oldtimer50
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2007
- Messages
- 25
What is everyone using for their in garage air compressor piping systems?
garage air compressor systems
- Thread starter oldtimer50
- Start date
pattenp
Well-known member
I'm sorry to start off this way, but it's probably because I've been on this forum too long. If you do a search on the subject of airlines you'll find a ton of threads on what people are using. I personally use an aluminum piping system.
Here's one: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150794
Here's one: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150794
Gary S
Well-known member
No piping here. A 50' hose reaches everywhere in my garage.
Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Let's just cut to the chase. There are a myriad of opinions that all amount to, "...use galvanized, black pipe or heavier walled copper-IF you can afford it. Do NOT use PVC under any circumstances and there will be 1 or 2 opinions voiced that PVC won't kill you (it will, given time) and 1 or 2 opinions telling you to use a proprietary plastic like PEX"
HAHAH... only 10 posts... free pass!
I just installed 1/2" goodyear rubber hose from Harbor Freight. I use the following clamps to attach the hose to the wall. I used regular 1/2" brass fittings for all of the connections. I have a Lincoln 1/2"x50ft hose reel on the ceiling, and a few air drops around the garage. It was VERY easy to piece together, I think will be very reliable and damage resistant. There are no issues with soldering/burning finished walls, black pipe rusting, or anything like that. Its all brass and rubber.
8863T77 Loop Clamp, Galvanized Steel with Vinyl Coating, for 7/8" OD, 3/4" Wide, packs of 25
91090A120 Zinc-Plated Steel Large-Diameter Flat Washer, No. 10 Screw Size, 1" OD, .04"-.06" Thick, packs of 100
I also invested in Milton V high flow fittings for all of my quick disconnects. Its like nitrous for your air tools. Dang impact gun never ran so good! HAHA!
If you install it cleanly it looks ever bit as good as pipe. I can also easily go back later and add something in, repair a damaged piece, etc.
All wrapped up...
I just installed 1/2" goodyear rubber hose from Harbor Freight. I use the following clamps to attach the hose to the wall. I used regular 1/2" brass fittings for all of the connections. I have a Lincoln 1/2"x50ft hose reel on the ceiling, and a few air drops around the garage. It was VERY easy to piece together, I think will be very reliable and damage resistant. There are no issues with soldering/burning finished walls, black pipe rusting, or anything like that. Its all brass and rubber.
8863T77 Loop Clamp, Galvanized Steel with Vinyl Coating, for 7/8" OD, 3/4" Wide, packs of 25
91090A120 Zinc-Plated Steel Large-Diameter Flat Washer, No. 10 Screw Size, 1" OD, .04"-.06" Thick, packs of 100
I also invested in Milton V high flow fittings for all of my quick disconnects. Its like nitrous for your air tools. Dang impact gun never ran so good! HAHA!
If you install it cleanly it looks ever bit as good as pipe. I can also easily go back later and add something in, repair a damaged piece, etc.
All wrapped up...
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OP
oldtimer50
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2007
- Messages
- 25
Thanks and sorry that I forgot to use the search engine.
Falcon67
Well-known member
I like the hose - not so sure I'd trust hose clamps at 135 PSI though. I might do some of that, but I'd buy a crimper.
Whats difference would a small or large air compressor make in your piping? Its the same pressure... only thing that's different is the flow capabilities and tank capacity.
I did blow a hose off one of the barbs, but I did not have the clamp on the barb correctly. I also specifically bought wider beefier clamps so you can really crank down on them without stripping it out. They are on there SOLID.
I did blow a hose off one of the barbs, but I did not have the clamp on the barb correctly. I also specifically bought wider beefier clamps so you can really crank down on them without stripping it out. They are on there SOLID.
I'm going to use 1/2" hose as well but to protect it and make it nicer looking I'm going to put it inside PVC or metal conduit (ie run the air hose thru the bigger PVC or metal conduit pipe). This way you won't have to worry as much about puncture and you can easily put it up on the wall/ceiling without nearly as many clamps. Yes black pipe would be the best way I suppose but it does require a lot of work.
R6 Racer
Well-known member
Using a rubber hose is a very inexpensive option but it wont give you any of the benefits that a proper piping system will.
I use copper.
Steve
I use copper.
Steve
2manytoyz
Well-known member
I bought an inexpensive hose reel. I'm impressed by how well it works, and how little it leaks. Walmart el-cheapo model.
