I only drain mine every few months. How often do people do theirs?

Probably a quarter of a cup full at a guess? I'll do it more often.

If anything I would have thought it would make it safer on the basis that you are not there 100% of the time when you leave it pressurised so if it fails it has a less than unity chance of you being there at the time. You may also add to that the repeated stress de-stress cycles may possibly increase the likelyhood of failure.

regards Martin

If by chance you suffered a domestic fire involving a workshop or wherever an air compressor is sited, then the charged air reservoir would constitute an additional extra hazard to firefighters who were called out, especially if they were unaware of its presence in the premises. It's a hazardous enough job as it is.

While I agree that there will be some residual water in the line, it is most certainly not like the trap on a sink or toilet! Have you ever flushed the loo at 100mph? I would suggest that if the rise is substantially shorter than the initial horizontal section and the pipe is mm in diameter, not cm, all would be well.

I leave the drain cock open when the compressor is not in use. I expect a lot of the cheap items never properly drain the receiver of water, anyway.

Edited By not done it yet on 26/05/2021 14:13:17

Likely. But again, not fool-proof. Steel strength changes with temperature.

When I bought my HPC compreessor from the local specialists they advised that the resrvoir should be stored with the drain valve open. Not only will any obvious condensation be removed, but any remaining can drain at leisure.

I blow mine down and drain after every use. The air take off is routed through a water trap / filter into a the regulator for the outlet pressure.

When professional compressed air installations are made, it usual to install take off pints from the main using four way unions. The horizontal connections are to the ring main, the upward facing one is the take off, and the downward facing ones goes to a MT cock, so that moisture can be drained off at point of use.

If the drain pipework runs upwards from the drain point on the reservoir, moisture will remain in the bottom of the pipework, and possibly in the reservoir, which defeats the purpose!

So the condensate drain should always run down, away from the reservoir.

Howard

When a new twin cylinder belt driven compressor with a 200 gallon (910 litre ) receiver was installed, we were advised to drain down at least once a week. This was available 24 /7, and only switched off to drain down.

There were always at least two stoppages, as the drain tap froze, before flinging lumps of ice around the workshop, as it resuming draining. The ring main around the garage had takeoff points, as previously described.

Howard.