plumbing air lines for the shop

Ok, I'm finally getting around to wiring, insulating, etc. out in the shop, about to move the compressor to final location, and then plumb in some drops around the shop so that I'm not dragging 100' of hose all over the place. Question is, I'll have a couple of runs around 50', won't plan on doing anything more than a 1/2" impact off of those, do I need to run a bigger line than 1/2" black steel pipe? I've got a small sand blasting cabinet, but figure it will be within 15' of the compressor. Just don't want to get all this plumbed in and then find out I screwed up, and I figured someone on here as already gone through all of this :) Thanks guys, and Happy New Year!

1/2" pipe will be fine. You are no where near the volume that can be pushed through a 1/2" pipe. We have 1/2" pipe runs at our plant that run more than 300 feet, on which we run multiple air driven diaphragm pumps with no discernable line loss.

You could do it in 3/8" air HOSE, if you want to make it easy. That's what I did. Pipe threading can be a drag.

DO NOT use PVC pipe. You didn't mention it, so I'm assuming you won't, but some folks try to cheap out on this. Good way to blow out an eye when it ruptures.

I knew that PVC was a no-no, but what about PEX?

I used copper water line for all mine...3/4" from compressor to dryer, 1/2" everywhere else. I also used a flexable SS line from the compressor to the mounted 3/4" line.

Another vote for air hose.

I've done 1/2" black iron one one install and copper on another.

Unless you plan on being there for a long, long time. Just use air lines.

1/2" hose or pipe will be fine for a sandblaster. I only had my customers step up to 3/4" when they were using 1" and spline drive impacts on OTR truck tires.

Shawn

And another vote for hose! I did my shop with 3/8" air hose from Harbor Freight - the rubber Goodyear line. Used those little clips for electrical conduit to attach it to the ceiling. There's a spring-loaded 25' hose reel by my workbench and a 50' reel by the door, and a permanent connection to my bead blasting cabinet.

I figure that if the hose would last for years getting dragged around the floor and occasionally driven over, it'll last a very long time out of harm's way.

Hocrest wrote: I knew that PVC was a no-no, but what about PEX?

I don't know about PEX. I do know there are certain types of ABS that are rated for pressure.

Complete garage air line kit My Vintage Truck magazine just did a review of this product and loved it. You can probably pick it up as the current issue at most big book stores if you want to read more about it.

Harbor Freight kit...looks too easy and under 100 bucks.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66747

There is a preferred way of routing air line for professional type shops but admittedly it's out of reach for most of the home shops.

I would consider using galvanized pipe. My only arguement with the rubber hose is that you can have low spots where condensed water can collect (and it will). Make sure you drain the compressor tank daily. Water is NOT your air tools' friend.

Also use air tool lube every day, PB Blaster air tool treatment every week. Admittedly that's for the daily pro user and YMMV.

I designed and built a few air systems for small a food company in a former life. We did some fancy stuff, like running a main loop in 4in stainless pipe.

Galvanized and regular black iron work perfectly. Copper, as long as it is the heavy wall stuff, works really well too. For a house, I would use air hose. It is very cheap and easy to deal with.

I like that harbor Frieght kit. It is a good idea. I am slightly worried about the push to connect air fittings. I've had some bad experience with cheap push in fittings shattering. http://www.festo.com makes good quality push to connect fittings. You can get them from McMaster. Norgren also makes quality fittings.

As for getting water out of your system.. Ohh Boy I could write a book on this. Most of the compressed air systems I ran were inside refrigerated rooms or freezer warehouses. I've used refrigerated and desiccant dryers. Desiccant is the cheapest and easiest way to go to get the Dew point needed for painting and use in very cold temperatures. Dessicant is available here http://ww2.ecompressedair.com/desiccant.aspx ... According to these directions you can bake it for DIY use to dry it out.. http://forum.caswellplating.com/powder-coating-questions/6995-diy-dessicant-air-dryer.html

Do you need a dryer? Probably not. A filter would work, or a cheap HF dessicant dryer would work as well.

