When using my Atomstack X30 Pro, occasionally it spits out water through the nozzle of the laser module. I don’t understand how this is happening and why. Possibly being used in the garage and the humidity accumulates in the air assist. It happened yesterday when the garage door was open and I do have a full privacy screen on the garage, and it was a rainy day. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, is there a remedy - possibly putting some kind of a filter on the air assist intake area? The air assist is a genuine Atomstack air assist - which came with the laser. Big large rectangular device with adjustment dial on top.
When you compress air, moisture will accumulate in the compressor or the air lines. When mines compressing, it will bled off some air, along with the accumulated moisture.
People put dryers in the air line to stop this.
I have no idea how you would implement it with your machine… Someone must have had the issue…
Good luck
Moisture traps usually go on the output side of the air line.
I know - the output side of the airline is my laser module that has the air line attached to it.
Not sure about your setup, mine is for cerakote and media blasting and use a oil water filter, followed by a coalescing filter, followed by a desiccant filter. The coalessing filter takes expensive replacement elements so I put the cheap one first to get most of the stuff out. the desiccant just directs the air through a bunch of blue beads that turn pink when full of moisture. A couple hrs in the oven they are blue again. The filters are off the pump on the end of a 25’ hose so allows the air to cool and condense a bit before hitting the filters. If it’s spitting water you need something similar, but maybe on a smaller scale I assume.
I assembled my own but something like this:
Yikes, kind of expensive…
I live in the SW desert, most of the year very very dry… I have a 20 gallon tank and whenever the compressor cycles up, there is a timer to drains the condensate that turns on and off while it running…
Haven gotten any water to the head 
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I think the one I assembled out of parts my coalescing filter cost more then that whole thing. Close to it, anyway. Elements for the coalescing filter are 80 or 90 bucks, so need to hide it behind the cheap Oil/ Water filter.
The one I linked to is 1/2", for a laser could probably find 1/8" or 1/4" parts save some, and just get the oil/ water and the desiccant to save a bit more.
Live in the PNW where we don’t measure humidity, just go by how wet the dog is.
What kind of 20 gallon tank and compressor do you have? What brand and model number if possible?
I have 2 of the California Air “ultra quiet” compressors for inside the house. A 2010ac and a 4620ac. the 2010 is a bit short on volume for a serious air assist, but the 4620 is a champ. It’s a bit noisier than the 2010 but compared to most proper compressors it’s still really quiet. In the adjacent room with the door shut I can just barely hear it cycle. It easily maintains 30 lpm flow with a very safe duty cycle. The 2010 can do 30 lpm but the duty cycle exceeds 50%. I run them in the house with 40-50% humidity and I don’t ever get condensation with just a simple ($15) oil/water trap. It has a manual drain valve, but the bigger units like my 60 gallon have solenoids like Jack mentions.
The big one in the outdoor shop used to spit some water occasionally on humid days if I was doing a lot media blasting so I built a finned copper post cooler and that solved it. Probably not good enough for finish paint but plenty good enough for blasting and equipment painting.
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The California Air is a good compressor. I have the Stealth 20 Gal, advertised at 68db but I think the CA 20 gal 70db has more HP.
It’s got the auto drain… Which scared the 
out of my dog and me every time it opened… Ended up making a muffler for it… Much better… The blue one is the best and what I use now.
It’s probably a lot more air that you really need… I bought this large of a compressor because I also use it for air tools…
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Add an inline moisture trap. A desiccant dryer works well. The desiccant needs to be recharged or replaced when saturated. The length of time between recharges depends on the size of the dryer, the amount of air being used, and of course the local humidity. Silica Gel desiccant is available with color changing beads that turn pink when it is time to renew. I use this on my plasma cutter, air consumption is 8 CFM @ 90 psi. and I can go a couple of weeks between recharges (by baking in an oven at 230F for a few hours).
I have an Atomstack assist pump. The big rectangular one that has the adjustment for airflow on the top. What is the advantage of a true compressor compared to this assist? I believe that pump had airflows from 10-30 L/min. I have 3 lasers with air assist pumps for each, but if it’s possible to have each fed by an air hose splitter to go from one line to 3. I primarily cut with the X30 and if a higher airflow will help, maybe I’d give it a try. Thoughts?
I’ve been running for a few years with this and little moisture comes out normally and I have yet to see any indication that I’m getting any into my machine.
Even when it’s raining outside and I have to move the laser away from the door, haven’t noticed any in the machine…
@vtskiman everyone has an opinion… I think Russ lays it out pretty well. I think he says the little one that comes with the machine is probably sufficient… When you cut, the slot is only as wide as the lasers kerf, so very little air actually gets through. I like to run high pressure of about 50 or 60lbs when I cut anything other than an acrylic based material.
There is also the fact that size of the nozzle holes are larger than the air inlet tube, so clearly the 60psi is not reaching the material. Even with the best conditions.
If anything was worth it, it was the sound of silence compared to all the other compressors I’ve had… You might not have that issue, but I did…
Appreciate the information. Yeah the pumps get a little loud. How long does a 20 gallon air tank last? Ballpark figure time-wise?
About 10 to 15 minutes at low pressure… Nowhere near that at 60psi…
The air exiting the nozzles is louder than my “aquarium” pumps. Even my super quiet 1hp compressor is louder than the nozzles when they’re dumping a real 30lpm. At a “lens purge” 3-5 lpm, the aquarium pumps move forward. Still not as loud as the cooling fans on the diode heads, tho. I think those are similar in level to the nozzles at 30lpm.
If noise is a major concern and aquarium pumps are already too loud, you will not likely find a compressor that suits your needs unless you move it to a separate room or put it in a muffled enclosure. The vibration can also excite the floor and surrounding structures, amplifying noise even more.
If you haven’t already, it may be worth putting a decibel meter (spl meter, dosimeter) to your current setup to establish a baseline. There are a few free phone apps for that. Not as accurate as a calibrated mic but good enough for relative/comparative of background noise. 68-70 decibel rated compressor will be louder in a typical room. I haven’t measured mine, but I can if you’d like.
There are many moisture traps available for compressors and airbrushes… I’d look at the smaller versions… Anything that fits really…
You only need to trap the liquid moisture not the vapor. An Oil & Water separator like this will work fine. A desiccant drier will work too, but it’s meant to take the water vapor out of the air more so than the liquid. The desiccant also requires more maintenance. The oil & water drier just needs the liquid purged out of it. Plumb the drier closer to the laser than to the pump. As air is compressed it heats up and can hold more moisture. As air cools it can not hold as much water and this is when the water turn from vapor to liquid (condensation). The more tubing between the compressor and drier the better. This allow the air in the tube to cool and the water separate out and be caught by the drier.
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