguard filter has been extended by quite a bit since installing the Franzinator.

There are quite a few ways of removing water / oil from the air and the Franzinator is probably the simplest answer I've found so far. I like it because it is almost impossible to damage as it is just some pipe and fittings. It takes up a very small area and costs so little. Again, it does not remove all the water but this with a good air filter and it will get almost all of the water out.

[Shield Arc]

I had a HVAC engineer friend of mine walk me through the build. John, (Franz) added his 2-cents also.

[fdcmiami]

Don't get me started. Tack welding all after noon, no gloves. All tack work. Not saying that's the thing to do, but use your head.

The space suits got me to chime in. FDC, was it nice this AM or what. Other than the wind from hurricane Sandy. Had to flip to stick welding for a bit.

Let me know how the franzinator project goes, it has been on my list for some time.

i will never be a poster child for welding safety protocol as i frequently work in short sleeves and without a glove on the right hand.

it was nice yesterday and today is even better. my dog is doing cartwheels in the back yard. getting through an entire summer season down here (if you work outside or where there is no ac) will make you yearn for days like today.