pvc pipe for air lines?

[1950ChevySuburban]

I did a search first, nothing came up. I've heard good and bad on running 3/4 PVC for air lines.
What do you all think? Doing a fresh install at my new house here.
THANKS!
John

 

[Mike83]

Short answer: Don't do it. It will explode.

Surprised nothing came up in a search; this seems like a common topic.

 

[Geo37]

I have had PVC Schedule 80 air lines in my shop for 8 years now, but only running 180 psi, they havent exploded yet!! Maybe i need to find the topic on this!

 

[benjamming]

PVC is not rated for compressed air. If it fails, it breaks into shards. Whether someone has had this stuff installed for 8 or 35 years has nothing to do with anything. It may or may not fail. However, if it does fail, the results can be pretty rough.

 

[GN4WHLN]

The consensus seems to be copper or black pipe is the best way to go. Some guys will say thay run PVC with no problems, but others have had it explode and throw shrapnel. PVC is not rated for air pressure (as far as I know) and can become brittle as it ages. Since copper doesn't grenade, I'm making my setup out of 3/4 copper with 1/2 drops and drip lines. I am also going to work out some ideas for a home made drier to keep water out of my tools.

IMHO, metal will cost a few bucks more, but in the end should be safer and more reliable.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I know you are not a business, there have been tons of posts on this board about this issue through the years. All the old timers here are probably tired of beating this issue like me and will tell you to search the history here, it has been beat to death.

The general answer most here will tell you is do not do it. As I said, you are not a business so OSHA does not apply to you, but there are referrences to other entities than OSHA that also agree you should not do this. I am supplying a link to the OSHA web site detailing their position on this for businesses.

http://www.osha.gov/dts/hib/hib_data/hib19880520.html

 

[Stuart in MN]

I did a search first, nothing came up.

That's odd, I just tried it myself and 'PVC air' gets no hits with a search. It must be one of the most often discussed (and argued) topics on this board...I think it comes up every couple weeks or so, I don't know why the search doesn't work on those key words.

The short answer is that PVC pipe is rated for use with non-compressible fluids like water, but none of the manufacturers rate it for use with compressible gases. The problem is that PVC isn't ductile: if a PVC pipe containing compressed air is damaged it will fracture, and the rapidly expanding air will force the shards of plastic to fly all over the place.

 

[Steevo]

The search engine on this site *****. There are dozens of threads about plumbing compressed air, and most mention PVC in them, but searching on "pvc" returns nothing.

 

[66HertzClone]

Maybe this topic should be a sticky, seems someone posts this question at least once a month.

 

[1950ChevySuburban]

I'm going copper then! It's not about the money, its about the safety!



.............and copper looks cool with my 1958 house

 

[airbassador]

seriously, don't do it. unless you want to be a pvc pincushion. ask the guys that try to make potato cannons out of pvc and end up visiting the emergency room.

 

[Torque1st]

Use Google to search the site for 3 letter words or acronyms.

3-letter acronyms or words are not often indexed on BBS sites.

PVC is not rated for compressed gases. It is rated for liquids under pressure only. Using PVC for compressed air whether schedule 40 or 80 is used is very dangerous. Exposing yourself, wife and kids, your neighbors, your buddies, or friends, to a safety hazard that can kill or maim for a few bucks is sad.

Just wait and see what the lawyers will do to you if they find out you knew about the hazard and someone is injured. It will be bad enough when they show it is a widely known hazardous use of the material.

 

[babzog]

Only time I've ever seen PVC okayed for use (on this site) is if it's buried (since the ground will prevent any explosion from either occuring or wreaking havoc on persons, pets or property if it does. For above ground, use metal or other approved compressed air lines.

 

[cruzn57]

I installed PVC air lines in the shop, over 35 yrs ago, the only failure was a joint came loose, it has never fractured, or exploded.
I run my compressor at 175psi and on at 150psi, I'm not saying use it, or don't use it, but it has worked for me for a long time, and I'm NOT changing it.
Oh BTW, it's pressurized 24-7, and has been for over 35yrs,

I did ask around the complex ( auto shop complex) and almost all are using PVC and no problems EVER!

do what makes you feel best,

 

[Torque1st]

I installed PVC air lines in the shop, over 35 yrs ago, the only failure was a joint came loose, it has never fractured, or exploded.
I run my compressor at 175psi and on at 150psi, I'm not saying use it, or don't use it, but it has worked for me for a long time, and I'm NOT changing it.
Oh BTW, it's pressurized 24-7, and has been for over 35yrs,

I did ask around the complex ( auto shop complex) and almost all are using PVC and no problems EVER!

do what makes you feel best,

A bomb ticking and just waiting to explode... -So sad. The lawyers will have so much fun.

