shop air lines .

dr sportster

Well-known Member
Getting ready to plumb in air lines and need a diagram of a good set-up. I had one from Sharpe Corp but can't find it .Anybody got any good links?
 
Diagrams are not needed, just a few guide lines. Water is your enemy. Use some sort of ridge pipe or tubing that doesn't sag where water would collect. Slant the pipe so water drains back to the compressor or forward to a water trap. Make it at least 30ft long and use a larger diameter for a slower air speed within the pipe.
 

I've been meaning to run some airlines in my shop. I've meant to do it for about the last 18 years or so. Last year I bought a new, 60 foot air hose and ran it up over the rafters to the other end of the shop. Problem solved.
 
Dr.
Years ago, I helped a guy set up air lines for his body shop. We used, as one would expect, used galvanized pipe, had drop legs and valves at the bottom to get rid of condensation. Made a redneck condenser which consisted of a 50 ft coil of 1/2 copper inside the top freezer section and old refrigerator that wasn't the newer frost free kind. Ran copper through drain to refrigerator section where we had a water trap, filter device with a stone screen. Had to empty it often in the summer. Had water filters at each place we connected air lines. The finally we had take apart toilet paper air filter. That air was used for painting cars. Toilet paper not only removed water, any oil that can cause fish eyes.

Is you have a 7.5 hp air compressor running non stop in Indiana's hot humid summer time air, you can never have enough ways to dry the air.
geo
 
One other thing you might think about is to use say a 2 or 3 inch pipe so as to increase your working tank size. Back when I worked at tracker marine they uses air for most stuff and due to having so much air piping they did not use a tank but did used pipe that was around 2 or 3 inches in diameter so the pipe worked as a tank in that system
 
Tees for hose couplings off the main line should point up to keep condensation out of the hoses. The main line should have fall away from the compressor and a drain valve at that end.
 
Search "shop air line piping", you'll get several to look at.

I like galvanized pipe, so when some water gets through, at least it won't be red water!

Always come off the top of the main line, use lots of tees and plugs, unions, ball valves. Makes it easier to add a drop later.

The timed auto drain valves have gotten cheap, they are great!
 
BTW, BIL used 1/2 cpvc to do his flordia play shop. He rarely uses compressed air. Just wanted to keep compressor and noise under carport, not inside.
 
Timed no air loss drains are great. I like the 7.5HP Gardener Denver with the auto drain. Every time the pressure switch shuts down it spits out water, that and a dryer your good to go. Do not use PVC piping. The oil in the new style compressors eats away at it and over time may explode.
 
I went from one corner, along the wall, and up to the back side of the bench with an air hose. I used cheap pvc pipe to run it through and connected it to the bottom board of the wall to protect it from damage. Used an elbow and some pipe and another elbow with an air chuck on it and attached it to the wall, then slid the bench up to the wall. I put a regulator in the line by the tank so I can adjust the pressure. Im sure you have more than one line you want to run though.
 
I saw this in the June issue of Progressive Farmer. This is a picture of the 2 pages. If you cannot read it i could scan it and email if you want. Sorry I don't know why it turned one 90 degrees and don't know how to rotate it
a227961.jpg

a227962.jpg
 


here's the chart I followed... used 3/4" galv pipe for header with flex hose at compressor and 1/2" for the drops... also use 3/8" hose couplings instead of 1/4" gives you 50% more air at tools

john
 
(quoted from post at 08:35:54 05/28/16)

here's the chart I followed... used 3/4" galv pipe for header with flex hose at compressor and 1/2" for the drops... also use 3/8" hose couplings instead of 1/4" gives you 50% more air at tools

john


well, that didn't work...j try again... more notes...I didn't have to room for the long header or the money for the 1" line used what I could afford... only in hot summer do I get any appreciable water out... lately compressor had been runnning 6-8 hrs a day on a truck body work project... I also drain my compressor regularly



acpipinglayout3.jpg
 
Might be bad, has worked for BIL for years. I won't use it. Compressed air gets hot. I've seen a guy use a rubber air hose connected to the compressor, redneck compressor, no tank. The heat damage the hose real fast, blew hole in hose.
 
PVC is fine for compressed air if you do it right and keep the pressure 120 psi or lower. The mistake most people make is to do it all in PVC and put the couplers right on the PVC. If you convert to galvanized at the ends and secure the galvanized well to the building where the couplers are there won't be a problem. The first 10 years of my career I worked at a multitude of different shops using PVC and they were breaking it once a month because it was done wrong. Still there was no shrapnel, just a lot of noise. I've had PVC in my own shop for more than 40 years and have never broken a pipe.
 
I am using six inch diameter pipe for the air lines in the shop. I put it in with a slant to one end, and have a drain valve there. I run to the six inch from the compressor tank with truck air lines. When I find a place I need to put in an outlet I just drill a hole and thread it for the air fittings. I do not point these straight down so I don't get the moisture running out into whatever I am using. That big line also acts as lots of extra reservoir. Six inch is about 1 1/2 gallons per running foot.
 
120 is about all small air compressors put out. Some city water pressures are not that much under 120. Not to mention water hammering. Get an air bubble then the water pounds on elbows, removing them from the pipe. Had that happen when water company turned the water on real fast.
 
What kind of pipe are you going to use? I plumbed my shop with black pipe and found that it has a tendency to produce a great deal of moisture. As the air travels through it heats the pipe and forms condensation. If I were to plumb again I would use copper pipe because it dissipates heat fairly well so less condensation. The moisture also causes the pipe to rust. I have to clean the moisture separator of rust occasionally. Don't know what pressures you'll be producing, it its worth considering.
 
I have a good 60 gallon compressor that feeds a 25" hose into the old 60 gallon compressor tank , then through pvc to the rest of the shop . When the hot air expands into the cooler holding tank it releases a lot of water .

The drains on the bottom of both tanks are plumbed out a foot with a 90 degree shut off valve then to old air hoses that are routed outside . I can use my foot to tap the valves open until I hear the lines blowing air , usually 20 - 30 seconds .

pvc has worked well for me and it is easy to add a tee . In the paint booth the air runs through a regulator , double drier set up , then to outlets on each side of the booth . I do not do fine automotive painting , usually just general enamel , 10 - 15 gallons a month if I am lucky , but no problems with fish eyes etc .
 

"not much lower than 120 psi"? I've never heard of city water pressure close to 100 psi, let alone 120. Nominal is usually 60, ours sometimes gets to 80 psi. I think the max is around 85 from a municipal supply but I'm not sure. But close to 120? I doubt it.
 

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