air line

[GeorgiaHybrid]

For gods sake, will people just go back and actually READ the thread rather than emotionally responding to what they "think" somebody may be talking about.

Neither the OP, or any suggestions afterward EVER referenced ANY PVC - EVER. Except for 1 post. Which was immediately responded to. And is over. The OP did not ask about PVC. Nobody recommended PVC.

That's the reason these threads go so far off base immediately. Anytime somebody asks about materials (for air) other than black pipe or copper, SOME people who know not what they're talking about apparently automatically ***(ume) that it just MUST be PVC. It's not.

I was responding to tdkkart and YOU with this hint on how to search a thread for short terms like "air", "gas", "oil" or "PVC". If you would get your ******* out of a wad and READ the questions and statements above mine (including yours) you might understand that posting. Substituting "blue" + "air" + "line" in the above will get you several hits for the Rapid Air system on GG.

 

[creativecars]

I think that is an excellent idea. Or even a separate thread for compressors/airlines. As the respondent who apparently committed a grevious sin by mentioning that I had used PVC, I apologize. I will reiterate, that I think it is very difficult to find factual information about what to use and the risks. I believe this is a far more complex subject than name calling and insults address. Please condsider:

Commercial or residential hobby shop application?
Are you trying to run unfiltered air through the airline, or do you use an oil/water separator before the airline?
Does each vertical run of airline have at the bottom, a sediment/water trap and drain?
Is the line always pressurized, or do you only pressurizer the line when you are using air?
Is the shop heated or left unheated for lengthy periods of time. I think any of the alternatives would fail if the lines are not kept purged of water and experience a lengthy hard freeze.

You did nothing wrong here, there is a lot of info out there, some of it good, some not. Some folks seem to want to police the issue and take it personal instead of providing useful information. Yes, everyone has opinions, but on things like this that come up time after time, lets post up some good info for all to see, I'm willing to help.

 

[ponchopower]

I was responding to tdkkart and YOU with this hint on how to search a thread for short terms like "air", "gas", "oil" or "PVC". If you would get your ******* out of a wad and READ the questions and statements above mine (including yours) you might understand that posting. Substituting "blue" + "air" + "line" in the above will get you several hits for the Rapid Air system on GG.

In your response, you specifically said

seach for "pvc site www.garagejournal.com"

or search for "pvc airlines site www.garagejournal.com"

and you will get over 1,000 hits.

As for using PVC pipe, I don't care what you do but I ran copper in mine that was silver soldered together. If PVC happens to blow in your garage, that is your problem and no different than not using jack stands or having a fire extingisher handy. It's not my problem.

The concentration was on PVC.

Again, I meant no disrespect to you. My frustration is with some people who insist on concluding that anything that is not black iron or copper MUST be PVC. I can form only 3 conclusions.

1) They truly think that anything other than black iron or copper really is PVC and have never done any reading and have no knowledge of other solutions.

2) They just don't read period, and consistely jump to conclusions.

3) They can't read.

Your initial post about using search was focused on PVC.

 

[tolken4]

IIRC I don't think the Search function recognizes only three letters.

Sorry if someone has already stated this, did not have time to read the entire thread. Use the Google advanced search. It will be your new favorite tool. Click on advanced, then under the specific url section enter www.garagejournal.com/forum

It will search the site for you and might I add it does a better job IMHO.

 

[tolken4]

Example page of a search. Use it and enjoy!!!

http://www.google.com/search?q=pvc+air+supply+site%3Awww.garagejournal.com%2Fforum%2F&hl=en&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=images&tbs=

 

[TAftw]

Eastwood carries a blue airline pipe system. I used schedule 40 PVC. A friend has had PVC in his shop for years. Mine has been installed for about 2 years.

If you utter such a statement on GJ you will be treated like a leper.

OMG!!! Here we go again.

We really just need to make it a sticky.

 

[ponchopower]

You did nothing wrong here, there is a lot of info out there, some of it good, some not. Some folks seem to want to police the issue and take it personal instead of providing useful information. Yes, everyone has opinions, but on things like this that come up time after time, lets post up some good info for all to see, I'm willing to help.