 

[1320stang]

Use PVC for airlines IF you want to be a potential Darwin Award winner.

 

[ripsnortMN]

I know pvc in theory is dangerous to run compressed air through. Can any of you guys find proof of this stuff exploding because some guy used it for his airlines? Anything on record.

 

[Torque1st]

I know pvc in theory is dangerous to run compressed air through. Can any of you guys find proof of this stuff exploding because some guy used it for his airlines? Anything on record.

Not on record but a shop down the road a ways had their overhead line explode spontaneously one night while nobody was in the shop that threw shrapnel all over. I was in the shop getting some work done a few days later and saw some of the pieces. They only run 125PSI. The shattered section was about 3' long.

There are several OSHA cases on file you can find with Google.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I've been in a shop when a 2" PVC line blew and it scared the he!! out of me. A 6" long shard about 1"-1.5" wide in the middle, both ends shaped like daggers, shot 60' across the shop past me and my buddy and embedded itself in the insulation on the opposite wall. That experience is enough for me to shun PVC in airline use and to tell others not to.

The above is one example.

Charles

 

[Ironcrow]

Not "on record", but I experienced it with my own ears. 175 psi working from a IR rotary screw, on 8 hours, 5 days at the factory. Everything I added was copper, but the boss told me he didn't want to change the PVC in one 6000 sq ft wing per my recommendation. An 1 1/4 sched 40 PVC pipe broke in the middle of a straight 20 ft run. This pipe had been installed for about 2 years. The pipe was about 2 ft from the ceiling and 8 ft from the floor. The effected length was about 3 ft long. Shards were imbedded in the wood ceiling and adjacent glu-lam beam. It was during shift, the manufacturing floor was occupied by about 30 workers. I was 50 ft away in my office. No injuries.

The boss approved replacing the PVC with copper.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I've seen it. Fortunately I was in the next room when a PVC fitting ruptured all on its own, it sounded like a bomb went off. Yes, there were pointy shards of plastic stuck in the walls.

 

[Stick Figure]

I know pvc in theory is dangerous to run compressed air through. Can any of you guys find proof of this stuff exploding because some guy used it for his airlines? Anything on record.

I worked at a tire store a long time ago that used PVC. We had one guy that would get bored and throw old lug nuts at the line. When he hit it, it exploded w/ good amount of force, and had a good amount of shrapnel that flew from it. Now that being said, i set up a couple shops w/ PVC just because it was cheap, and i was on a year lease, so i didn't want to get too crazy w/ anything really expensive. I never personally had a problem. The biggest worry is something hitting it, or pulling on one of the drops too hard and breaking it off. When i get into a more permanent living situation, i'll probably go copper. Until the i have a pair of 50' air hoses that i use to get me anywhere i need to go.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I did a search first, nothing came up.

You've got to be kidding...you obviously didn't try. This **** has been hashed out many, many times over...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/search.php?searchid=1790352&pp=25&page=2

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37875&highlight=PVC+compressed+air

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34762&highlight=PVC+compressed+air

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24439&highlight=PVC+compressed+air

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15967&highlight=PVC+compressed+air

Here are five threads to read through...

 

[e-tek]

You've got to be kidding...you obviously didn't try. This **** has been hashed out many, many times over...

I think he tried, just didn't try right....someone else tried to...also with no results...so what did you do differently?

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I think he tried, just didn't try right....someone else tried to...also with no results...so what did you do differently?

Got me. I typed in "PVC compressed air" and clicked "Search Now". Nothing special...

 

[autoclassicnut]

Go to this website... it has some more examples of why not to use PVC for airlines...http://www.oldsmobility.com/air-compressor-piping.htm

 

[krooser]

The search engine on this site *****. There are dozens of threads about plumbing compressed air, and most mention PVC in them, but searching on "pvc" returns nothing.

