Air compressor drain valve.

[iwannadie]

When I bought my compressor used, it had a crappy drain XXXX on the bottom and I replaced it with an OEM craftsman one which was great. It lasted a while and recently it started to leak and I ended up over tightening it trying to stop the leak and broke the bolt :hang: . I was thinking just replace it with the same type but that one I had was a bit of a pain. It had a threaded screw that needed turned and was a pain to get a good grip on.

I was looking at alternatives and see a lot of people use ball valves instead. I decided to go that route for ease of use and longevity hopefully.

I ordered a valve for cheap and am hoping to thread it right to the bottom of my compressor. It may be to long though and I might have to use a 90* elbow. What type of metal elbow should I look to get, I would think brass but is there anything special to look for? Since it's under 125 psi of pressure would it need to be something strong or just regular brass 90* pipe fitting?

 

[magimerlin]

not sure what ball valve you got but... Tractor Supply has a kit for about 18-20 bucks with the valve and the elbows and an extension pipe so it is out from under the compressor.

 

[souske]

brass should be fine, just get the valve far enough our you dont have to reach into the black widow zone under the compressor

 

[iwannadie]

I've never seen a Tractor Supply, I've only herd of them ha. I got my mini valve for like 8 bucks. I has a real short handle so I'm hoping it will just fit under my compressor. I kind of like the valve kept under the tank just to minimize the risk of dropping something and sheering off an extended pipe.

I'm not worried about the reach as my tank is horizontal and not really that bad of a reach under to get at the drain. I was worried if I need an elbow that it would nee to be strong or just normal pipe fitting.

 

[iwannadie]

Got my drain valve and it is pretty nice. It is really small maybe 2" long with a handle thats maybe 1". It empties my compressor really fast and I can open the valve to blast out any moisture and then close it right back up if I want.

Much easier than the old drain XXXX with a screw type valve. Hopefully it will last longer being there's no o-ring to fail.

 

[twmart]

When I bought my NEW compressor, the first thing that I did was to remove the drain valve.
I used galvinized steel 1/4 pipe and elbows to get my ball valve where I could reach it easily. Then I used the 1/4 copper flex like the kind for an ice maker and ran that down the garage wall and out by the door. So when I drain the tank it goes outside.

 

[iwannadie]

That's a good idea to use the flex copper to get the water away from the compressor. Being in Az there's never really been a lot of moisture that comes out of my compressor. I haven't seen any need to have a drain setup that's for sure.

 

[twmart]

That's a good idea to use the flex copper to get the water away from the compressor. Being in Az there's never really been a lot of moisture that comes out of my compressor. I haven't seen any need to have a drain setup that's for sure.

Yeah that and I have the compressor in the back corner of the garage. I think that compressor oil mixed with water smells nasty so its nice to blow that outside into the gutter drain.:laugh: and at the neighbors house:shocked::greensmok