Advice On Plumbing in Compressed Air Line

[schmism]

Well a lot of people advised against pvc and im not advising you to use it but I have it in my shop for the last 15 years with not problems. I did use the scd 40

I can do ya one better... been useing it in my dads shop for 25 years no issues.

quickest thing to use is a bunch of HF air hose. Use some iron drop legs (perhaps a foot long) this gives you a nice stable ridgid point to connect to. for the long runs up and around the ceiling etc just use more harbor freight air hose.

Air hoses 50' for $13

 

[LD1]

ya, but......
A well done copper installation is so purty!

:drink:

So is a colorful push-connect and nylon tubing job

 

[rrrkkk]

Me too have had no problem with sch40 plastic for 8 years now ran it under the concrete to all corners of the shop

 

[KennyG]

Me too have had no problem with sch40 plastic for 8 years now ran it under the concrete to all corners of the shop

That's why it's called catastophic failure. It will work just fine until someone drops a tool on it in cold weather and then it will explode. It is expressly against OSHA and national code rules for exposed installation and this isn't a case of overzealous regulators - it's a real safety issue. It is OK to install if it's embedded or enclosed in walls, but it should never be exposed.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Read up on plastic piping and its vulnerability to oil. Most compressors bleed some oil unless they are diaphragm type. There are out there of large HPE/PVC systems blowing up and causing mucho damage. Stay with metal piping please.

Old pipefitter, Ron

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Read up on plastic piping and its vulnerability to oil. Most compressors bleed some oil unless they are diaphragm type. There are some horror stories put there of large HPE/Pvc systems blowing up and causing mucho damage. Stay with metal piping please.

Old pipefitter, Ron

 

[Stihlrunner]

Has anybody here EVER seen a PVC air line rupture? I have had it in my home shop for over 15 years inside/outside with a 10HP compressor that is on 24/7. I've heard all the horror stories but I have seen it in several shops and never heard of it blowing. Naturally you don't take the hard pipe straight to the compressor head, use a flex line.

I have seen copper air and LP lines crack from vibration and impact.

I've ran commercial shops and we have always used black pipe or the special green PVC.

 

[dstig1]

Has anyone? Sure. People have died from PVC compressed air lines blowing up. Have I seen it? No. But then I've never seen anyone soaked in gas and lit on fire either, and that doesn't mean I think it is safe to do just because I haven't seen it. There is a guy on the Ford Truck Enthusiasts site that said he has seen it happen. There were a couple guys there that knew of a PVC air line blowing, including one guy someone there knew who was killed.

PVC is not a suitable material for compressed air because is fails brittle and gets more brittle with time due to exposure to UV light and compressor oil. Other materials do not behave like this and are much better choices: copper, iron, PEX, Nylon are all materials that are far more ductile and will tend to leak rather than explode if they become damaged. Water and air are very different fluids as a gas (air) is compressible where as a liquid is essentially not. There is a lot more stored energy in 60 psi compressed air than there is in a water line with 60 psi on it. This is why PVC is OK for water lines, and it is also why compressed gas cylinders are tested with water (hydro tested) rather than with a gas.

Plenty of people out there are skeptical of this. It is always questioned when brought up with several of "I've used it for years with no issue" comments. Nobody can make someone believe it, and the allure of cheap and easy CA plumbing with PVC often crowds out listening to the dangers of this in those people's heads. That is what is nice about the tubing like PEX coming in to the market. It is a far more suitable material and is still very easy to handle, so hopefully more people go to that instead of PVC in the future. At least I hope so.

 

[boggen]

if you have ever pressure tested anything, and a plug gave way while pumping in some area. or ever seen a potoato launcher in action. along with cut any pvc pipe, and seen how badly it shatters, when it does shatter. it does not take much to connect the dots. of how dangerous PVC pipe is, for air compressor lines, when PSI at min is 90PSI, and on upwards to 150 PSI. and if in shops can easily go above that for the supply lines.

 

[lilranch2001]

You also may want to look at your liability policy, as the carrier may or may not cover an issue with PVC piping in a compressed air system.
It truly is every bit dangerous as some of the posters have commented.

I have done a few half a**ed things in my life to save a buck, but one of the last things I would do is to pipe compressed air in DWV PVC.

At least use the compressed air rated PVC, and then even then, I think you would be foolish
just my :2cents: worth