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SMC Water Separator – YIKES!
Immediately downstream of the aux compressor is a water trap or separator. Ours is an SMC brand AMG 150C-N02. I don’t use the aux compressor much because there isn’t much need for it on a Prevost like ours. The main thing I need from the aux system when parked are the genny air bags. Anyhow, I keep it drained of any water.
Well I noticed thru its little view window that something was growing in it? I ordered a new complete unit(
My guess is after 20 yrs are so the moisture/dampness starts eating/oxidizing the aluminum interior of the unit. So I installed my new complete unit in its place. I also rebuilt/refurbished the old unit, media blasting the corrosion, painting the interior with epoxy paint, and installing a new filter kit. Here’s some pics.
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10 Replies
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The converters never installed a moisture or water trap that was as effective or reliable as the air dryer installed on the Prevost chassis. The water traps in particular when used collect large amounts of water, and if the owners neglect to keep them drained the aux air system can get very damaged with corrosion like you see in the water trap.
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You’re correct Air dryers are the best, but our aux compressor doesn’t/can’t send the air thru the air dryer, so all converters do install water traps/separators downstream of the aux compressor. On my old 1996 beast, Liberty installed three different water traps at different points in the aux system. The other 2 are a Bendix Type E and a Norgren.Without them our aux system wouldn’t last a yr, let alone 20 yrs.
My suggestion to all is: 1) minimize your aux compressor use when able; and 2) to look inside your water traps/separators. You may be surprised what you find.
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Good catch you can install a Norgren filter just before your aux air comes into the little spitter cup and that will be better and then there will be no pressure on it when aux comp is not running so it can not leak from little o rings the versa valve will shut air off going back to compressor
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Liberty thinks one is good, me thinks two is better.
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Nice…
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I have something similiar on my Marathon air side that was described as an auto drain… I can’t seem to figure out how to manually drain it.
My Marathon air makes a lot of water and I would love to figure out a way to solve that problem.
I just replaced the auto drain with a new one as it had a crack in the bowl… but Im not convinved that it does anything at all.
Bill
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What is the part number of your auto drain part ?
I’ll research the part to learn what you have.
Brand name and part number.
AL
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Brand SMC, model 150C-N02BC, element AMG-EL150
Can be purchased on ebay & amazon
Mine are N.C. auto drains. To drain them I unscrew them fully
Everything you ever wanted to know about SMC filters
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I love it…another parts man with the numbers.
Here is another source…. ocaire.com
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The inside of all water traps or separators I have seen tend to exhibit large amounts of corrosion and crud. For some reason the manufacturers of these devices seem to use a lot of aluminum.
If we think about it the water that ends up in the separators is pure. It is nothing more than condensed water vapor or distilled water. So where does the corrosion come from? Pure water. Distilled water does a pretty good job of corroding metals and I often wonder why aluminum is used instead of some metals that are not prone to corrosion. I would guess brass would be a better choice, and stainless steel likely would be the best option.
Moisture in the pneumatic system of our coaches will corrode the inside of the various devices just as much as it does with water traps and separators so we as owners really need to be aware of the potential for damage and make certain our pneumatic systems are free of moisture.
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