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Desiccant Breathers and Adapters

Protect your equipment and vital fluids from moisture and particulate.

The Air Sentry® Desiccant Breather series establishes the benchmark for contamination management. These breathers boast advanced functionalities that diminish the presence of particles and moisture, ensuring prolonged endurance for both your equipment and fluids.

This pioneering breather range incorporates check valve innovation within a desiccant breather and provides replaceable cartridges, resulting in substantially decreased maintenance expenses. Its transparent 360-degree design simplifies the inspection of the color-altering silica gel's saturation level, allowing for easy monitoring from a distance. The inert silica gel transitions from a golden hue to a deep green, serving as a clear visual indicator of moisture absorption, affirming the breather's effective performance.

Desiccant Breathers Line-up

Breather D-series

D-Series

Disposable & Stationary
  • Stationary applic.

  • Oil Storage Tank

  • Fluid Reservoir

  • Pumps

  • Gearboxes

  • Transformers

breather l-series

L-Series

Inline-low airflow
  • Vacuum lines

  • Low Pressure compressed air lines

  • Marine Vehicles


breather m-series

M-Series

Heavy Duty
  • Heavy Duty Off-Road Equipment

  • Heavy Mobile Equipment

  • High Temperatures

  • Corrosive Chemicals 

Breather R-series

R-Series

High Vibration
  • Cranes

  • Railroads

  • Farm Implements

  • Construction Vehicles

  • Off-Road Trucks

Breather X-Series

X-Series

Humidity/Dust
  • High Humidity/High Dust Applications

  • Paper Mills

  • Wash-Down Areas

  • Steam-Cleaning Rooms

  • Mine Quarries

Breather XR-series

XR-Series

Extreme Environment
  • Windmills and Wind Power

  • Mining Equipment

  • Mobile Equipment




Breather Z-series

Z-Series

Limited Space
  • Gearboxes

  • Drums

  • Totes 

  • Small Oil Containers




Air Sentry breathers - Guardian

Guardian Breathers

Most applications

The only desiccant breather series that Air Sentry recommends for diesel fuel applications (not recommended for other fuel applications).


Breather adapter kits

Adapter Kits

Our adapter kits serve as the vital link between your filtration system and your specific application. Designed for versatility and efficiency, these adapter kits are available for three essential components: Drums, Gearboxes, and Hydraulic Reservoirs.

Whether you're looking to optimize fluid management in your industrial processes, ensure the longevity of your gearbox, or maintain the hydraulic efficiency of your equipment, our adapter kits are the solution you've been searching for.

Why should I use Desiccant Breathers?

We often get the question: “Why should I use Desiccant Breathers?”. The answer is in fact very obvious. 


It is common, that industrial machines heat up and cool down. And in order to avoid that too much pressure is built up, OEM installed vent caps on the fill port, so that expanded air can escape.

However, where equipment let air out, they also, unfortunately, “welcome” moisture, debris and dirt into the oil reservoir. And although the particles might be as small as 5 microns, they do contaminate the lubricant and damage the bearing gears and valves over time.

Even more critical is the fact, that moisture will condense and add water to your oil.

Knowing that Desiccant Breathers remove contaminants such as dirt and moisture from air entering machinery, sumps and reservoirs, the answer to the question is clear.


The incoming air in the desiccant breather is cleaned and dehydrated through an initial solid particle filter, a container of silica gel and another solid particle filter.


It's a wise decision to stop these contaminants at the source by installing desiccant breathers.

Air Sentry Guardian breathers

How to select the right breather for my application?


Maybe you wonder "How do I select the right breather for my application".  As generally known, many roads lead to Rome, or in this case lead to the Breather you need. Take the road which fits you best:


How Breathers work

The working of the Breather explained


Air Sentry breathers replace existing breather caps or air vents on fluid holding storage tanks, hydraulic reservoirs and gear boxes. More older style venting air methods provide minimal if any contamination control.

Air Sentry breathers provide the FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE in contamination control methodology, utilizing patented designs and featuring colour indicating silica gel and self-cleaning 2-micron filtration.


DIAGRAM 1 indicates how the Air Sentry patented design allows outside air to enter through the 360° opening in the breather’s top cap. The top cap design overhangs the body of the breather protecting it from rain, sleet, snow, as well as most equipment wash-down procedures. 


When contaminated air enters the top of the breather, it passes through a self-cleaning solid particle filter. This filter traps solid particles greater than 2 micron and keeps them from entering the breather which ultimately which wear on your equipment. The filtered air then passes through a bed of silica gel that adsorbs moisture in the air. During this step, up to 95% of the water vapor in the air is filtered out.