50' reaches everything in the garage, and down the driveway.
50' reaches everything in the garage, and down the driveway.
Durasmack
Well-known member
***********************
Pattenp, I've been biting my tongue on this, but what the heck, here goes....
If you don't want to answer, don't.... What's the difference if the guy used the search or not? There seems to be a lot of other guys on here who had constructive solutions to this guys question. If he would have asked " I've searched on here long and hard and know what everyone has done with their garage piping up thru yesterday, I'm am wandering if there is any new ideas out here?" would that have been acceptable to you?
As far as what I use, I use the Rapid Air flexible air line with their valves and blocks.... I've
Now hat the same setup in 3 shops and have 0 complaints! Very easy installation, easy to add to, and no leaks!
See link below.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/to...0500&ci_sku=490500&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}
What exactly does a "proper piping system" offer you, other than it looks pretty, and it dents easily? The benefits to me is a hose reel on my ceiling and a couple air stations around my shop. I guess if you got guys throwing razor blades at the walls you got problems with rubber hose. I simply choose to run the hose in a place in my garage that is never disturbed. Of course I'm not running some insane compressor system for an paint booth either...
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In theory pipe will cool the air quicker allowing water to be filtered out
Jarhead0408
Well-known member
Yo Durasmack!
Hey man, not cracking on your response but Join date of 2009 and this is the first time you've posted?
You're like a walking/typing contradiction! Guess I just talk to much???
Hey man, not cracking on your response but Join date of 2009 and this is the first time you've posted?
You're like a walking/typing contradiction! Guess I just talk to much???
R6 Racer
Well-known member
No razor blade throwing allowed in here, Knives, tomahawks & the occasional dart or 3 but no razor blades!
Nothing wrong with using rubber hose at all! Sorry if it came across that way. Like 2manytoyz & Gary S both use a 50' hose reel & it works great for their needs.
I like the clean looks of what you have done & I'm fairly sure it works great for your needs. I'm also sure your set up was way less of a pain in the **** to install & a pile less $$$$ than mine was too. What I meant was that if you have the need for any of the other benefits that a piped system can provide, a rubber set up is not the way to go. A couple of specific examples that come to mind is dry air that you need for sand blasting plasma cutting or painting. You cant get really dry air with a rubber system without buying a pile more stuff. Another is that with a proper piped system there is far less risk of a leak developing over time than with rubber.
Again, I didn't mean to insult, sorry if it came across that way. I should have taken more time to rite a detailed response.
Steve
Yeah I agree for super high air volume applications youll get some advantages using metal, really you could use a heat exchanger before the air hits your lines, and filter water out there. Long term yeah copper will be better, but I've run a cheap 3/8 hose getting dragged around a garage floor for a decade and it's still fine. I installed a non-moving hose and I'd expect no less than 10 years of serviceable life. Worst case I replace it once a decade for 70 bucks 
No hard feelings... I just think like 95% of applications could use hose, yet I see tons of people torturing themselves with leaky plumb kits or struggling to install a useable metal system.
No hard feelings... I just think like 95% of applications could use hose, yet I see tons of people torturing themselves with leaky plumb kits or struggling to install a useable metal system.
FunkyfullWidth
Well-known member
Ya... He searched for all his questions. Never had a reason to post...
Anyway. A few years ago a friend of mine gave me two air lines that he claimed found in a dumpster at a construction site. A 50 footer and a 100 hundred footer. Changed the ends and it worked mint.
I have a three way after the regulator then just ran the rubber behin all my shelving to the front of one bay, and the back of another both coiled on the wall.. I've never had a problem reaching anything, or with air flow. Been like this 5 years.
Steevo
Well-known member
I used all 3/4" black pipe for mine. You can't puncture it with a throwing star (when did that become a criteria?), It won't dent, crush, crack or explode. In fact, if piping is in a location where it might get dented, it is probably installed too low. I use air hoses on reels for convenience and reach. My blast cabinet has its own filter/trap for moisture removal, even though air is so dry here that very little collects.
