Jdw12345 Posted Tuesday at 12:56 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 12:56 AM (edited) We purchased our coach 3 years ago and one item I serviced after our purchase was the air drier desiccant filter/cartrage, I had decided that I would service the air drier in 3 years regardless of mileage. I’m a curious kinda guy in regards to how things work and what makes things work and what’s in there! So today being our 3 year anniversary of ownership I changed out the desiccant/filter and decided to cut it apart to see what was in there! I tried a standard filter cutter but it didn’t have a tall enough cut to get below the crimped end so I had to use a air grinder to finish the job, so here are the pictures of today’s adventure. I use only Waco desiccant cartridges. You can see the moisture on top of the cartridge internal mounting plate. The tool that didn’t work. A fair amount of moisture. It appears to me that the incoming air goes up the center and then works its way through the filter and desiccant and purges to the outside. The desiccant. Empty desiccant container and I believe that’s the air filter. Assembly broke down. Edited Tuesday at 01:05 AM by Jdw12345 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo84 Posted Tuesday at 07:00 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 07:00 AM Was always curious as well. Doesn't seem that bad after 3 years. Nice job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdw12345 Posted Tuesday at 02:24 PM Author Share Posted Tuesday at 02:24 PM A couple of additional things that I forgot to mention, we’ve put about 24 thousand miles on the coach since I changed the cartridge/filter last, I drained all the air from the tanks before I started swapping out the cartridge, after I changed the cartridge I started the coach and rolled back under the coach and watched the first discharge of the air dryer, seemed to be a fair amount of moisture getting purged out so that was interesting! All my years of being in the trucking business I didn’t take the time to cut a cartridge apart but I specked my trucks with Bendix AD9’s, they’re simple and effective air dryers but it’s more labor intensive to service them, I changed the cartridge out yearly just prior to winter on the trucks, don’t know if you can even order the AD9 on new equipment today, a bit easier just screwing on a cartridge on the new style dryers. I would be interested to see an aftermarket cartridge cut apart to see if they have any differences. I’m kind of an air dryer cartridge snob in regards to manufacturers parts and cartridges. I did install the Wabco Oil Coalescing cartridge, not the Waco filter listed above, lol! Jmo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted Tuesday at 02:52 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 02:52 PM What climate are you usually driving in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoadTripper2084 Posted Tuesday at 02:57 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 02:57 PM Interesting to see, thanks for posting. Approx. how many inches of desiccant are there in the filter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted Tuesday at 05:24 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 05:24 PM Theoretically, the desiccant regenerates with every cycle of the air compressor, with low pressure air pulling moisture out of the dryer as it purges. So the life of the unit is determined more by how much oil gets through the compressor and how well the filter traps it, than by the moisture of the air going through it. That much desiccant wouldn't last a week of trucking in humid climates without regenerating. That filter/dryer looks fine, just as expected, right? I'd think the air comes in the outside, then down through the beads and out the clean center. Reverses flow to purge out the outside. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdw12345 Posted Tuesday at 06:46 PM Author Share Posted Tuesday at 06:46 PM (edited) As quoted above, I believe that you are correct, I didn’t interpret it correctly. I'd think the air comes in the outside, then down through the beads and out the clean center. Reverses flow to purge out the outside. 3 hours ago, RoadTripper2084 said: Interesting to see, thanks for posting. Approx. how many inches of desiccant are there in the filter? Probably about 4ish or so. 3 hours ago, 96 EVO said: What climate are you usually driving in? We live in Mn but we have been from Mn to Tn, Alabama and everything west with exception of Nevada in the last three years. Edited Tuesday at 06:51 PM by Jdw12345 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennis.mcdonaugh Posted Tuesday at 07:08 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 07:08 PM I know when the Haldex Midland Pure Air Plus air dryer fails those beads can be spread throughout the system causing problems that are difficult to clean up. It's cheap insurance to replace that filter regularly. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J A Posted Tuesday at 09:18 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 09:18 PM (edited) 20 hours ago, Jdw12345 said: We purchased our coach 3 years ago and one item I serviced after our purchase was the air drier desiccant filter/cartrage, I had decided that I would service the air drier in 3 years regardless of mileage. I’m a curious kinda guy in regards to how things work and what makes things work and what’s in there! So today being our 3 year anniversary of ownership I changed out the desiccant/filter and decided to cut it apart to see what was in there! I tried a standard filter cutter but it didn’t have a tall enough cut to get below the crimped end so I had to use a air grinder to finish the job, so here are the pictures of today’s adventure. I use only Waco desiccant cartridges. You can see the moisture on top of the cartridge internal mounting plate. The tool that didn’t work. A fair amount of moisture. It appears to me that the incoming air goes up the center and then works its way through the filter and desiccant and purges to the outside. The desiccant. Empty desiccant container and I believe that’s the air filter. Assembly broke down. Interesting informative post Jeff. T y. Edited Tuesday at 09:21 PM by Paul J A clarify Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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