Finally, the filtered air passes through an additional 2 micron filter in the bottom of the breather to ensure that no harmful particles will enter the tank or reservoir. This three stage filtration design ensures your equipment gets CLEAN, DRY AIR!


As the colour indicating silica gel adsorbs moisture it changes from gold to dark green. When the silica gel is adsorbed to its capacity (approximately 40% of its original weight), the breather has fully turned dark green. This colour change is easily seen and serves as the visual indication that it is time to remove and replace the disposable breather.



DIAGRAM 2 indicates air being expelled back through the desiccant breather from the equipment it is mounted on. As contaminated air travels this reverse path, expelled water vapors are adsorbed by the silica gel. During this reverse air flow process, the silica gel indicates the presence of excessive moisture inside the reservoir as the gold silica gel turns to dark green from the bottom of the breather rather than from the top of the breather. 


An additional feature located in the bottom of most Air Sentry® models is a layer of carbon impregnated foam. This carbon pad absorbs small amounts of oil vapor exhaled from the tank and protects the silica gel from minor oil mist contamination. Excessive oil mist control may be required. 


Adapters are available for applications with excessive oil mist problems. As the exhausted air passes back through the self cleaning 2-micron filter, located in the top cap of the breather, any particles that were trapped as air entered the system are now back flushed from the filter.



The working of the breather explained


Diagram 1


The working of the breather explained


Diagram 2

Air Sentry Guardian breathers

A tailor-made breather solution in every industry

Automotive Industry
1. Automotive
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Automotive

Recommended Breathers:
  • Guardian-Series
  • X-Series
  • R-Series
  • XR-Series
  • Splash Sentry Adapters
Click here for more information
Bulk Material Handling
2. Bulk Material Handling
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Bulk material handling

Recommended Breathers:
  • Guardian-Series
  • X-Series




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Cement industry
3. Cement
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Cement

Recommended Breathers:
  • Guardian-Series
  • X-Series
  • XR-Series
  • M-Series


Click here for more information
Draglines and shovels industry
4. Draglines and Shovels
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Draglines & Shovels

Recommended Breathers:
  • XR-Series


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Fuel storage
5. Fuel Storage
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Fuel Storage

Recommended breathers & acc.
  • Guardian-Series
  • Compound Indicating Gauge
  • High-Capacity Air Filter
  • Modular Stackable Ring™
  • Shield Wash-Down Cap
  • D-Series
Click here for more information
Gearboxes
6. Gearboxes
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Gearboxes

Recommended breathers & acc.
  • Guardian-Series
  • Compound Indicating Gauge
  • High-Capacity Air Filter
  • Modular Stackable Ring™
  • Shield Wash-Down Cap
  • D-Series
  • L-Series
  • M-Series
  • R-Series
  • XR-Series
  • X-Series
  • Z-Series
Click here for more information
Hydraulic reservoirs
7. Hydraulic Reservoirs
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Hydraulic Reservoirs

Recommended breathers & acc.
  • Guardian-Series
  • Compound Indicating Gauge
  • High-Capacity Air Filter
  • Modular Stackable Ring™
  • Shield Wash-Down Cap
  • D-Series
  • M-Series
  • R-Series
  • X-Series
  • Z-Series
Click here for more information
Railroad
8. Railroad
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Railroad

Recommended breathers
  • Guardian-Series
  • R-Series
Click here for more information
Steel industry
9. Steel Industry
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Steel Industry

Recommended breathers
  • All breather series
Click here for more information
Wastewater treatment
10. Wastewater Treatment
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Wastewater Treatment

Recommended breathers
  • All breather series
Click here for more information
Windturbines
11. Windturbines
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Windturbines

Recommended breathers
  • Guardian breathers
  • XR-Series
Click here for more information
Breather specification charts
Breather Specification Charts
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Air Sentry Breathers

Recommended breathers

Specifications include: Model, Check Valve PSI In/Out, Height, Diameter, Mounting Connection, Silica Gel, Maximum Adsorption Capacity / Air Flow, Maximum Reservoir Fluid Flow, Type of Medium, Isolation Check Valve, Compound Indicating Gauge, Uses Replacement Cartridge

Frequently Asked Questions

                                       

FAQ Desiccant Breathers

Which factors determine life of a desiccant breather?

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.

How long does a breather last?

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.

What are desiccant breathers?

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.

Can't I use a vent cap instead of a breather?

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.

When should the Guardian High Capacity Air Filter be used?

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.

What are the benefits when using desiccant breathers?

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

                                   

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