You did nothing wrong here, there is a lot of info out there, some of it good, some not. Some folks seem to want to police the issue and take it personal instead of providing useful information. Yes, everyone has opinions, but on things like this that come up time after time, lets post up some good info for all to see, I'm willing to help.[/QUOTE]

That is a great idea. There is a lot of good information available. Clearly, each solution has their own advantages and disadvantages. Some materials may well be a "no-no" due to safety. Others may be great for relatively light use applications.

In another thread I mentioned it like this. Negative camber in a front suspension of a 4 wheeled vehicle has effects. If I add a degree of neg camber in my project car, it will have dramatic effects on its performance on the road and track. Yet if I add that same degree of negative camber to my John Deere nobody would notice. I think so long as safety is not an issue, the same can be said for some of the criticisms of some solutions. In an ideal world where we all seek perfection, there may be a purely academic advantage that will never ever be measurable in the real world. While we should be aware of those issues, we should also be aware of the degree of impact, if any even exists.

 

[Jazz]

Pretty sure that only three things are okay for shop air. 1. black iron, 2. copper 3. pex or some other plastic system specifically designed for air. Why not just run steel pipe or copper and not take chances.

 

[ponchopower]

Pretty sure that only three things are okay for shop air. 1. black iron, 2. copper 3. pex or some other plastic system specifically designed for air. Why not just run steel pipe or copper and not take chances.

There are reasons, though I'm not sure what you are implying by "not take chances". That would be the value of what creativecars, stuart and jeff suggested. Lay out the different variables and data points so that a more clear and unbiased discussion can happen.

Also, FWIW there are yet other options beyond what you mention. Aluminum, galvanized.... Just saying.

 

[SpeedCoach]

reported

 

[mtwaterguy]

For gods sake, will people just go back and actually READ the thread rather than emotionally responding to what they "think" somebody may be talking about.

Neither the OP, or any suggestions afterward EVER referenced ANY PVC - EVER. Except for 1 post. Which was immediately responded to. And is over. The OP did not ask about PVC. Nobody recommended PVC.

That's the reason these threads go so far off base immediately. Anytime somebody asks about materials (for air) other than black pipe or copper, SOME people who know not what they're talking about apparently automatically ***(ume) that it just MUST be PVC. It's not.

Problem is that PVC was referred to in post 3 of this thread. Person stated that he had PVC in his shop and that his friend has had it in his shop for years and neither has had any problems. If you want to rag on someone he should be your target, not the people that replied to his post. Perhaps you were assuming?

 

[garageking]

didnt mean to start anything here,just remember there was a gj member had a blue metal air line that was neat clean easy to assemble

 

[Addrock]

Blue and OK in my opinion:
Transair (if you think black pipe has a faster thermal transfer coefficient than aluminum, you are dumber than a bag of hammers),
This is an Awesome system, not even is it FAST to change, install. But due to it's thermal coefficient and ability to coalesce vapor to water, and take air from the dry part of the pipe.
Rapid air (quick pex LIKE easy to use with push to connect ends, small diamiter, not good for large air consumers),
Non-blue:
Copper (no rust, smooth consistent ID, expensive, have to sweat together),
Black pipe (RUSTS inside, rusts inside, filter at EVERY outlet, pretty expensive, NEARLY impossible to add a drop where you didn't think you needed one)
PVC (NOT for compressed gases!)

It you are worried about a fire getting to your compressed air lines, you are doing it wrong, if you are worried about compressed gas being flammable, you are compressing the WRONG gas.

What black pipers never figure into the equation is rust removal costs, or the cost to not remove it.

If you think aluminum that is powder coated doesn't transfer heat as well as black pipe you are using the pipe wrong.

 

[vonhef]

Pretty sure that only three things are okay for shop air. 1. black iron, 2. copper 3. pex or some other plastic system specifically designed for air. Why not just run steel pipe or copper and not take chances.

Actually, I am going to use a 4th option with Parker stainless steel 1/2" tubing and compression fittings.

We use this in the Gas Pipeline industry with very high pressures. Fittings can be expensive, but the tubing is fairly reasonable cost per foot.

