pvc to plumb air compressor?

[Number21]

Originally Posted by bosephus

I'll bet that they can't pick up PVC shrapnel with an x-ray.

Exactly. It's only a matter of time before there's a picture floating around the interweb with some guy who has a giant peice of PVC sticking out of his eye ball. Do you want to be that guy?

[motornut]

i've only seen copper used in properly set up shops,can't believe someone uses pvc.
heck wallmart sold the red 60 foot hose for under $20. a few years back,
bought a few now i have almost 300 feet of red hose on a reel on the wall.plus a wind up 50 feet and a few of the coily hoses.....gets me there

[electrician42]

well i'm going with 3/4 copper around walls to the drop's and hose reel's... thanks for all the input.. plus copper looks a lil more professional too ....

[stich626]

Originally Posted by electrician42

well i'm going with 3/4 copper around walls to the drop's and hose reel's... thanks for all the input.. plus copper looks a lil more professional too ....

whats cheaper now..
copper or black iron

[Captainfab]

There's a certain grade of copper pipe that should be used for air lines. IIRC it is type L or something....I don't remember for sure. I'll check on it and post back.

[Captainfab]

OK I found the thread I was thinking about on another forum about running air lines. The copper pies to use is either type 'L' or type 'K' with K being the heaviest wall. Here's a link to the thread......

http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...t=copper+lines

[Number21]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

OK I found the thread I was thinking about on another forum about running air lines. The copper pies to use is either type 'L' or type 'K' with K being the heaviest wall. Here's a link to the thread......

http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...t=copper+lines

Yeah, the heaviest wall you can afford is definately recommended. Even if you used type M (the thinnest) it wouldn't be nearly as dangerous as PVC, just prone to pinhole leaks.

[aggie91]

Why not use one of the new piping methods that use aluminum pipe such as:

http://www.garage-pak.com/compressed...ipe/index.html

or
http://us.kaeser.com/Products_and_So...iping/pipe.asp

or
http://www.transairaluminumpipe.com/...ir-piping.html

another
http://www.rapidairproducts.com/

there are others, even one that has cast aluminum fittings, i just can't find it right now.

At work, we have used mostly threaded black pipe and some extruded aluminum pipe from IR for our new compressor installation. That was for the 4" diameter main header...

[piro222]

Wow! Glad I read this thread!!! Was planning on plumbing my airlines with PVC. Clear to me that I definitely don't want to do this!!! Even a busted rubber airline with a metal fitting on the end bouncing around the shop like an angry rattlesnake is no fun either, but never have been bitten yet!!!

[aggie91]

here is the link for the pipe with metal fittings:

http://www.pattonsinc.com/piping/piping.html

All you need to install this stuff is a tubing cutter and a deburr tool. The fittings are push to connect.

[Number21]

Originally Posted by aggie91

here is the link for the pipe with metal fittings:

http://www.pattonsinc.com/piping/piping.html

All you need to install this stuff is a tubing cutter and a deburr tool. The fittings are push to connect.

That looks pretty spendy. Copper can be joined with "sharkbite" fittings, which simply push together like that. Plus you can find that stuff at the local hardware store...

[Shane]

it not only looks spendy, it IS spendy ... I got a quote/price list a few weeks back from GaragePak and I was gonna have MORE in the air lines than in a compressor.

Nice stuff, but wheew-wee type L copper lookin' better and better.

[dwcsr]

You can use nylon DOT air line @ 75 cents a foot, 40 - 200 degress range and 150 psi working pressure. Connect it with push-ons made of acetal plastic. Rated at 250 -300 working pressure and -20 to +180 degrees. Its fairly cheap to do a whole garage.

[newbraunie]

Piping compressed air through PVC is about the same as crawling under the truck with only the jack holding and no jack stands. Yeah the jack will probabaly hold but the one time it doesn't watch out.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by Number21

That looks pretty spendy. Copper can be joined with "sharkbite" fittings, which simply push together like that. Plus you can find that stuff at the local hardware store...

Have you seen the price of copper lately?

[Shane]

copper is a drop in the bucket compared to that stuff. seriously.

[Number21]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Have you seen the price of copper lately?

Yeah, 1/2" tube is about $1/1.50/foot depending on what thickness you buy. That's not really much more than the same size rubber hose from some brands. An air compressor worth installing permanent plumbing for costs at least $500+.

[msgross]

I'm super cheap so I went to harbor Freight and bought 100ft of their goodyear rubber air hose. No explosions and it covers my 2 car garage and the driveway...