Carl Froehlich
Well Known Member
Progress made on painting the new RV-8. So far it has gone well. Fuselage and wings are done, now waiting of a few warmer days to finish up the remaining pieces and parts.
As you that have painted a plane know, getting moisture out of the paint air is critical and not all that easy to do. I have three drains on the air system of copper pipes that alway run with an up slope. The final trap is in the attached photo. This is a simple thing to make, 50’ of tubing coiled in a Walmart plastic tube with water and a couple of jugs of ice floating in them. It is amazing how much water comes out of it. Air goes in the top of the coil, the drain is on the bottom of the PVC pipe - extending out of the tub, the hole sealed with flox. Note the air hose coming out of the tub and going into the paint booth also runs up hill.
This one is made with 3/8” aluminum tubing from ACS. Next time I’ll use copper tubing as the aluminum corrosion is fairly rapid if you let it sit in the water for days on end.
Carl
As you that have painted a plane know, getting moisture out of the paint air is critical and not all that easy to do. I have three drains on the air system of copper pipes that alway run with an up slope. The final trap is in the attached photo. This is a simple thing to make, 50’ of tubing coiled in a Walmart plastic tube with water and a couple of jugs of ice floating in them. It is amazing how much water comes out of it. Air goes in the top of the coil, the drain is on the bottom of the PVC pipe - extending out of the tub, the hole sealed with flox. Note the air hose coming out of the tub and going into the paint booth also runs up hill.
This one is made with 3/8” aluminum tubing from ACS. Next time I’ll use copper tubing as the aluminum corrosion is fairly rapid if you let it sit in the water for days on end.
Carl