Compressor plumbing?

[gotchamel]

How is the correct way a shop compressor should be plumbed?No sandblasting just a few air tools and spray gun.Thanks.

[ETsC10]

I collected a bunch of info a couple years ago on just that...
I'll see if I can find it

OK, I'm back.
Here’s a sample routing diagram:
http://www.tptools.com/StaticText/ai...ng-diagram.pdf
This site has a lot of good info:
http://www.about-air-compressors.com/

I still haven’t found the file I mentioned…

I would recommend using copper, black iron, etc
FAR safer.

[MGCarr]

Heat is your enemy, gravity is your friend.

Exit the tank with the biggest plumbing you can. Use a short section of hose to eliminate transferring vibration. Start with large diameter hard piping and reduce size as you get further out into your system. Tee off and provide a low point drain wherever practical.

In the attached photo, note the homemade coil on the discharge of the compressor going to the tank. This is to assist in dissapating heat to help moisture precipitate out and fall to the bottom of the tank. Make sure you have a good servicable drain on the tank bottom, and utilize it often.

I used brass pipe, black iron is OK, copper ain't bad, PVC is a NO-NO. Many commercial shops have hoses custom fabricated for runs to remote stations (IE, a station at the other end of the shop)

A hard piped distribution manifold with a good filter/separator plumbed in is always a good idea for a fixed compressor. The uppermost fitting/valve on my manifold is for a future run of copper to an additional station with an other drier and regulator for a dedicated supply for a plasma cutter.

A general purpose regulator is a good idea (I don't have one in place yet) Say your compressor kicks on and off at 125/100 psi. If you put a regulator in line and set it for 95psi, your tools will always see the same pressure. Torque settings will be consistant and stuff will spin at the same speed, no matter what the compressor is doing. If you add a station for painting, and in my case a plasma cutter, putting an additional small regulator downstream of the first to further reduce the pressure will give you good tight control (effectively 2 stage reduction)

Put a drier or filter at the end of a long run of piping, tubing or hose. Filter it just before you use it.

An in line lubricator is a good idea for a connection that will always be used for impact guns, sanders, chisels and the like, but don't ever paint or run a sand blaster from that connection.

Cool, clean, dry, and consistant air is the goal. Use common sense. Keep the compressor and intake filter clean. A coating of oily grime on your compressor will decrease heat transfer and increase your maintenance costs.

[gotchamel]

Thanks,nice set up.

[MGCarr]

For you guys in a humid climate with compressed air moisture problems:

Hot air holds more water in vapor state than cooler air. Mechanical moisture separators will not remove water in its vapor state. The idea is to cool the air down so the moisture will precipitate out (condense) into droplets, which can then easily be removed. By lowering the temperature you change the saturation point and the dew point.

Commercial applications utilize refridgerated filters to cool the compressed air stream below a certain dew point and then use mechanical or dessicant means to remove condensed moisture.

You usually can't do anything about the relitive humidity of the environment from which you draw air into your compressor, but alot can be done to dump off the heat of compression after the compressor, which will then make it much easier to trap out entrained moisture.

The first place to start is between the compressor and the receiver (tank). Add a simple loop to what usually is a copper tube. Set up an additional fan to cool the compressor and piping and receiver. Dump that heat and your receiver becomes the first line of defense and becomes your primary moisture separator.

On the outlet of the tank, don't be too quick to add a moisture separator. Have enough massive piping before the filter to shed some more heat and the separator will be more effective.

Moisture separators/traps/filters (whatever you want to call them) are most effective at or very close to point of use. The further from the compressor the better. I saw a guy getting ready to run some high end paint, run a couple loops of hose in his beer cooler then filtering it just before his spray gun connection. Other guys have a little heat exchanger set up in a minifridge. You name it, it's been tried.

Cool it, condense it, trap it, and drain it. Heat is your enemy and gravity is your friend.

[gotchamel]

Good info.