My wife hooked me up with a big compressor for Christmas and I want to run some hard lines in the garage.

I plan to go with 3/4" copper but I have some questions.

The only inline oiler I can find is the one at HF for $3, will it work? Also, do I need a water/oil seperator and a filter if I'm not doing any painting or would they be a good idea anyway?

If I do need the filter etc. Is the right order: water/oil then filter then oiler?

Also I plan on a vertical shut off vavle to bleed any moisture. Any other suggestions?

I WOULD NOT use one of the inline oilers...they really tend to over oil your tools, which leads to early failure.

Best to just drop a couple drops of oil in the tool before chuking it on the hose every time you use it to a max of once / day.

If you get a seperate filter and water seperator, I'm not sure if the order matters, but I'd probably put the water seperator first, to prevent the filter from having to filter the water. They are a good idea, even if no painting, to keep your tools happy, not to mention the single greates use of a compressor...which is just having clean dry compressed air...you will find yourself blowing all kinds of stuff clean / dry (except bearings....not a good idea)

An air dryer is nice too, if you live in a humid area.

Agree with Bill. Don't use an auto oiler. Just oil it before you use it. I have 1/2 lines and they work great with my 60 gallon. 3/4 is kinda large. Ever see an air hose that big? I have my water/oil seperator then filter and then my regulator. I also have an K&N on the intake on my compressor.

You WILL want to use it to paint. :D It's just natural. Even if it's just primer or a touch up.

I would suggest you just keep a small oiler can near wherever you store your air tools and just make it a habbit that every time you pick up your tools to use one you shoot it up... Once you have the habbit established, you won;t even have to think about it any more :)

Okay, thanks. Time to get busy....

3/4 copper will work and add to the overall system volume but 1/2 inch will be fine. Most hoses are only 3/8.
When you make your drops put a drip leg in it will keep any condensed moisture out of your tools.

When I get the garage built Im thinking of using plastic lines. There is a special type of pcb tubing. Be real easy to install.

Originally posted by Cutch
When I get the garage built Im thinking of using plastic lines. There is a special type of pcb tubing. Be real easy to install. I've seen people use Scedule 80 PVC for this. Seems like it would be cheaper than copper.

i did use 1/2" pvc on my lines. I did this because i noticed while putting in a sprinkler system that it was rated @ 300psi. i got to shopping around after i bought my compressor and couldn't believe the price of steel/copper so i went with pvc and never looked back.

Originally posted by macgyver
i did use 1/2" pvc on my lines. I did this because i noticed while putting in a sprinkler system that it was rated @ 300psi. i got to shopping around after i bought my compressor and couldn't believe the price of steel/copper so i went with pvc and never looked back.

I'm just about done with the wiring of my new shop, and while I wait for inspection I might have to start plumbing for the compressors..

I'm avoiding PVC. It has a nasty tendency to explode and send plastic shards everywhere. It's not OSHA approved unless it's shielded (like conduit, or somewhere where the shrapnel can't find someone to attack).

I think the problem is with the hot/cold/hot/cold cycles. If you run your compressor hard, you can get some pretty hot air flowing through the pipes.. OTOH, if it's cool and you're flowing a lot of air out, it might cool things down.

I've been wondering just what size pipe to use for the plumbing, too. I can't remember where I found the recommendations on what sizes to use for what distance, but bigger is always better.

It has to do with the friction of the inside of the pipe and the distance the air has to travel to get to your tool.

I'm thinking 1/2" minimum, 3/4" or even 1" (I doubt I'll like the $$$ of 1" tho') for the lines in my 30x30 shop.

i used PVC in my dads grarge just because we had a lot of it, been there for 3-4 years, not leaks,

Also i noramly drop the oil in my tools when i am putting them away in my box, an old timer gave me a big speach on why to oil it then, and not before you use it, but i forget it

Originally posted by tsm1mt


I'm just about done with the wiring of my new shop, and while I wait for inspection I might have to start plumbing for the compressors..

I'm avoiding PVC. It has a nasty tendency to explode and send plastic shards everywhere. It's not OSHA approved unless it's shielded (like conduit, or somewhere where the shrapnel can't find someone to attack).