I could write more but I need to watch the baby now and the wife is staring at me with anger in her eyes.

ignorant wrote: I designed and built a few air systems for small a food company in a former life. We did some fancy stuff, like running a main loop in 4in stainless pipe. Galvanized and regular black iron work perfectly. Copper, as long as it is the heavy wall stuff, works really well too. For a house, I would use air hose. It is very cheap and easy to deal with. I like that harbor Frieght kit. It is a good idea. I am slightly worried about the push to connect air fittings. I've had some bad experience with cheap push in fittings shattering. http://www.festo.com makes good quality push to connect fittings. You can get them from McMaster. Norgren also makes quality fittings. As for getting water out of your system.. Ohh Boy I could write a book on this. Most of the compressed air systems I ran were inside refrigerated rooms or freezer warehouses. I've used refrigerated and desiccant dryers. Desiccant is the cheapest and easiest way to go to get the Dew point needed for painting and use in very cold temperatures. Dessicant is available here http://ww2.ecompressedair.com/desiccant.aspx ... According to these directions you can bake it for DIY use to dry it out.. http://forum.caswellplating.com/powder-coating-questions/6995-diy-dessicant-air-dryer.html Do you need a dryer? Probably not. A filter would work, or a cheap HF dessicant dryer would work as well. I could write more but I need to watch the baby now and the wife is staring at me with anger in her eyes.

just noticed you are in GA. You need a dryer on your lines. Too humid.

I'm probably going to do copper water pipe. I hate leaks and I think I can solder a tighter joint than I can screw.

DILYSI Dave wrote: I'm probably going to do copper water pipe. I hate leaks and I think I can solder a tighter joint than I can screw.

Both can be massive problems.

Tapered threads and

or

ftw!

Only problem with galvanized pipe is that there is no current way to quality check the galvanization on the ID of the pipe, so you may get rust scale in your tools if you don't use a filter before the tool. Rust is the same problem with black pipe.

I'm not sold yet on the push in connections, that's why I'm going with black pipe. Main shop area is 30x40, and the secondary area is 50x40. With the black pipe, I don't have to worry about sagging, rubbing where it's going through the connecting wall, etc. I plan on running it in the same style as gas line, with a "dust nipple" drop down at the lowest points to help collect moisture in the line & keep it out of the tools. I'm also planning on doing a dryer as well, but I figure as little extra as it costs, go ahead & do the nipples as well. I'm 40 years old, don't plan on moving from this house & shop, so figure do it right once & let it be done. Teflon tape is nice & cheap, and clean and neat, I'm a big fan of it :) Thanks for your help guys!

Anybody have a good source for a cheap dryer suitable for a humid climate (St. Louis)?

alex wrote: Anybody have a good source for a cheap dryer suitable for a humid climate (St. Louis)?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97686

Dessicant dries the best. Use the valve on the bottom to blow out the water everyonce in a while. Buy color changing desicant so you know when to replace it and then bake the "wet stuff" in your oven to dry it out.

Alternately, You can make a dryer out of a small dorm fridge. But they only dry down to a dew point of 40degF or so. Which isnt that great for paint. Plus it takes electricity to run.

HoserRacing wrote: I'm not sold yet on the push in connections,

FWIW good push in connections work very well. Cheap ones usually break and leak.

All of the automation projects I've ever been part of use push in connections. I've put them on robots that have a rapid traverse of 25mph or so and they don't budge an inch.

They're also coming out with push in connections for copper water pipe. I'm interested in seeing how they work.

As a millwright with easily THOUSANDS of air connections in my plant I gotta say. I LOVE PUSH LOCKS!!!

Good quality ones like pisco brand units are amazing. I find hose barbs and hose clamps leak more frequently than push locks as the hose swells over time due to the pressure. With a push lock any swelling will actually make it seal better.

Dont fear the push lock. These little guys have proved themselves over decades of use in industrial enviroments

They are also the easiest and fastest way to install any air system. Poly line and zipties make any install clean looking as well.

+1 for pushlocks.

Good enough for air brakes, good enough for shop air lines that don't need to stop hundreds of thousands of pounds of loaded rig.

Shawn

Ok, then, I'll look into them Didn't realize they were used so extensively, I had just seen them recently as a panacea for plumbing connections and didn't realize their industry wide usage. Good thing ignorance is curable!

copper. polish it and its pretty, even.

+1 more for push loc's but i did my parent shop in coper and my home in 3/4 iron pipe but i got the pipe for free with 10 ft drops every 5ft. Just had to take it down as the boss didn't like iron pipe....

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I plumbed air hose to a retractable-hose-on-a-reel on the ceiling in the center of the garage. VERY convenient. Lots of P-clips to secure the hose along the way.