New filter stack ideas for my Bauer Mariner 190

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.It took about 5 hours to connect everything up as well as 2 hours at the supplier to order all parts in as they didn't stock much high pressure stainless fittings.
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OK so 5 Hours of work and all those used parts against a simple new Bauer shell replacement and what 20 minutes of your time. So be it a Frankenstein build it is.

First off, before we take bets looking at that photo I guess welding is not on your CV list of things you do. So I give it no more than 20 hours running before that baseplate welded to the blue paint breaks off.

Second I wonder just how your going to drain the filter when you choose to replace the cartridge
Cant use the drain valve on the separator as the check valve on the discharge left side will stop it. And I cant see a drain valve in the filter shell inlet or outlet.

Third. Those two 1/4 OD tube to female NPT connections one on the inlet male/female line valve and the other on the left side of the discharge gauge They look like flared fittings. If so in addition to a welder this simple job now needs to stretch to having a 1/4 OD flaring tool and tube clamp to make the JIC 37 degree flares on the stainless 1/4 OD HP tube ends.

Forth: They also look like cheap plated steel fittings not a big deal on the large tower as I can see they fit into a couple of stainless adaptors into the aluminium filter but into that small separator wont be long before internal rust starts to swell the thread and damages the soft aluminium separator shell threads or galls them in solid.

Fifth: That LF black filter tower looks odd, I'm taking a guess that you bought it second hand. If you take a look at the hard anodised black filter shell and then the clear aluminium base its not a genuine part. So the black shell is genuine LF part but the clear silver base is a counterfeit. You look close at the machine turning or grooves on the black tower then compare them to the clear aluminium base, Again more bets on that they don't match and the base was some home made lash up on a pressure vessel.

Either way you look at it its now the real deal Frankenstein build which is a shame as its now cost you more to do it and got you less in the long term. And all for what?

1. 5 hours of work
2. Needing a small welding rig
3. Also a small 37 degree flaring tool and clamp
4. Butchering a perfectly good Bauer blue frame
5. A bucket load of parts some of which are second hand
6. And a filter shell base that's a counterfeit pressure part
7. Plated steel tapered fittings into soft tapered anodized aluminium parts separator and BPR
8. Plated steel tapered fitting rusting away on the wet side of the build.

For a job that will fall apart with a cant weld don't weld welder and a filter system you can't drain.
For a compressor your going to find hard to sell now as a genuine Bauer Mariner. (or service professionally) Hope dies last.
 
Nino forget about this Frankenstein nonsense.

I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid I can't do that. Hal.

OK lets do Frankenstein contraption build number two.

The first pretty obvious cause for concern is sitting on the outlet side (top) of the Coltri (personal) filter tube
On that sits a small silver Swagelok (Nupro) ported relief valve that has been substituted I'm guessing as an in line back pressure regulator. Now I would like to know exactly the model number laser markings on the opposite side of that relief valve.

But while we wait for a response the reason is how come that the Nupro relief valve is threaded into the Coltri tube all the way down into it. Coltri use a parallel thread on those little filter tubes and Swagelok use a 1/4 NPT or BSPT taper thread. Looks like a miss match of threads in a high pressure part.

The Coltri small personal filter uses neither hence like those cheap Chinese air gun filters we discussed earlier why those threaded taper fitting screw in so deep you don't see any thread. One is down to poor manufacturing the other I suspect is miss matched threads. For starters.
 
OK so 5 Hours of work and all those used parts against a simple new Bauer shell replacement and what 20 minutes of your time. So be it a Frankenstein build it is.

First off, before we take bets looking at that photo I guess welding is not on your CV list of things you do. So I give it no more than 20 hours running before that baseplate welded to the blue paint breaks off.

Yes you are correct welding isn't my thing at all so will see how long it will actually last, maybe I'll even get 21 hours out of it.

Second I wonder just how your going to drain the filter when you choose to replace the cartridge
Cant use the drain valve on the separator as the check valve on the discharge left side will stop it. And I cant see a drain valve in the filter shell inlet or outlet.

I'm aware of the filter draining issue so I'll have to rectify that as well which won't be hard to do but I'm happy to hear your expert opinion.

Third. Those two 1/4 OD tube to female NPT connections one on the inlet male/female line valve and the other on the left side of the discharge gauge They look like flared fittings. If so in addition to a welder this simple job now needs to stretch to having a 1/4 OD flaring tool and tube clamp to make the JIC 37 degree flares on the stainless 1/4 OD HP tube ends.