 

[Mikie]

What is the norm for air lines, 1" or ¾" or ½"?

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

What is the norm for air lines, 1" or ¾" or ½"?

Most of the people on here that have plumbed their shops used 1/2" for the entire run. Some have gone 3/4" for the main run and 1/2" drops. Anything larger than that is not very common and most people agree that it is not required for home use with the air volume that we use.

 

[johnsdeere850j]

Most of the people on here that have plumbed their shops used 1/2" for the entire run. Some have gone 3/4" for the main run and 1/2" drops. Anything larger than that is not very common and most people agree that it is not required for home use with the air volume that we use.

I didn't even think about it until I read this thread, I used 1" schedule 80 pvc for the air lines in my 50 x 100 shop at home. Been 10 years and it still works, I wasn't aware of the hazards of it, guess ill just be careful

 

[Torque1st]

Mikie, check out these links:

http://www.tptools.com/StaticText/airline-piping-diagram.pdf
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/air-line-length-recommended-sizes-d_1537.html

A few basic tools to use for simple air systems:
http://aircompressorpump.beniceblog.com/top-10-compressed-air-rules-of-thumb/
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/gas-air-systems-t_22.html

For most normal home shop use a 3/4" mainline with 1/2" drops is adequate.

 

[ponchopower]

Problem is that PVC was referred to in post 3 of this thread. Person stated that he had PVC in his shop and that his friend has had it in his shop for years and neither has had any problems. If you want to rag on someone he should be your target, not the people that replied to his post. Perhaps you were assuming?

No. Please read the posts again. Start from the FIRST one. Yes, there was one person referring to PVC. The OP was not. Yet all you see are a bunch of people piling on (and some people like Torque being the first to start name calling) about PVC. Nobody ever actually gave the OP the information that he actually started the thread about. Which was NOT black pipe, NOT copper, and NOT PVC.

 

[mtwaterguy]

No. Please read the posts again. Start from the FIRST one. Yes, there was one person referring to PVC. The OP was not. Yet all you see are a bunch of people piling on (and some people like Torque being the first to start name calling) about PVC. Nobody ever actually gave the OP the information that he actually started the thread about. Which was NOT black pipe, NOT copper, and NOT PVC.

I read the posts. That's why you are wrong. The op's first post questioned whether the blue stuff was plastic. The thread went off topic at post #3. from that point on the bashing started, as always when the uninformed start stating that pvc is acceptable for compressed air lines usage. Your personal problems with Torque clouded your vision regarding this post and you felt it necessary to try to ridicule him rather than focus on the op's subject. You appear to be the only one comparing pvc to the blue material the op asked about.

 

[ponchopower]

has anyone seen some stuff a guy used for air line,the stuff was blue,dont know if it was plastic or metal,any ideas,dont want to run black pipe,want something neater and quicker to put up

Eastwood carries a blue airline pipe system. I used schedule 40 PVC. A friend has had PVC in his shop for years. Mine has been installed for about 2 years.

Yup, the idiot 'Plastic People' are here again.

I read the posts. That's why you are wrong. The op's first post questioned whether the blue stuff was plastic. The thread went off topic at post #3. from that point on the bashing started, as always when the uninformed start stating that pvc is acceptable for compressed air lines usage. Your personal problems with Torque clouded your vision regarding this post and you felt it necessary to try to ridicule him rather than focus on the op's subject. You appear to be the only one comparing pvc to the blue material the op asked about.

Nuff said. I have no personal issue with Torque. I know what he acts like and expect it. Just like in this thread when factually he is the first person to start name calling, and then accuses somebody else of doing it. I have no problem with uninformed people being educated on the hazards of using PVC for air delivery, though I do think it makes more constructive sense to do it with a little respect rather than arrogant ridicule. However Torque and some others take it a step further and ridicule anyone who uses anything other than black pipe or copper. I did not "ridicule" Torque. I simply pointed the finger right back at him after he called others idiots.

 

[Ryan]

Jesus... You guys can find a way to fight over air lines? Really?

You fellas need to find a hobby... Get off the computer for gods sake.