I am a Finishing Mgr for a good sized company in CT that specialize in HG. we use a screw/dryer air system. but i still struggle with dirty, moist air which effects my finish. I need a solution to clean dry air. i have talked with compressor companies and it would seem selling me a new compressor is an auto response
clean air solutions for finishing. Any suggestions would be great.

What air filtering system do you have? Are you up to date with maintenance with the dryer? I'd suspect the dryer long before the compressor.

what are your main supply lines made of? iron or something else.if you have old iron pipes they can rust causing all sorts of problems.
many places now sell aluminum piping for compressed air.

The Compressor is an Atlas Copco with built in dryer. We have a cheap oil an water separator as our main "air filtration". The Air pipes were cast iron with the finishing department and the end of a 100 mile mess. I switched this to copper and finishing is now at the beginning of the mess.

we service the Compressor 2x a year. i have been told that the dryer is aged. I am convinced that we need to invest in a high end air filtration system. Our current set up is good for anything under a Satin but Gloss off the gun is impossible and polished jobs require a lot of labor.
i am open to other suggestions.

The main filtration needs to be in the spray booth, not at the compressor. The air needs to cool off before you can effectively remove the condensation. It can be as simple as some common pre filters and then a desiccant filter, but if you are running the booth 8 hours a day, you should invest in a high end filter system.

real simple.......if you have only one inlet to your finishing room. and if you have the budget...........best solution.depending on your air usage. actually would be a good question for you, could help you estimate it.. get a smaller refrigerated dryer. they aren't that much money. then rti dual element at the outlet, coalescing filter and filter element sized for the cfm. how many booths do you have? the point of use filters they are very effective especially after a refrigerated dryer. leave some info, would be happy to share some info. every surgeon wants to operate and every compressor guy says you need a new one. the other question is your compressor a dedicated one for your finishing room.? another way to check your dryer is to feel the inbound and outbound pipe to make sure you feel a big temperature difference between them. what happens over time with dryer is if you a seperator issue in your screw machine, the coils in the refrigerator dryer can shellac over from the oil bypass which in turn will not allow the dryer to achieve its max cooler power because of the "shellac" build up on the cooling coils which is all internal to the naked eye. think of it carbon build up on your engine valves. heat cannot transfer which is the purpose of the dryer. most dryers should give you a very servicable dew point for a finishing operation. my bet is a bad dryer a first pass

I recommend Desiccant Air Filter- Desiccant is a substance that is used to catch or absorb moisture or contaminants. Most professional dry/separator systems have at least one desiccant filter in them but again those systems can be expensive.