how do you stop an air filter from freezing?

I live in Iowa and my work shop doesn't have heat so temps are all over the place. I'm setting up a hypertherm 45 plasma cutter with inline air filter and don't want the moisture collected in the filter to freeze. I'm in and out all day so not practical to move the machine into an insulated space. have thought about wrapping it with heat tape but wonder if anyone has a better idea or can recommend a smaller temperature sensitive heater I could attach to the filter (don't want to use an always-on type) ....any ideas would be appreciated.

update......think I'll try a block heater on it, plugged into a thermostat controlled outlet and see if that works.....better ideas would be appreciated....

Reptile heating pad, or electric blanket. Wouldn't the water in the tank freeze too? Would make purging difficult and it would build up.

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Originally Posted by ryanw

Reptile heating pad, or electric blanket. Wouldn't the water in the tank freeze too? Would make purging difficult and it would build up.

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Would prefer something small and not flammable if possible so a blanket might be too big overall, but I'll check the reptile pad out...good idea. If you mean water in a tank under the cutter I don't have one so no problem there - I'm building a downdraft table similar to one I saw on youtube to get most of the fumes and metal.

I just tested the block heater and it's too much heat to be directly on the filter itself so will mount the filter and pressure gauge on some thicker metal and try the block heater on that.....will post the results soon. thanks for the ideas.......

Maybe a small heat tape, those usually have thermostats.

I meant the compressor tank...mine gets a lot of water in it. I would love to have a downdraft table...

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Originally Posted by bryan2

I live in Iowa and my work shop doesn't have heat so temps are all over the place. I'm setting up a hypertherm 45 plasma cutter with inline air filter and don't want the moisture collected in the filter to freeze. I'm in and out all day so not practical to move the machine into an insulated space. have thought about wrapping it with heat tape but wonder if anyone has a better idea or can recommend a smaller temperature sensitive heater I could attach to the filter (don't want to use an always-on type) ....any ideas would be appreciated.

update......think I'll try a block heater on it, plugged into a thermostat controlled outlet and see if that works.....better ideas would be appreciated....

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I think you have the air filter confused with water separator.

The purpose of the water separator is to remove moisture from incoming air which is condensed into H2O ( water ) modern water separators have a float inside the bowel that lifts when the water reaches a certain level discharging the water from the filter canister.

On the bottom outside of the bowel a needle valve protrudes, I suggest you manually drain the filter when leaving the shop, don't worry about the collected water freezing while the plasma cutter is in use the incoming air will be warm enough to prevent freezing.

You definitely do not want to put the condensed water back into a vapour form.

I use 12 volt battery heater "blankets" on some of the 12 volt automotive batteries I use. They have a silver mylar blanket. They are small. I have also used other such heating "blankets" for projects that are 12v for plugging into the cigarette lighter socket. They are for warming food and such. They all have built in thermostats.

The heat tape might work for you also if you get a good quality shorter one. Most battery blankets you might find for sale are 120v that you plug into a ext cord like most other automotive heaters.

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Originally Posted by alloy2

I think you have the air filter confused with water separator.

The purpose of the water separator is to remove moisture from incoming air which is condensed into H2O ( water ) modern water separators have a float inside the bowel that lifts when the water reaches a certain level discharging the water from the filter canister.

On the bottom outside of the bowel a needle valve protrudes, I suggest you manually drain the filter when leaving the shop, don't worry about the collected water freezing while the plasma cutter is in use the incoming air will be warm enough to prevent freezing.

You definitely do not want to put the condensed water back into a vapour form.

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Right, I understand. I'ill be using both a filter and water separator at the cutter in addition to the one's at the compressor, which is about 40' away and the supply system between isn't ideal.

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Originally Posted by ChildhoodDream

I use 12 volt battery heater "blankets" on some of the 12 volt automotive batteries I use. They have a silver mylar blanket. They are small. I have also used other such heating "blankets" for projects that are 12v for plugging into the cigarette lighter socket. They are for warming food and such. They all have built in thermostats.

The heat tape might work for you also if you get a good quality shorter one. Most battery blankets you might find for sale are 120v that you plug into a ext cord like most other automotive heaters.

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they sound good also.....but was just comparing wattage for sevaral of the ideas and the reptile and similar heaters suggested by ryanw are very low wattage so look to be a better option than the block heater so will see what I can find locally and give it a try.

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Originally Posted by bryan2

Right, I understand. I'ill be using both a filter and water separator at the cutter in addition to the one's at the compressor, which is about 40' away and the supply system between isn't ideal.

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This air / water and oil filter is the type I used when I started my sandblasting company. Good money but the worse job I ever had.

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8ce2ymqs.png

I don't know if it would be practical or not but:

A combination of insulating foam & a heating device might work if there was enough space.

This is hard to explain but imagine putting the air filter inside a cardboard box. Next put in two plastic bags. Next fill the bags with expanding foam sealant like what you get at the hardware store. Let it sit undisturbed overnight and harden up.

What you would end up with is two pieces of foam that form fit around the air filter.

They use a technique that's similar to this for water heater insulation.