ABAC COOL 15 Refrigerated Air Dryer - 115V Single-Phase, 232 PSI Max, R-134a

The ABAC COOL 15 is a refrigerated air dryer that pulls moisture out of compressed air before it reaches your tools, air lines and finishing work. It runs on standard 115V 60 Hz shop power, so it plugs in beside a single-phase compressor without new wiring, and its maximum working pressure of 232 PSI covers every reciprocating and rotary screw compressor in the ABAC range. COOL 15 is carried as code C0 in the COOL 15-100 UL manual, the entry size of the range, and the vertical cabinet claims only 1.4 square feet of floor.

Key specifications

• Model: COOL 15 (code C0)
• Part number: 4102006312
• Type: refrigerated compressed air dryer, hot gas bypass design
• Air treatment capacity: 15 CFM (350 l/min, 21 m3/h) at reference conditions
• Maximum working pressure: 232 PSI (16 bar)
• Power supply: 115V, single phase, 60 Hz
• Nominal power: 159 W at 60 Hz (132 W refrigeration compressor plus 27 W fan), 132 W at 50 Hz
• Inlet and outlet connections: 1/2 in NPT
• Refrigerant: R-134a, 0.26 lb (0.120 kg) charge, GWP 1300
• Rated pressure dew point: 45 F (7 C) across the COOL range
• Incoming air temperature: 50 F to 122 F (10 C to 50 C)
• Operating room temperature: 41 F to 104 F (5 C to 40 C)
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 9.2 x 21.6 x 22 in (233 x 550 x 560 mm), footprint 1.4 sq ft
• Weight: 42 lb (19 kg)
• Condensate removal: automatic condensate drain
• Monitoring: front panel dew point indicator, stop and run button
• Brand: ABAC, part of the Atlas Copco group

Typical applications

Paint and body shops, cabinet and woodworking shops, pneumatic tools and control systems, packaging lines, injection molding, car shops and tire inflation benches, and any shop where water in the air line is blowing out finishes, rusting tools and fittings, or freezing an outdoor drop in winter. A refrigerated dryer chills the compressed air so the water condenses, drains it away, and sends dry air down the line, which is the most straightforward way to stop moisture damage downstream of a compressor.

How the COOL range works

The COOL 15 is a direct expansion chiller built around a refrigerant compressor, an air cooled condenser and fan, an evaporator, and a condensate drain, so the water that comes out of the air is separated and dumped rather than carried down the pipe. A hot gas bypass valve holds refrigeration capacity steady as the load changes and keeps the evaporator from freezing when the shop goes quiet, with an expansion capillary tube and a refrigerant filter on the cooling circuit. A front panel dew point indicator shows where the dryer is running. ABAC rates the COOL range for a 45 F (7 C) pressure dew point, which it notes covers more than 95 percent of industrial compressed air applications, and the simple vertical layout keeps the footprint small while leaving the serviceable parts reachable from the front.

Service and running cost

The COOL 15 carries a small sealed R-134a circuit, 0.26 lb of refrigerant, and draws 159 W at 60 Hz, which is 132 W for the refrigeration compressor and 27 W for the condenser fan. At that draw the dryer costs very little to leave running alongside the compressor, and there is no desiccant to replace and no purge air lost to regeneration, which is the running cost that separates a refrigerated dryer from a desiccant one. ABAC's schedule is short: clean the filter in the condensate drain trap weekly, and clean dust off the condenser fins monthly, doubling both intervals in a dusty shop. The hot gas bypass valve is factory set and is not a field adjustment, so a dew point reading outside its normal band usually points to a dirty condenser, a hot room, or incoming air above the 122 F limit rather than to the valve.

Sizing and installation

Size the dryer to the compressor it follows, not to the pipe it bolts into. At 15 CFM the COOL 15 is the entry point of the range, sized for a small shop or a single drop whose compressor delivers no more than 15 CFM at working pressure. Worth knowing before you choose: ABAC lists the COOL 25 with the same 42 lb cabinet, the same 0.26 lb R-134a charge and the same 159 W draw as the COOL 15, so the next size up costs nothing in floor space or power and buys real headroom. Undersizing is the usual reason a dryer disappoints, so leave room rather than matching a rating exactly.

ABAC quotes its ratings at reference conditions of 95 F incoming air, a 77 F room and 101 PSI working pressure, and publishes limit conditions of 41 F to 104 F in the room with incoming air between 50 F and 122 F. Capacity drops as the room gets hotter and drops harder as incoming air gets hotter, so a dryer sitting in a hot room or close to a compressor discharge will not hold its rating, while higher line pressure works the other way and recovers a little. If the dryer has to live near the compressor, fit an aftercooler ahead of it. The 232 PSI rating means the dryer will not be the weak link behind a 175 PSI two stage reciprocating machine.

Pair it with a coalescing filter upstream for oil carryover and a particulate filter downstream when the work calls for cleaner air, and give the condensate somewhere to go. The COOL 15 sits naturally behind a small single-phase piston air compressor. See the rest of the refrigerated air dryer range and our full air dryers lineup, and call us for the COOL 15 flow rating against your own compressor output and duty cycle before you pipe it in.