I think the problem is with the hot/cold/hot/cold cycles. If you run your compressor hard, you can get some pretty hot air flowing through the pipes.. OTOH, if it's cool and you're flowing a lot of air out, it might cool things down.

I've been wondering just what size pipe to use for the plumbing, too. I can't remember where I found the recommendations on what sizes to use for what distance, but bigger is always better.

It has to do with the friction of the inside of the pipe and the distance the air has to travel to get to your tool.

I'm thinking 1/2" minimum, 3/4" or even 1" (I doubt I'll like the $$$ of 1" tho') for the lines in my 30x30 shop.


You said it!

I've seen PVC airlines blow a 1 x2 FOOT-sized hole thru not 1
wall, but thru 2! the garage wall and into my freinds living room!
there were plastic frag's everywhere. luckily nobody was in the
house or garage when it blew.....

use copper.....or pipe. PVC can't handle the temps.

And on the oil/seperator issue:

If you paint, don't ever run an oiler using the same hose.

here is my set-up:

right on the output of my compressor tank is a water seperator,
then into a refrigerant dryer, then into my hard-lines then into
the rubber-air line hoses.

As a precaution I have 2 airlines that I only use for painting.
they never see use with airguns or air-tools other than my
paint guns. why do I do this: If you buy "good" grades of
automotive paint, you surely don't want to ruin the paint job
because of some compressor oil in the hoses. I buy new hoses
about every 2 years, they become my new paint gun hoses,
and the old paint hoses become air-tool hoses.

--Sherpa

PVC is fine to use, it is used very commonly in production facilities. The most common reason for PVC cracking is improper support, it needs to be supported twice as much as other pipe choices.

Anyway, what ever you do, I sugest to use the largest dia. header pipe you can afford or work with or fit..the header acts like a tank, you can add a lot of volume to your system with a 1-2" header pipe. Do all top take-offs, except the last drop in the loop should be an elbow pointing down. Top take-offs reduce the amount of crap that gets to tools greatly, and the last drop is a good place to drain the crap out of the lines. Copper/Stainless/PVC aren't too bad, but black pipe tends to scale....

Here is what I mean buy top take-off

That's a lame tip, Lame. j/k :D

That's easy enough to do. But I will not run PVC. I only need 10' or so of copper, just along one wall of the garage. With the rapid temp fluxes in Colorado, I'm not going cheap. And 3/4 it is, just for a little more volume.

Not trying to convince anyone, but my Dad has had PVC airlines in his shop for the last 22 years with absolutly no problems at all. That is with the compressor cycling all day every day (it's never been turned off). As others have said it just needs to be supported properly, which is not too tough.

I prefer black pipe. pvc breaks way too easy. I've seen guys try to stretch the hose out a little too far snap it right off. Stuff happens, you bump it what ever it can break easy. granted it is cheaper than pipe or copper. just a matter of what you can afford. any way you go it's better than no air :D

One more thing about PVC. Keep it out of the sun and welding areas. PVC is not UV friendly. The UV light can break down the chemical bonds in PVC.

Here's a link to an OSHA thingy on PVC air supplys.

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


Pete

One of the problems from a medical standpoint with PVC, is when it explodes and finds its way inside of your body, it does not show up on x-rays as well as metal (ie copper) does.
When a copper line lets go, (never seen it happen with air) it does not shatter like PVC, but just ruptures without sending little flesh seeking missles all over.
:nuke:

When you run the lines, angle them slightly down from the compressor. At the end of the line, have a drop tube to collect the water that will condense. That way you can drain it easy. Also, when you drop the piping, using the top take-offs like Lame suggested, put the quick connect about 6" before the bottom of the drop, and put a petcock at the end of the drop to catch the water there as well. You would be suprised at how much water accumulates.
Also, get a flex connector and install it between the tank & the mounte hard lines, you will get more life out of the lines that way. If you can afford it, get a refridgerated dryer. What ever you got for a dryer, put the dryer first. Oilers suck, just put a few drops in the tool before you use it.

EDIT: Also, mount the compressor on pieces of rubber to absord some of the vibration. Having installed compressors for a living before, I have seen the tanks crack due to them being mounted straight to the floor.