Neat air compressor lines

[choi0706]

Compressed Air Piping and Air Tools from Garage Pak

[TimMullen]

Yep, neat until you get to the price tag. It's VERY expensive.

Black pipe is still the best stuff to plump you garage with for air - don't use galvanized as the galvanizing can flak off inside and get into your tools/etc.

When I finally get around to replacing my "temporary" (going on 15 years) air hoses that I have running from my compressor to my ceiling mounted air hose reel, I'll probably go with schedule "L" copper pipe and soldered connections (except the one nearest the compressor as it can get too hot). The Schedule "L" pipe is thicker than Schedule "M" which is commonly used in house plumbing - "L" only costs a little bit more. By cutting and soldering joints, you can easily custom install the piping as necessary.

DO NOT use PCV (plastic) piping. The stuff is brittle and can shatter (especially as it ages). If something gives, or something impacts the plastic piping, it can be like a hand grenade going off. If the pipe is filled with water under pressure, the pressure is "gone" as soon as the pipe cracks open, but not so with compressed air - there is a LOT of energy stored in the compressed air.

They do make some plastic piping specifically for compressed air systems (like the stuff in the link), but it is very expensive - several times the expensive of copper of black pipe.

[DeanG]

More infromation on the "black pipe" please. I hope to revamp my garage over the next few months.

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by DeanG

More information on the "black pipe" please. I hope to revamp my garage over the next few months.

Black pipe is common ordinary pipe sold at the hardware stores - actually there are two kinds of "common ordinary pipe", Galvanized pipe and Black pipe. Both are iron pipe and rather cheap.

Galvanized pipe is usually silver colored (from the galvanizing coating) and used for plumping water systems. The galvanizing lessens the rusting of the pipe. The disadvantage of galvanized pipe is the the galvanizing coating can flake off inside the pipes.

Black pipe is the same stuff, except that it's not galvanized. Black pipe is used for natural gas lines, where the galvanizing can flake off inside the pipe and cause problems with the burners and such that are using the gas (plugging the passageways). The disadvantage of black pipe is the it will rust quicker than the galvanized pipe. That means that the air line piping that you install in your garage may only last two or three generations instead of four or five. (Seriously, there are old shops and factories built in the '20s that still have the original black pipe installed and doing just fine.)

Iron pipe is that it comes in standard length, with threads on each end. You connect the pipes with couplers and angle joints that screw together. The hassle comes when you need a length that is not standard (i.e. it comes in 2, 4, & 8 ft. lengths and you need a 5 ft. piece). Then you need to have an end of a longer pipe cut off and new threads put on the end. Last time I had to do that it was something like a buck extra to cut and thread the pipe. However, it takes a bit of knowledge/skill/practice to learn how long to make the pipe - you have to account for the amount of threads that "get used up" when screwing the pipes together, which can easily be an inch or two at each end. It really isn't that hard to do, and the lengths probably won't be that critical if you are off an inch or two in the placement of the pipes. The hassle is that you will probably have to make a couple of trips back to the hardware store to get the pipes cut as you figure out how long you need each piece.

For any type of piping, You also should put "traps" in the pipes as you run the lines in the garage. the pipes will condense water inside them, so you want the whole system to run "downhill" to the end. When you add "drops" for the air hoses to attach, you want to "T" the line, with the drop first going up and then down to the hose attachment. This helps to keep the water from flowing into the drops. A the bottom ends of the drops and at the very end of the whole system, you want to have valves that can be opened to let the water drain out of the pipes. Simple ball valves work just fine.

Here is a good like to a diagram showing an "ideal" set up: http://www.tptools.com/StaticText/ai...ng-diagram.pdf
But keep in mind you can go a lot simpler. As I said before, I have a rubber hose running from my compressor to a ceiling mounted hose reel, and another by my garage door for use on the driveway. I keep meaning to do it right, but I didn't figure I would be in the house that long, and I never got around to doing it right - it been this way for 15 years. But the next hose will have it done right. I do however, have a water separator/pressure regulator at the start of my hoses...