Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Carter, I do have a question back on the duct work...or more about duct work. How critical are ducts? Would system output be enough to send cool air across the space?

Have been considering adding AC to my shop and wonder about air distribution.

Really appreciate your thoughts.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Doug,

I actually didn’t have any ductwork for the first month or so and used the system without it. I then ran it for about 3 weeks with nothing but the first piece of ductwork that just came off the air handler and that was a massive improvement. It definitely helped control the humidity, but it wasn’t nearly as cool (or quiet) as it is now. I am lucky in that a very good friend of mine owns a commercial hvac company and most of my duct work was “scrap”. I only had to get him to build the beam drop and the piece off the air handler. The old saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” was proven true on this one.

So, for a starting point, yes the air handler will certainly help. Then you could add ductwork later on.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Thanks Carter. I need a good friend in the AC business!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Here’s a shot of the piece I’m talking about on the air handler. It did quieten down the air handler and it moved the air across the shop quite a bit more.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Man the shop turned out nice. Kinda jealous over here with the duct work.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Yeah, I gotta admit...I love the hvac!!!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Did some wandering around the SEMA show today and ended up buying a tire changer and a *****in’ sand blasting cabinet. I’m also going to go looking for a good 4-post lift for vertical vehicle storage.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

That is a fun shopping trip!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Yeah, I have been savin’ up!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

New tools is always nice!!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I didn’t find any tools or such today, we checked out rides and such today. We got SO MANY free koozies, lanyards & pens. Oh, and a bunch of cool cars, trucks and such. (And some terrible ones too)

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I did get the okay from the better half on buying one of these... it’s 14’x27’x12’ and turns the air over 36ish times an hour. That’s pretty impressive after talking to some of the big boy unit reps and only the really high dollar ones got to 50 times an hour. And, this unit breaks down and fits in a 35 gallon “trash-can” looking container, so I get that floor space back.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

NICE,!!!.....I've been eyeing one of those.....it would be way better than doing it in the driveway

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Man that's nice. Good thing about it fitting in a trash can is it'll be easy to loan out to people like me. :fro:

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

^^^ :lol: I didn’t buy it yet as I’m trying to get a buddy of mine (who does ALOT of painting) to go halves with me. If he doesn’t, I have through the end of November to get the show price.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I bet you know a good buddy of mine. He actually moved from Morris to Hayden too. I'm sending you a PM.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I have heard his name, but not sure I could pick him out of a lineup. :lol:

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I bought a few new toys for the shop last week. I got the blast cabinet and the mounting machine picked up, but have to go Tuesday to get the balancer. Love me some GovDeals.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Nice and awesome additions to your shop!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Nice!!!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Thanks guys!!!

I’m off for the next 4 days, so I’m going to be pulling power and air drops to the balancer, mounting machine & the new blasting cabinet.

Then I have to finish the serpentine drive and a/c install on Vern.

Oh...& spending time with kids and the granddaughter...that’ll take presedence!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Shop is Looking good. What is the info on the blowup paint booth? Looks cool!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I talked myself out of it as I don’t really do enough paint work that I need it. ...and my buddy chickened out. So I bought some other stuff I didn’t really need....but I wanted. At least the mounting machine & balancer can be used for servicing all my personal and work vehicles.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Well, I got the sandblasting cabinet refurbed...aka, new tempered glass for the light housing and viewing window, LED bulbs for much light and new’ish plumbing for the dedicated vacuum.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I also got the tire machine and balancer wired in and they both seem to work flawlessly. My first test wheel/Tire was a Boss 338 that I’ve had for at least 10 years and I’d never balanced them. So, they are all now balanced and ready for a truck to live on.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I’ve still got to put dedicated airlines throughout the shop as I’m still dragging an airline all over the shop. That’s getting to be aggravating.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Hey Carter,
I installed this kit and plan on buying another to add more drops. I run 120+ psi. for about 2 years now and have not had a problem.

They have drain valves at each drop and I added a regulator, water trap, and dyer at the compressor. We used it to paint my truck and the air was clean and dry. I have a 6hp 80 gallon compressor

This is an amazon link but you can get it anywhere and sometimes cheaper too.

3/4" maxline garage air piping kit
Good luck Scott

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

That's the same kit I went with. I did a complete loop around the shop, drain and shutoff at every station, filter and a "cooler" using black iron pipe and drain at every low point. I've only ever really drain water out of the iron pipe.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Cool! I’ve been looking at that kit, but I was afraid of the cost of additional pieces and parts I may need. I’ll need/want 5 drops, so I’m concerned what all the extra pieces parts will run. Looks like Northern Tool sells the maxline stuff, so I could get pieces and parts.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Maybe the best to buy an additional kit instead of peices. I got mine on eBay as it was no shipping and no tax.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Okay, I ordered the M7500 kit and a few extra ‘T’s and 2 extra manifolds.

Ryan, how about some pics of your filter & “cooler” setup. Sounds like a good way to keep the moisture under control.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I’m hoping to start the airline install tomorrow. I bought a few extra pieces and parts today so I can hopefully make a good start on getting this up & running. I’ve got (2) 50’ Goodyear hose reels, one on each end of the shop. So, I’ll have a drop for each of those, one for the Tire machine, one for the sandblasting cabinet and one on the 2-post lift. Each drop will have a ‘T’ so I can have an open plug in all the locations. I shouldn’t be hurting for air!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Looking forward to your updates as I need to something similar. Tired of dragging a hose across the shop.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Well, I was suppose to have started last week, but that was an epic fail. Christmas, family, selling & buying a couple of vehicles took presidence.

I finally got around to working on the install today. I ended up adding a 3rd hose reel on the 2-post lift. I’ve got to run to Lowe’s tomorrow to buy a few more fittings and such to complete the install. I will say that I really like the RapidAir pieces and concept. Once I get everything buttoned up (hopefully tomorrow) I’ll pressurize the system and check for leaks and such. Crossing my fingers as a lot of the line runs 16’ above ground...

I’ll snap some pics tomorrow.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Lines are about finished. I did a 1/2” brass “T” at every drop so I could have an extra line to access. 3 of the four drops have a 3/8”x50’ reel and the 4th drop is for the Tire machine and the sandblasting cabinet (each end of that “T” has an extra connection too). I need one more piece of cast iron to finish the lead to the blasting cabinet...I added an additional water separator before the cabinet to try to keep moisture out.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Very nice and plentiful air access!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Precisely!!!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

I added all the drops also. Nice having air right where you need on the quick!
Happy new year!

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Happy New Year!

Yes, I ran around the shop today airing up tires, sandblasting a few small bicycle parts and even put a new set of wheels on my wife’s daily driver. Airlines everywhere is a MUST from now on.

Re: Finally...a new shop at the house
 

Sorry I missed this. Sorry for the sideways pic. I’ll fix it in the morning when I’m on my laptop.

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