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Balston Cabinet Dryers - Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Where should I mount the Cabinet Dryer?
A. The Cabinet Dryer is supplied with click brackets that may be attached by the supplied screws to the outside of the electrical cabinet, to a supporting structure or to the wall.

Q. Can the Cabinet Dryer be mounted inside the electrical panel.
A. No. The dryer has purge ports that continuously regenerate and remove moisture from the compressed air supply. These ports must be external to the cabinet.

Q. What pressure is the air when it exits the dryer?
A. The air exits the dryer at slightly above atmospheric pressure.

Q. Do I need a pressure regulator after the cabinet dryer?
A. No. The dryer has a built in purge orifice that meters out a small stream of air. This air is just slightly above atmospheric pressure.

Q. Won’t the cabinet build up in pressure and blow the door open?
A. In the Food and Beverage industry, virtually all cabinets are vented through the conduit back to the circuit panel. So the air enters the cabinet absorbs any moisture and vents out through the conduit, keeping the cabinet dry.

Q. What is the effect in the conduit of venting moist air – won’t that just move the problems elsewhere?
A. Since the purge is continuous and the purge air is so dry, the moisture in the air is not significant enough to cause a problem elsewhere.

Q. What does the pre-filter do?
A. To assure long membrane life, we supply the dryer with a high efficiency coalescing pre-filter. This pre-filter removes oil, dirt and liquid water so that the air that goes to the membrane is clean but humid. Any oil and liquid water is automatically drained from the pre-filter.

Q. What does the membrane do?
A. The membrane continuously removes moisture from the compressed air. It uses state of the art, hollow fiber, membrane technology which uses no electricity. Dry air passes through the center bore of the membrane fibers, moisture is attracted to the walls of the fiber and, at the outlet, a small amount of dry air is re-directed to the outside of the fibers and sweep away the moisture. The balance of the dry air purges the inside of the cabinet eliminating moisture and keeping the electronics dry.

Q. Does water come out of the membrane?
A. Not as a liquid, only as a vapor.

Q. Does the air cool the cabinet?
A. The air removes heat by purging the cabinet, though to a lesser extent than a fan.

Q. Is the dryer noisy?
A. The dryer is quiet in operation.

Q. How much purge air is required
A. The dryer uses a small fraction of air to drop the humidity in the compressed air purge to a -7F (-20C) dewpoint. Typically, 15% or less.

Q. How long will the dryer last?
A. The dryer is made from a strong and robust polymer. Given proper pre-filter maintenance, there is no reason the dryer will last 10 years or longer.

Q. What maintenance is required?
A. We recommend that the pre-filter element be changed annually. This is the only maintenance required.

Q. Does the dryer use any desiccants?
A. No the dryer removes moisture from compressed air using state of the art, hollow fiber membrane technology.

Q. How often must the membrane be replaced.
A. The membrane is designed to give years of trouble free operation. As long as the pre-filter is properly maintained, the membrane should last 10 years or longer.

Q. What type of power does it take?
A. The dryer has no electrical connection. It uses a small fraction of the dry air to keep the dryer running.

Q. How long will it take until I see results?
A. This can vary from cabinet to cabinet based on the extent of moisture infiltration. Typically we see a dry cabinet within two weeks or sooner.

Q. How do I know the cabinet Air Dryer is working?  Can you measure the reduction in relative humidity inside the enclosure?
A. Most cabinets dry out within a few days. Then, a simple monitoring of the cabinet will reveal that it remains dry. There are third party moisture meters on the market that can be placed inside the cabinet for a direct measurement.

Q. We use an acid/caustic wash down.  How are the plastic parts affected by acid or caustic washes?  How is it affected longer term?
A. The cabinet dryer is made from tough, chemically resistant, industrial grade plastics and stainless steel. Its construction is similar to other plastic components that you have in your food processing area. Hence, there are no issues with long term exposure.