Air line height placement

[SB440R/T]

I am putting in one of the Rapid air systems this weekend and wanted to see what peoples thoughts were on the height that works well. I plan on putting a reel on the center back wall and the right toward the the large garage door. Any work done will be in the center stall. Should the blocks be lower then the reels? Or something different? Don't have the reels yet and the small 30 gallon craftsman compressor will be used until it dies, wish it was stand up, but not a real big deal for what I do.

Thanks
David

 

[smokewrench06]

however you decide to do it, make sure your service outlets make a J drop from your trunk line. it should represent an upside down J from the main. (Tee pointed up, 90 over, 90 down to the floor) so the moisture stays in the trunk line. then make a seperate down drop (tee pointed down) to purge the moisture once in a while. just have a valve on the end of it and scare your guests once in a while.

 

[Kevin54]

It's how ever high you want to put it. If it is up higher, it won't be as noticeable and you would be sure to have drops to catch the moisture. Or you could put it about 4' high and then paint a stripe around the garage and hide the line in the stripe so it's not seen. But how ever you decide to put it, you want to be sure to have drip legs and a ball valve to clear out the moisture that you will have in the lines. One place you DON'T want it though is running it around the baseboard, then having you connectors up higher.

 

[joe_padavano]

You want the drops to actually run up from the manifold initially to minimize water in the drops.

 

[SB440R/T]

If each block has a drain can I just keep those lower than the reels and be good?

This is pretty much what I am planning on putting in.

 

[EOC_Jason]

Yeah, your last pic looks about right. There's lots of other pics of Rapid Air setups here, just do a quick search and you will find them.

 

[CNGsaves]

+1 to go all the way to ceiling so you're above any hanging cabinets that you would put up later.

The pic in post 5 looks fine for RapidAir layout since you're having a drain at each drop.

For the hanging air reel, I'd suggest right in middle of ceiling just beyond where the opened garage door would reach. That way hose could reach out to driveway as well.

 

[oldtractors]

One I got past the overhead and walk in doors, my air lines are about 2' from the ground. The "drops" run up to 4' or higher for the hose reels. Put a drain or two on the main line and you don't have to worry about water. - I also used PEX.

 

[SB440R/T]

I didn't want to one up top, just on the vertical walls, front left and rear right if you were sitting in a vehicle.

 

[saabman]

I have 12 ft ceilings and I ran black iron 30 inches from the ceiling around the perimeter of the shop. This allowed me to put shelves above the air lines.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

If each block has a drain can I just keep those lower than the reels and be good?

This is pretty much what I am planning on putting in.

Yup. For me, that would be an acceptable alternative to inverted J drops. I don't paint and usually don't get any noticeable moisture out of the line. My setup is plumbed with leftover 3/8" airline hose. I want to redo some of it this summer, maybe with 1/2" copper. Adding a blow down at the bottom of each drop is in the plans.

Tommy

 

[joe_padavano]

Here in the mid-Atlantic we get a TON of humidity in the summer. I do everything I can to get the moisture out of the lines, including using iron pipe (NOT plastic) to help with cooling the air and condensing the moisture. The short up-then-down jog for the drops also minimizes the moisture in the drops. I do paint and care a lot about this moisture. If all you plan to do is run air tools, it's less critical (though still better practice). It also keeps the moisture out of your tires when you fill them, which prevents wheel corrosion.

 

[sberry]

I would forget about a particular number here, dedide where the reel is going, maybe a whip or 2 and plumb to them. A lot of the ideas for industrial apps like the TP are great for a GM plant but not so much in a small shop, the dynamics are vastly different.
We get a lot of carry over with things people see at work without the tailoring to make it useful or practical for the small shop.
More than having "extra" and "future proofing" is some idea that it could moved a bit as conditions change or it is in the way and would be better elsewhere. Things don't look the same in hindsight and revision is good to tailor it which doesn't always mean adding more but simple movemen6t ot even reduction in unused.
I moved one a while back was where it was when I first installed it 10 yrs ago and was just a pain and added an extra effort to it which wouldn't be there from now till the end if I broke down and spend an hr re plumbing it.
I actually removed some pipe and a few fittings on my last revision, moved a hose reel where it wasn't helping and the new location was actually an improvement in coverage. Its only slightly less convenient on rare occasion it was worth it to move it out of the way and saved 50 ft of pipe for something I really didn't use.

 

[sberry]

The TP drawing is for a different system really, one with continuous air beyond and if the over the top look is so good then why do we need another drip in the drop?
In a home with single line plumbing I like the pipe level or away and want to drive any condensate in it along to a drop and in some cases don't even use it but use the filter as the drain.

 

[sberry]

however you decide to do it, make sure your service outlets make a J drop from your trunk line. it should represent an upside down J from the main. (Tee pointed up, 90 over, 90 down to the floor) so the moisture stays in the trunk line. then make a seperate down drop (tee pointed down) to purge the moisture once in a while. just have a valve on the end of it and scare your guests once in a while.

Right, if you do it over the top need a purge line on the main. In the TP they have a loop system with a drop and a purge o0n it.

 

[PhantomEB]

Mine is gonna run around at around the 44" mark, just above my bench. Driers and drops in each corner and before each reel where there is also to be a ball valve. Copper for me.

I don't mind putting oil in my tools when I need to.

 

[sberry]

At the moment rig this simple and hang it up. The place is bare, get your feet under yourself before committing to plumbing much. Test hang the reels, get a feel for the work and the layout, come back after and finish out the plumbing.

 

[SB440R/T]

Yup. For me, that would be an acceptable alternative to inverted J drops. I don't paint and usually don't get any noticeable moisture out of the line. My setup is plumbed with leftover 3/8" airline hose. I want to redo some of it this summer, maybe with 1/2" copper. Adding a blow down at the bottom of each drop is in the plans.

Tommy

Oh yea mine is just to get to the Air hose easier, and I don't paint anything or do any real big jobs, just normal work around the garage, just overkill really.

Thanks

 

[SB440R/T]

At the moment rig this simple and hang it up. The place is bare, get your feet under yourself before committing to plumbing much. Test hang the reels, get a feel for the work and the layout, come back after and finish out the plumbing.

Good idea on mounting the reels first.

 

[JCQuick]

Well I bypassed all the rules when I did mine and so far I have not had a moister problem but it has not had a real work out it either. As far as the height mine are about 4 1/2 ft from the floor I first tried up higher but I didn't think face level was good

I went out and measured mine the air couplers are 52" from the floor

 

[kbs2244]

My preference would be a continuous main around the top.
Then up and over "J's" off the main down to waist high tees for the hose and a 6 inch leg under that for a moisture trap.
One thing nobody seems to do is use a 45 degree street elbow off the tee, aimed at the floor.
This will revive the bending strain on the hose tremendously.