ben98gs
Well-known member
I have done numerous searches and find MANY "what material/can I use PVC" threads, but some of the questions I have do not seem to be easy to find, possibly there, but buried under the other clutter. Hopefully I did not miss some obvious topics/posts.
Background: We bought our house/property about 5 years ago with a 30 x 40 detached garage/barn. The barn had air lines run to two locations in PVC, but the previous owner had broken off one of the line ends, and cut the end that would have connected to the compressor (plus the system does not appear to have any drains or anything like that. So I am saved from using the existing PVC system! I have a 60 gallon single stage compressor.
The questions I have are as follows:
The threads always talk about line sizing etc. "depending on what you are going to use it for" and "depending on how many lines you run and how many people using", but I do not ever see any information on how to determine what you need based upon those variables. This is my personal garage where I will likely be the only user at any given time. I want to be able to use the system for minor auto/mechanic related stuff (impact, grinder, etc.) but want to possibly be able to use items that require dry air such as media blasting or for paint if projects require body work. Would a 3/4" copper main line around the perimeter and through the middle (to hose reel) with riser to 2 (possibly 3 on the two longer walls) drops on each wall be ample for my goals?
Everything I read always seems to talk about draining the air lines/system daily. I would likely to leave the system (or at least the main tank) pressurized during the summer when I do work more regularly, but still might not realistically use the air for weeks or months at a time. If I know I will not be using it for a while, I have no problem draining the lines and bleeding most of the pressure from the system, but do prefer the convenience of quick access when I might be hoping to work. How bad is it to keep the system pressurized, but not used?
Since I do hope to paint, I obviously will need dry air. I plan to use risers in the system as part of the setup for "drier" air anyway. Knowing it would be preferrable/required to have additional line dryer items for paint, is there any other special considerations that should be made for the drop that might be used to paint?
I have seen reference in some posts to people who had setup manifolds with the pressure regulator(s) that could also be bypassed to provide full pressure with the flip of a valve, but I cannot seem to find any schematics or pictures of how people have set this up. I use the compressor to fill a portable tank for filling tires, and it is always a pain to mess with changing at least my current regulator to provide maximum pressure. Anyone have pictures or schematics of this type of regulator bypass for full pressure as needed?
Hopefully these are not heavily discussed items that I somehow missed in the muddle of "PVC system" posts that pop up with any air line related search.
Background: We bought our house/property about 5 years ago with a 30 x 40 detached garage/barn. The barn had air lines run to two locations in PVC, but the previous owner had broken off one of the line ends, and cut the end that would have connected to the compressor (plus the system does not appear to have any drains or anything like that. So I am saved from using the existing PVC system! I have a 60 gallon single stage compressor.
The questions I have are as follows:
The threads always talk about line sizing etc. "depending on what you are going to use it for" and "depending on how many lines you run and how many people using", but I do not ever see any information on how to determine what you need based upon those variables. This is my personal garage where I will likely be the only user at any given time. I want to be able to use the system for minor auto/mechanic related stuff (impact, grinder, etc.) but want to possibly be able to use items that require dry air such as media blasting or for paint if projects require body work. Would a 3/4" copper main line around the perimeter and through the middle (to hose reel) with riser to 2 (possibly 3 on the two longer walls) drops on each wall be ample for my goals?
Everything I read always seems to talk about draining the air lines/system daily. I would likely to leave the system (or at least the main tank) pressurized during the summer when I do work more regularly, but still might not realistically use the air for weeks or months at a time. If I know I will not be using it for a while, I have no problem draining the lines and bleeding most of the pressure from the system, but do prefer the convenience of quick access when I might be hoping to work. How bad is it to keep the system pressurized, but not used?
Since I do hope to paint, I obviously will need dry air. I plan to use risers in the system as part of the setup for "drier" air anyway. Knowing it would be preferrable/required to have additional line dryer items for paint, is there any other special considerations that should be made for the drop that might be used to paint?
I have seen reference in some posts to people who had setup manifolds with the pressure regulator(s) that could also be bypassed to provide full pressure with the flip of a valve, but I cannot seem to find any schematics or pictures of how people have set this up. I use the compressor to fill a portable tank for filling tires, and it is always a pain to mess with changing at least my current regulator to provide maximum pressure. Anyone have pictures or schematics of this type of regulator bypass for full pressure as needed?
Hopefully these are not heavily discussed items that I somehow missed in the muddle of "PVC system" posts that pop up with any air line related search.