Falcon67
Well-known member
The big deal is water control. If you just use the air occasionally for tires, dusting, etc - no big deal. If you do any painting, sand blasting, extensive use of a cutoff tool or other decently air volume consuming tool, you are going to have water issues and 10x as much water issues with the smaller compressors. Water will screw up your paint, clog your blaster, rust out your tools. And if the compressor has to run a lot - you will get a LOT of water. You'd be surprised, most likely, at the volume created. Even in a dry climate you'd be shocked. A 1/2" or 3/4" iron piping run with the proper take offs, drip loops and filters on the connections goes a long way at keeping water out of the end of the hose where you are working. The air gets a chance to cool down and drop the water out of suspension. So for some of us, a good metal system is the way to go. For others, an easy install with convenient ports using rubber hose is plenty good 'nuff.
In bracket racing, we try to keep track of "water grains". Here's something from another site on that:
" water grains is a measurement of ABSOLUTE humidity, which I think is more accurate description of water vapor in the air than relative humidity.
For example relative humidity reflects the relative amount of water that air can hold at a given temperature. Change the temperature and the humidity will change even if net amount of moisture in the air remains the same. In fact a 1ºF change in temperature can change the relative humidity by 2%. If outside air at 85ºF and 60% RH is cooled to 72 degrees without any moisture removal, the RH will increase to almost 90%
1 pound of water= 7,000 grains
absolute humidity (specific humidity)--amount of water vapor in the air (absolute uses weight per volume of air)
capacity of air to hold moisture depends on temperature so its capacity varies
WATER VAPOR
CAPACITY TABLE
per one cubic foot of air
temperature grains
30 1.9
40 2.9
50 4.1
60 5.7
70 8.0
80 10.9
90 14.7
100 19.7"
The compressor raises the temp and the air picks up a lot more water during that process. when the air cools - either in the pipe or in your tool - here comes the flood.
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Right... it doesn't matter what the climate is like. If there is water in the air, then a change in temperature will create condensation. When the air gets hot it picks up water, and releases it when it cools down again.
Do you raise up your dial if you see water grains increase as the day progresses?
Do you raise up your dial if you see water grains increase as the day progresses?
elguappo
Well-known member
Any opinion on using a hybrid system, with a copper matrix of tube near the compressor for water cooling/collection, but with rubber going out to your drops?
Falcon67
Well-known member
I'm not fully convinced that copper works as well in the first 25' as equivalent sized iron pipe. Copper bleeds heat well - but also picks it up quick. Iron has more mass and would - seems to me anyway - have less swings in tube temp. Copper is easier to run, for sure. Mine is going to end up as a "hybrid" of iron and hydro flex line.
Temp swings do more here at this altitude than water grains or %RH, typically. We can get 40F temp swings from 1st round to final if we run into the evening. When the track was running, dials would fall until about 7, then pick up - sometimes a bunch.
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pattenp
Well-known member
Sorry mother, hope you didn't hurt your tongue. I wasn't trying to rag on the guy for not doing a search. I provided a link to one thread on airlines and told him what I was using. How much more did I need to do to make you happy? I guess that means I'm going to bed without dinner.
Jarhead0408
Well-known member
^^^ MORE SOUP????^^^
NO! NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!
Bastardized half remembered line from Oliver Twist. Or maybe not, somebody call me out on this literary tragedy.
NO! NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!
Bastardized half remembered line from Oliver Twist. Or maybe not, somebody call me out on this literary tragedy.
The reason there is so much water in the tank is because you are putting that much more air (with its water) in the same area. A 150 psi 60 gal tank holds 600 gallons of air @ ambient pressure. The compressor heating the air doesn't cause the air to "pick up more moisture"...I think I've heard it all now...
Think of it like squeezing the water out of a sponge....
Think of it like squeezing the water out of a sponge....
pattenp
Well-known member
You know... you could have done a search on 'Oliver Twist'.
^^^ MORE SOUP????^^^
NO! NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!
Bastardized half remembered line from Oliver Twist. Or maybe not, somebody call me out on this literary tragedy.
At work we have all copper with rubber drop downs to work stations. Seems good but our shop is temp. Controlled, hard to tell much when the environment never changes. I had a vapor collector on a machine I used to run. I thought I should open it up one day and see what would come out. It didn't even drip.
R6 Racer
Well-known member
I wish I could remember the thread, but someone here who is an expert in such things posted a whole page of calculations on heat transfer/exchange. It was all foreign to me but the end result was that copper disperses heat better. Anyone remember where that was?
IMO there would be no problem using a "hybrid" system, whatever works for you in your situation.
Steve