Copper Air Piping & corrosion

[rjprice]

Question for the hive: Do I need to insulate the mounts/hangers for my copper air piping from the the red iron & metal building purlins?

The air piping will be connected to the compressor via a rubber hose if that helps.

Thanks!

 

[The Cobbler]

no, but you could wrap the copper with black electrical tape where it touches steel

 

[Stuart in MN]

Depending on how you hang the pipe it shouldn't be touching the steel anyway. If anything, isolating it will reduce vibration and noise.

 

[rjprice]

so using copper straps to mount the pipe to a red iron h-beam will not cause corrosion? Most of my piping will be strapped to plywood but I want to mount some on the underside of a ceiling beam.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

no, but you could wrap the copper with black electrical tape where it touches steel

I would consider that "insulating"-

 

[rjprice]

what type of hanger will insulate from the steel beam? most of them look copper.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

Depending on how you hang the pipe it shouldn't be touching the steel anyway. If anything, isolating it will reduce vibration and noise.

I concur. Isolating to reduce vibration/noise would be my primary objective- the end result would be no electrolysis.

There are rubber insulated clamps.

 

[rjprice]

got it.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

so using copper straps to mount the pipe to a red iron h-beam will not cause corrosion? Most of my piping will be strapped to plywood but I want to mount some on the underside of a ceiling beam.

The straps obviously will not cause galvanic corrosion, but the iron will. A little electical tape is fine as long as you don't have any real vibration at the contact points. We use rubber isolated clamps for copper tubing in HVAC, but You really don't have to go that nuts.

Tommy

 

[MoonRise]

One word : Plastics.

Plastic two (or one) hole mounting strap.

Mounts the piping and makes it so that you don't have dissimilar metal galvanic corrosion.

 

[38Chevy454]

You need an electrolyte (water is the typical) for any corrosion to occur. Without getting too technical, corrosion is a chemical process and it needs the electrolyte to carry the electrons. No electrolyte and no corrosion takes place.
You will be fine inside your shop.

Sent from my SM-J337V using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[matt_i]

Look at Eaton Cooper BLine BVT series copper tube clamps, with insulating rubber insert. Its a typical 2pc strap-clamp.....which is a man-killer in its own right with sharp metal edges and a protruding fastener end just waiting to chew the unsuspecting....

 

[Red 17]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-50-ft-20-Mil-Pipe-Wrap-Tape-53550/100179778

A wrap of that stuff and steel pipe hangers.

There is enough moisture in the air to get that dissimilar metal corrosion going.

 

[bwringer]

There's actually little risk of galvanic corrosion between copper and steel, iron, or aluminum (although there is between zinc and copper, so it is a risk if the steel is galvanized).

I would still definitely use some sort of insulator or slightly flexible mounting so there's no chance of wear from vibration or expansion/contraction cycles. For example, as the day goes on, the walls move slightly from the heat of the sun.

It's also quite normal for the copper piping to get wet from condensation as pressure drops under heavy usage.

 

[The Cobbler]

[....
There is enough moisture in the air to get that dissimilar metal corrosion going.

if that was the case, there would be a concern at the tank where brass meets steel...

 

[LS6 Tommy]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-50-ft-20-Mil-Pipe-Wrap-Tape-53550/100179778

A wrap of that stuff and steel pipe hangers.

There is enough moisture in the air to get that dissimilar metal corrosion going.

You can't use PVC for compressed air.

Tommy

 

[59 wagon man]

duct tape works great

 

[Red 17]

You can't use PVC for compressed air.

Tommy

What does pipe wrap tape have to do with PVC pipe for compressed air?

 

[ericlar80]

If your pipe builds a lot of condensation (cold air line because you are using a lot of air), then you might get some corrosion over many years. Always best to insulate if you can.

 

[MFolks]

Hows the compressor mounted? Sitting on a pallet? Hard bolted to the floor? On end? Hockey pucks make great compressor mounts,drilled and counterbored for the bolts,should be more than enough.

 

[Blackwolfe]

There is a selection of clamps at the link below to keep dissimilar metals isolated from each other. Plant that I recently retired from had dozens of strut type clamps that we replaced a few moths ago. Some were conduit lines and others were copper air and water lines. Original camps were only seven years old, but there were times when there was a lot of humidity in the facility.

One of the subs from the construction 7 years ago used the cushioned strut clamps on their part of the job connecting copper water lines to strut and those held up well with little or no corrosion.

I'm no expert, just an observation I made about the clamps.

https://www.zoro.com/cush-a-nator-c...MItbfw_JSs5AIV0hx9Ch05lQXMEAYYAiABEgKl4vD_BwE

 

[LS6 Tommy]

What does pipe wrap tape have to do with PVC pipe for compressed air?

You did see the "" after my statement, right?

Tommy

 

[manwithtools]

Try these, I use them more generously than steel straps clamps because they are plastic. They are pretty strong though and provide the galvanic isolation at the same time. They are also easy to use with one person as they snap closed when the pipe is inserted in the saddle.

https://www.zoro.com/nvent-caddy-superklip-tube-and-pipe-clamp-12-in-389004/i/G085799