Black pipe or galvanized for shop air lines?

[Raspy]

I'm about to do my shop with air lines, but I would not use rubber hoses because I've had so many of them fail during the construction of the house. They eventually crack and begin to leak. Plus you have to mount it and create drops that allow quick disconnects without flexing very much. PEX is not good enough for me because it is so close to it's design limit of about 100 PSI at 180 degrees or 180 PSI at 70 degrees. This means a regulator and reduced pressure to the air supply lines if you have a 2 stage compressor.

For me copper makes the most sense, but black or galvy look very good too. These offer a permanent, safe and easy to connect to manifold.

One problem is getting from the compressor to the wall mounted regulator on my setup. That flexible hose keeps failing. It sits at full pressure and eventually cracks.

 

[jenkinsph]

Mike,
I like the copper crimp system too, but I didn't mention it because of the expense of the tools involved. I wouldn't think most of the guys' here would go there. Most of the new work in area is done with Viega pex fittings now which is replacing the Vanguard with brass fittings. The hard water is eating through the brass.

 

[dragoneggs]

I put a T on my compressor and have two hundred foot hoses for outside and one fifty foot hose for inside my shop. I roll up the hoses and keep them and garden hose metal holders attached to the wall. I got to thinking about running lines and can't justify the expense or time when it doesn't accomplish anything other then giving me another location for the hose to connect to. The hose will still be running across the floor of my shop and it doesn't matter where it's attached to.

Eddie

Well said... I guess my situation is similar. I would go with copper and drain valves if you felt you really needed a hard connection and outlet somewhere in your shop. I just can't see it unless you have multiple users and a lot of machines needing it. Still have to drag a hose.

 

[Happy Gilmore]

I used rubber air hose in my old basement shop. My compressor was in the garage on the other side of the house. I hung it so there were no sag spots, kept it neat and used brass Ts at the drop locations, worked out great. I even had an air outlet in the upstairs laundry room and outside on the far end of the house by my shed. Minimal investment in time and money.

 

[TomSeller]

Old school. Copper, with slope and auto drain.

 

[mikehaugen]

Mike,
I like the copper crimp system too, but I didn't mention it because of the expense of the tools involved. I wouldn't think most of the guys' here would go there. Most of the new work in area is done with Viega pex fittings now which is replacing the Vanguard with brass fittings. The hard water is eating through the brass.

I agree, I certainly wouldn't. I have access to the tools and still probably wouldn't use those fittings. The fittings cost a lot more, and you are relying on an o-ring which could over time get brittle. Also you can't easily disassemble them. If a valve goes bad, you are kinda screwed as they deform the pipe slightly. I have talked to a plumber that claims he has occasionally had success splitting the fitting with a hacksaw and getting the jaws of the crimper just right to follow the flats on the pipe. I always use threaded valves and unions and threaded adaptors just in case.

I was not advocating the use of the fittings, especially for a home diy project, just pointing out what we use. They are easier but we never had any trouble with black pipe. Black pipe is what I would use, or copper with sweat fittings. The point of my post was more about the separator question

 

[blackdog2086]

It all depends on your intended use. Some shops would get by fine with just a couple of hose connections. But other shops would not. If you have lots of different uses for air, it would be like having one 120v outlet for the whole shop, and running extension cords all over the place, and constantly having to go over and unplug one thing and plug in another. And the you end up walking/tripping over all the hoses, they get damaged by sparks and things falling on them, etc.

Long hoses also restrict air. Unless you get a really large one, if you have something that uses a lot of air like a spray gun or a grinder, their performance will not be very good with a long hose. A decent piping system will in itself act like a air tank, giving a little bit more capacity to a compressor that is marginal to begin with.

I guess this forum's theme is "do it yourself" and I include in that being able to readily buy it also at a reasonable price. Copper is nice but expensive. I think threaded pipe is pretty much the only thing you will find that has the id for good flow. Someone said something about PEX. If that would work it might be a option too.

Your post pretty much sums up the reason I want to run hard piping around my barn. I'll be using air impacts, ratchets, grinders, sanders, grease gun, blowers, and occasionally a spray gun. My barn is 60 X 40 and I have a lot of ju........stuff that constantly snags my air hoses.

I figure a few strategically placed connections will make working on my equipment much easier, without constantly having to find out what my hose is hung up on and free it.

The winters get cold my way, and the summers can be humid. Like everyone else on this site, I can't let the weather dictate when I use my tools and equipment, so weather will definitely be a factor in my decision. I hadn't really considered copper because of the cost and the fact that it tends to form condensation more rapidly than the thicker steel in the humid months. I'm sure in most situations it would work great, but I'm not sure mine is one of them.

Sorry for the long gaps in response, but I'm not able to check the site as often as I'd like. The posts so far have been great and I am getting a lot of good ideas, and am considering some things that wouldn't have entered my tiny brain without your help.

 

[JRP]

I used PEX and am very happy. sharkbite fittings are fast and reuseable. This would be your lowest cost solution, and no rust.

Concerning water, the tank contents will be at 100% humidity. If you regulate the tank outlet then the air expands when it goes thru the regulator and reduces pressure. The expanded air contains the same quantity of water molecules, but because the air volume is larger the percent humidity will be less than 100% and you wont have liquid water in your air.

Install a regulator at the tank outlet.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I like the feed back here. Lots of good ideas. I didn't realize that pvc was not a good choice and now I even know why.

Now for some more of my $.02 worth. No one has yet mentioned an overhead setup similar to what's used in car washes. I for one do not like hoses laying on the ground as I've had too many sprained ankles out of them. All of the hoses that I use regularly in my shop come from overhead with self coiling hoses hanging down. That way I'm not stumbling over anything. My trouble light also hangs from a retractable cord.

For those that are having trouble with the short connector hose between the compressor and hard lines just install a piece of hydraulic hose. You can either buy them made up or get them made at a farm supply store. I've had one in place for about 15 years now with no leaks as the hose is rated for 3000 psi. You can get them made with just about any type of fitting on the ends.

 

[Samuellm]

Yes, that is a purpose built product for compressed air systems, probably on par with copper when you price it out.

You mentioned "PEX" and "Kitec" so I took that as you where suggesting the regular stuff made for water lines-hence my comment to see if they approve such use.

I did Google "Kitec" though as I had never heard of that brand, all I found was reference's to a major class-action lawsuit and settlement...

I installed a factory worth of similar stuff a few years ago expensive but the only tools you needed was a sharp knife or a hose cutter. Did 3/4 main line with 100s of 1/4 drops for each machine so fast and neat much better than draging a oxi set around in the ceiling.