Air plumbing, how would you do it?

[cadunkle]

I have a compressor in my shed and need air in my garage. I have run 1/2" OD air brake tubing underground through conduit. I intend to put my highest use tool, a sand blaster, in the shed I will also use die grinders, air chisels, and impacts in the shed. In the garage my highest use tool might be a die grinder for extended periods porting heads, but I could do that in the shed in the air supply is insufficient.

The conduit I ran the air brake tubing comes up through the sill plate in the shed, and outside the garage. I extended the conduit outside the garage through the soffit so it enters in the attic. I am inclined to T this line into an air tank of at least 20 gallons, to act as a surge tank.

Should I run full tank pressure (175 psi) or regulated (100 psi), between shed and garage? Full pressure will allow for any loss through the small tubing but require an additional regulator. I intend to add my cooler and water separator setup to the compressor in the shed. First a 12"x24" oil cooler into a Norgren water separator with 30 micron filter, then off the tank into a Norgren coalescing filter, water separator with 5 micron filter, and regulator.

Where would you mount the filters and regulator in the shed? I'm thinking to the right of the door in front of the fridge. Whip off the tank to a hard line down the wall. Black line down low between door and fridge is the line to the garage. I have fittings to transition this to 1/2" NPT. They have a sleeve the hose sits against and the ferrule compresses against. The shed is currently bare studs but I intend to insulate and OSB everything. How would you transition through the wall, from air brake tubing to hard pipe?

Where would you mount the regulator in the garage? I'm thinking to the right of the man door, then run back to ceiling and around perimeter for drops.

Attic plumbing? Any water separator or filtration in the garage attic where the air brake tubing enters? How would you plumb this? I'm thinking T into a 20 gallon tank and drop down next to the man door. I do have a 60 gallon horizontal tank I could use but it is very old and I know it was not drained regularly by the previous owner, which is why I'm thinking a new 20 gallon tank may be plenty.

Standard ceiling loop in each structure with drops as needed? 1/2 or 3/4"? Black iron or copper? For my size system cost doesn't matter to me.

Anything else?

 

[Lucid Moments]

Why such a small line between your shed and your garage? 1/2" od line is going to be about 3/8" id? It seems that is going to be your bottleneck.

With what you have I would try to get two regulators. One in the shed and one in the garage. Run unregulated air between the shed and garage. Since you are going to cool the air in the shed make sure your cooler will handle the unregulated pressure then T off of it's output.

Have you considered Rapid Air's products? I just put it up in my shop and so far it seems like a quality product, and it goes up very quick and easy. It is a pain to make all nice and straight though so if that is an issue for you then it might not be your best option.

 

[Kaizen]

How far away is the shed and how big is the conduit?


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[Vvmvbb]

If the connecting line between the buildings turns out to have too much flow resistance, I suppose you could add a tank in the garage to handle transient high cfm demands. It will recharge through the high resistance line so will take some time to recharge, but could make your system more usable overall if that line is a bottleneck.

 

[sberry]

It's the same as a 3/8 hose, this will drain a comp in a hurry on a grinder or blaster. Sandblast is not the highest demand, normally it's air guns. Blast is pretty much limited to pump size.. as for drops, put them where needed to a reel vs "everywhere" and hydrants where hose is moved from one to another.

 

[cadunkle]

Conduit is 1/2" PCV. 1/2" OD air brake tubing is what sit and I could easily run through existing conduit. I used a 50' length, that could be but down to about 40'. If this is grossly undersized I can run a larger line underground, but I'm trying to work with what is already present first. I'd rather not dig if I don't have to.

 

[Sureshot]

That size airline will work fine. I would try things as is with full pressure to the point of use. If it doesn't work good add a surge tank. In a past shop I ran 3/8 airline 150ft and it worked ok. The surge tank I had was an old wheeled vertical cheap compressor tank where the pump had given up. I mounted a regulator and other fittings to the tank to use for tools or tire filling. I did drops every 12 feet around my 42x60 shop but ended up with a hose reel front and back with 50' hoses on them and used them exclusively other than one outlet at a wash tank.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Don't use PVC for air lines unless it is specifically made for this application. Under the right conditions PVC can burst and send shards all over the place.

If the line between the buildings is underground it will eventually fill with condensate (water) and it will be pushed along and exit through your outlets.

 

[HenryAZ]

Should I run full tank pressure (175 psi) or regulated (100 psi), between shed and garage?

I run full 175psi pressure throughout the plumbing, with a regulator and water separator at each manifold. Everything is black pipe, except for a flex hose from the compressor to the wall where the black pipe starts.