Desiccant Breathers and Adapters

The life of a desiccant breather is determined by the following four factors:

1. the number and volume of air cycles flowing in and out through the breather

2. the humidity in the environment

3. the amount of silica gel; a large one lasts longer than a small one

4. the possibility of contaminants coming out of the gear box or hydraulic system (often ignored or overlooked), encoding the silica gel and making it ineffective.

Depending on the following 3 variables, a breather, if properly sized, lasts anywhere from 3 to 6 months:

- How humid the work environment is.
- Intake frequency and volume of breathing.
- How much silica gel is in the breather (relates to the amount of water the breather can hold).

Humid work environments tend to shorten the lifespan of a desiccant breather. This is because as the humidity increases, the silica gel reaches its maximum moisture-holding capacity faster. Once this capacity is reached, no more moisture can be removed from incoming air.

To start at the beginning: according to the Cambridge Library desiccant means: "a substance used to remove moisture from something". Thus: a desiccant breather removes humidity out of the air as it is passing through a filter. The goal is to dry the air before it enters your precious reservoir.

A vent cap is simpler, easier to place and a cheaper solution, but.......

Equiment OEMs include breather caps on the fill port to allow expanded air to escape. However, there is one problem: while the vent caps let air out, they don't prevent small, dirty particles and moisture from entering the equipment. And there the problems start:

- A vent cap only keeps the bugs out and only filters down to about 50 micron.
- Moisture will condense inside your reservoir and water is entering your lubricants.
- Water can accelerate the oil's aging rate tenfold, resulting in sludge, varnish.....
- Dirt particles can damage bearings, valves and gears by wearing away the critical surfaces.

For applications where fine particle filtration is critical, Air Sentry offers a High Capacity Air Filter. The GHCAF filters particulate down to less than 1/3 of a micron, for true HEPA filtration. The pleated filter element holds substantial quantities of particulate for use in high dust environments, and the 0.3 micron filtration eliminates even bacteria size particles.

This versatile addition to the GUARDIAN line up can be used as a stand-alone particle filter, or can be used in conjunction with a standard desiccant GUARDIAN for the ultimate in particle and moisture elimination.

Suitable for the most extreme conditions.
It’s an extra protective barrier between your Guardian unit and excessively dusty environments.

Some of the customer benefits are:
- eliminating contamination
- preventing rust and corrosion
- increased oil and filter life
- reduction of machine downtime
- reduced abrasive wear
- improved lubricant performance
- removal water contamination of reservoir