Grime in Airlines

[OverkillYJ]

So I recently took ownership of a garage that had been unused for 10+ Years. Everything is coming along great, but I did find some serious black grime in my pipes running along my wall last night. What make this complicated is that I have an air powered hydraulic lift. So the line runs from my compressor up under the roof in one corner, along the wall, around the corner, and into the floor where the valve is to control the lift. It has 4 couplers between the compressor and lift. I am not sure what the best way is to clear this **** out. Also I would like to prevent it from coming back. These lines have a lot of moisture regularly no matter how much I drain the tank. Last night was the first time I removed a coupler from the lines though which is when I encountered this black grime. What makes it more difficult is that it is all screwed together. It is 3/4" pipe. I can't just unscrew the end since it is between two T connections.

 

[jjjrmx5]

What mat'l is the pipe runs?

Copper? Black iron/pig iron? PEX?

Sounds like moisture was trapped in the run and simple water based black mold formed inside.

Gunk removal process is governed by type of pipe for me.

 

[CNGsaves]

Sounds like you have black pipe steel airline.

Likely needs a "washout" of the entire airline system before you put it back into use. Maybe some hot soapy water pushed through with a powerwasher??

Once you've got the crud out of there, dry it out real well with air pushed through the empty airline. Finally, with air push through some oil throughout line to prevent rusting.

Only issue might be now you'll need filters in portions of the airline system you hadn't yet planned. Good luck!

 

[OverkillYJ]

Alright, so I am finally going to have time to clean these lines out this weekend. My question is if I can remove this T connector in the picture by rotating it, or if I have to remove all of the pipe from the compressor to this T to get it out. I have not tried from fear of breaking something by trying to remove it in a way that is not possible. The reason I ask is because If I could remove this from the pipe by itself it would save me removing about 40ft of 3/4" NPT pipe that is run along my walls and bolted in. Once I get this piece out I figured I could disassemble the pipe all the way to my lift control about 6ft away. For the 40ft length along my walls I can do the pressure washer and then I was going to hook my shop vac up to the pipe and run a bunch of oil through from the compressor side. Basically do as suggested above. Just not sure what the best way to take this apart is.

Hope I explained my plan well enough. Not sure if this plan would work though.

 

[The Copilot]

...and I thought this was going to be a post about the filthy conditions on commerical airplanes.......

 

[ZRX61]

I hope you never plan on painting anything if you're going to run oil through the pipework. Also the T's are upside down. They should face up with 2 street elbows connected to get it to face downwards again.. but without the issue of gravity putting the black **** & water etc into your connectors

 

[Thumper68]

In this case I think that I would rip it all ,out and replace it. The black gunk could be rust, mold, or some other harmful substance.

 

[03protege]

In this case I think that I would rip it all ,out and replace it. The black gunk could be rust, mold, or some other harmful substance.

Seriously, 3/4" pipe is less than $1 per foot right?

 

[pop pop]

As stated above, all your take-offs need to be vertical from the main line. Add to this several dirt traps you can drain before any vertical runs of pipe. Slope the lines to these traps slightly.

 

[sberry]

Blow it out, see what comes out.

 

[Hawk]

Alright, so I am finally going to have time to clean these lines out this weekend. My question is if I can remove this T connector in the picture by rotating it, or if I have to remove all of the pipe from the compressor to this T to get it out. I have not tried from fear of breaking something by trying to remove it in a way that is not possible. The reason I ask is because If I could remove this from the pipe by itself it would save me removing about 40ft of 3/4" NPT pipe that is run along my walls and bolted in. Once I get this piece out I figured I could disassemble the pipe all the way to my lift control about 6ft away. For the 40ft length along my walls I can do the pressure washer and then I was going to hook my shop vac up to the pipe and run a bunch of oil through from the compressor side. Basically do as suggested above. Just not sure what the best way to take this apart is.

Hope I explained my plan well enough. Not sure if this plan would work though.

In answer to your question: No you will not be able to just break it in the middle unless there is a union in the line. I would take a BF hammer, break a tee, put in a couple of shorter pieces with unions so they can be taken apart the next time it is needed. And breaking it will probably cause leaks at joints where you did not hit, but moved the pipe just enough to cause a leak.

That is if you do not choose to just replace it because it is not going to be an easy clean up. This would be my choice and I am a tightwad. lol