It depends on where you do the search... try " pvc pipe "... 500 hits on THIS section alone!

The search function works fine... IMHO.

 

[Steve in Mi]

I posted this in another thread a week or so ago when someone suggested using PVC for air lines.

Just one source of warning against PVC air line piping.
http://www.osha.gov/dts/hib/hib_data/hib19880520.html
Be safe.

 

[Falcon67]

It depends on where you do the search... try " pvc pipe "... 500 hits on THIS section alone!

The search function works fine... IMHO.

Yes, it works fine - but ***** for us because some three letter keywords are important to our discussions. The search engine doesn't index three letter words (and, the, etc) to save index space. "pvc air" returns zip. The word "air" returns zip. So your search for "pvc pipe" only hits on the "pipe" keyword, not the "pcv" keyword. And you get every thread with the word "pipe" in it. Won't help you find a discussion like this. "compressed pipe" returns plenty of pertinent results.

 

[Mattlt]

When I find "faulty" site searches, I fall back to Google, such as:

pvc air site:www.garagejournal.com


Enter the above in a Google search window. It will only search the site specified.

 

[rwhite692]

Prior to the OSHA mandate, many factories used PVC for running compressed air, the dark gray schedule 80, quite extensively. I worked in such a factory, there was miles of the stuff... changing it all over to copper took us quite a while.

The only time I ever saw it "fail" was when a section of pipe got hit by a piece of shelving that fell over. It shattered and, while no one was injured, they certainly could have been!....It also created the world's loudest whistle!

I used schedule 80 PVC only to connect my house garage to my new detached garage, underground. For everything above ground, I did it all in black iron pipe. Not worth the safety risk (for me) to use PVC.

One piece of advice, If you really have your mind set on using PVC, despite everything that you have read here, and elsewhere, regarding the safety risks, at least make sure that you:

1:Regulate your pressure BEFORE the PVC, down to no more than 100PSI, and

2:Use only schedule 80 pipe AND fittings.

 

[1320stang]

I know pvc in theory is dangerous to run compressed air through. Can any of you guys find proof of this stuff exploding because some guy used it for his airlines? Anything on record.

Charles beat me to my own post. This was in my buddies chassis shop and the line in question was mounted behind the compressor and was isolated with a flexible line and it was not in a location where something would fall and hit it.

 

[benjamming]

Some oil is not entirely compatible with PVC. I'm not sure if this includes typical air tool oil or not.

 

[Torque1st]

Falcon, as I said B4 use Google for searching on 3 letter terms.

 

[Jim Stabe]

Some of the posts in this thread make me think that we should just let the natural selection process run its course without interfering and get some of these people out of the human breeding pool. Problem is they would probably kill an intelligent innocent bystander and they would escape unharmed.

 

[s_morrison57]

PVC *****, go Sked 80 and you'll be ok up to 175 psi. Take a 10 ft. length of sked 80 and try and bend it to break it, that should convince you how strong that stuff is

 

[Torque1st]

PVC *****, go Sked 80 and you'll be ok up to 175 psi. Take a 10 ft. length of sked 80 and try and bend it to break it, that should convince you how strong that stuff is

Nope... PVC material is brittle not ductile. It is not to be used for compressed air or gasses in any thickness.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Strange no results when searching for PVC

Only three pages came up when I searched Airlines. More then that when I seached Air lines

Here is one thread that pretty much sums it up.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34762&highlight=airlines
________
strawberry cough

 

[upstate29353]

Me im the proof mine just blow up today 3/4 schedule 80 only 175 psi have about maybe 200 feet or so running throughout the shop it blew out about 30 feet from the air compressor and scared the bleeb out of me. took out some 2 car windows and back window of my brothers vet boy he gonna be mad. I'm going to install black pipe tomorrow.

 

[6768rogues]

PVC is rated for pressurized liquids, not gasses. A pipe full of liquid under pressure contains the pipe capacity full of liquid, that is all that escapes if the pipe ruptures. A pipe full of compressed gas contains many times the capacity of the pipe, and if all that energy is released catastrophically it can be devastating.
Try it. Put in a PVC pipe, fill and pressurize it, and then hit it with an object that could fall over and break it. Then post what happened with pictures.