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Looking for a cheap/inexpensive compressed air drying method or system.

Anyone got any good ideas? Is it possible?

What do you have in mind?

how dry does it have to be?
are you painting, for use with air tools or is this a special application?

Harbor Freight has this for $299
But you could use a desicant air dryer Grainger has this one for $72

I came up with a filter-free drying system that worked really well. All it needed was a cooling coil from an old deep freeze! You plumb it into the outlet line from your compressor & positioned in front of the compressor's pulley/cooling fan, followed by an oil/water seperator, then into your tank. Plumb in another water seperator in the outlet line of yhour system (just before your hosae connector). It works like this: as you compress air, it gets hot, and it holds a LOT of moisture. If you can cool it before it goes into the tank (i.e., via the cooling coil), 99% of the moisture will condense out (it really works!) into the water seperator. Then the air goes into the tank. As you release the pressure some more (by releasing some of the air in the tank into the hose), the pressure (and temperature) drops again, and what little moisture still there will condense out into the second water seperator. What comes out the hose is absolutely dry and clean. My secondary seperator only collected about 1-2 drops of moisture per year, and there has NEVER been a drop of water in the tank. And, no filters to change! My cooling coil was out of an old deep freeze, and was 1/4" NPT in and out, just like normal iar fittings. Couldn't be easier

Sorry for the late reply.

I'm planning on doing a little painting/gelcoat work. Not alot but enough that I'd like dry air. Not so much worried about the tools, just water in the paint.

I have a filter/oil/regulator combination (not installed yet) but I was just curious if there were any other inexpensive methods.

Thanks for the suggestions

At an autobody paint supplier you can get cartidge dryers that screw into the spray gun at the hose fitting. Looks like a fuel filter.