I did have a 37 degree flaring tool sitting around so it wasn't much of a hassle.

Forth: They also look like cheap plated steel fittings not a big deal on the large tower as I can see they fit into a couple of stainless adaptors into the aluminium filter but into that small separator wont be long before internal rust starts to swell the thread and damages the soft aluminium separator shell threads or galls them in solid.

I would have to agree on the cheap plated stainless. I'm already waiting on new 316 SS to come in, fortunately they aren't too expensive.

Fifth: That LF black filter tower looks odd, I'm taking a guess that you bought it second hand. If you take a look at the hard anodised black filter shell and then the clear aluminium base its not a genuine part. So the black shell is genuine LF part but the clear silver base is a counterfeit. You look close at the machine turning or grooves on the black tower then compare them to the clear aluminium base, Again more bets on that they don't match and the base was some home made lash up on a pressure vessel.

It's a brand new Mako style tower manufactured by North Shore compressors in the states.

Either way you look at it its now the real deal Frankenstein build which is a shame as its now cost you more to do it and got you less in the long term. And all for what?

1. 5 hours of work
2. Needing a small welding rig
3. Also a small 37 degree flaring tool and clamp
4. Butchering a perfectly good Bauer blue frame
5. A bucket load of parts some of which are second hand
6. And a filter shell base that's a counterfeit pressure part
7. Plated steel tapered fittings into soft tapered anodized aluminium parts separator and BPR
8. Plated steel tapered fitting rusting away on the wet side of the build.

For a job that will fall apart with a cant weld don't weld welder and a filter system you can't drain.
For a compressor your going to find hard to sell now as a genuine Bauer Mariner. (or service professionally) Hope dies last.

I'm not actually looking to sell the compressors and even if I was it would hold its value here down under. I actually didn't pay much for the compressor so I'm happy.
 
I'm not actually looking to sell the compressors and even if I was it would hold its value here down under. I actually didn't pay much for the compressor so I'm happy.

If your happy then who am I to disagree. Just dont give up the day job to take up welding I guess.
Its just a pity you didnt hold off buying all that second hand stuff before considering a professional alternative.
Your still going to need a bleed valve at some point and that welding wont hold up for long.
But out of interest how much did all those second hand parts cost you and the shipping import duty cost US to Aus.
 
If your happy then who am I to disagree. Just dont give up the day job to take up welding I guess.
Its just a pity you didnt hold off buying all that second hand stuff before considering a professional alternative.
Your still going to need a bleed valve at some point and that welding wont hold up for long.
But out of interest how much did all those second hand parts cost you and the shipping import duty cost US to Aus.


To put it into perspective a brand new P21 is about $2500 AUD which would give me less hours per cartridge and I paid less for my "new & and unused" filter stack system.
 
To give a perspective you require accuracy. But I am also aware of our agreed "As long as the customer is happy" mantra. So from my perspective to kick off first the Bauer P21 (it may be known as the P0 in USA It is a little cheaper than the $2500AUD you quote. Its nearer $1400 US Dollars here (UK) nearer $2000 AUS new and that includes the complete assembly with a relief valve, with a built in bleed valve, Back pressure regulator and mounting plate. All of which you already have or had on your original compressor and dont need to buy duplicate.

So all I advocated was you get just the replacement spare bare shell, just the tube, no top cap and no base plug assembly. Just the shell. It was the cheapest solution, keepring the original build specification for that particular Bauer compressor model. Granted you would have needed to get done from a compressor engineer hence the 20 minute labour charge I commented earlier. That was option 1 the cheapest solution with no Frankenstien parts.
 
Option 2. Considering the Triplex design and not being happy using the inner shell wall and the cartridge outer wall as a condenser tower. I see where your concerns are here.

So in addition if you had wanted to extend the filtration life you could have just used the original Bauer P1 as a separator/filter with the new replacement shell fitted and even considered a small repack cartridge in it

Then to make everyone happy just added the additional secondary filter as you have with that black 18 inch tower cost for that is 355 GBP ex works here in UK or around $650 AUS, and then add any of the other small cost parts you need. You could have done the lot for less than $2000 AUS for the P21

What you have bought, that separator tower you don't really need and that would have paid for the Bauer bare shell then add the rest of the small part plumbing bits and still have had money left over to buy that little inline $33 AUS (£18 GBP) stainless bleed valve your still gonna need.
 

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