JimReed Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 I am in the process of installing dust collection ductwork and electrical below my wooden shop floor and while I am at it and the floor is open I want to run some air lines. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should run and a good source to obtain the recommended gear? Thanks for any tips you might be able to offer. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 ==> while I am at it and the floor is open I want to run some air lines not a good idea unless you have a drain access sump in the floor. the biggest issue with central air that needs to be managed is trapped moisture/drainage. there are some good articles on running air lines around the net to get the basics down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Are you talking about compressed air for tools? If so... I agree - it's better to run the line where you can easily access it. I have used standard copper pipe with sweated joints (on the advice of a plumber). Works great. A place like Princess Auto stocks condensate filters, pressure guages, and the like. If you are worried about it being "ugly", sand the copper pipe first to shine it up. Use copper straps and copper nails to fasten it to the wall. Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim0625 Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 "I know a guy".....lot of people gotten into trouble after beginning a sentence with that....but this guy had a mechanic's shop and ran all of his air tools off of 120 psi and when he set up his shop, he ran his air lines with 3/4 pvc....yep, schedule 40 not 80 though 80 having a thicker wall would be more sturdy....he just used schedule 40 and here 22 years later, it's perfect. I also like the lines where I can see them - on the wall or in the air - you can see a problem (though it's not likely to happen) and easily make changes in the pattern of the pipes (bet the farm that will happen...yes the entire farm-5 years from now, your shop will NEVER look like it does today and you'll be saying I wish I hadn't put those (many bad words strung together) air lines under the floor!!!). You'll just add a line onto the existing visible line and have it on the wall anyway. If you don't like the pvc idea, 3/4 black iron pipe is a good way to go. It's fairly cheap and if you have a welder, buy the fittings you can weld in...if you don't, you can probably borrow a 3/4 pipe threading handle and die from someone who "works at the mill" and cut and thread your own. Ask a friend who works in maintenance. Doing it is as easy as falling off a greasy log. I just like visible and practical over aesthetics, If I'm understanding you correctly and your shop is like Vic's or others where there is a crawl space underneath, run them hidden under the floor - just do not say bad things when you want to modify and have to crawl 10 years from now and the body hurts more.... because you will modify---remember the farm. I am TimWood and I approved this message. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimReed Posted July 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Sorry guys, I should have been more clear. Yes, air lines for compressed air. And don't worry, most of the lines will be run above the floor but I am just running a single line under the floor from one side of the shop to the other side-- think of this as a trunk line running to the far side of the shop away from my compressor. My thought was to keep it clean and not have a ton of lines running overhead that I would run a single trunk line for the dust collector and compressor under the floor. And don't worry, I plan to leave access panels to get at the trunk line. Soooooo, my question more accurately should have been "what is the best material to run a trunk line for compressed air?". Thanks for the copper, black pipe and PVC recommendations. However, I thought there was a specific type of plastic line with compression fittings similar to those for running water lines that was specifically designed for air. I will do some Google surfing and see if I can find this product I saw years ago. Thanks for the help! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croessler Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Jim, I have been looking into the products from RapidAir. It seems pretty straight forward and simply to deploy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 I used actual inexpensive air hose, cutting and installing tees were necessary. We did two large bicycle shops the same way. Be aware that water will collect at the lowest point of the system, there needs to be a drain located at that point. Therefore, make the lowest point of the system easy accessible. I've personally seen PVC shatter with compressed air. While there might be installations that have lasted many years, there are many variables here. Variables include UV and chemical solvent exposure that can make PVC brittle, scratches or flaws in the pipe, how protected from physical contact and vibration the installation is, which exact version of PVC is used... OSHA's issue with PVC is the failure mode if conditions go bad. Copper, flexible hose, etc... will simply split and lose the air. If PVC goes brittle, it shatters like glass, into sharp shards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joraft Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 ... I thought there was a specific type of plastic line with compression fittings similar to those for running water lines that was specifically designed for air. I will do some Google surfing and see if I can find this product I saw years ago. Thanks for the help! Jim, take a look at SmartPipe, it's not plastic, it's aluminum, but it's a top quality system that's very easy to install. SmartPipe Catalog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim0625 Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 Barry has some valid points. So do a lot of research and decide...I do like the trunk line idea though. I use a small portable compressor - like about a 26 gallon and a hose reel. A 4" line overhead in the shop would give it somewhat of a buffer....but NOW Barry has me thinking...if that 4" PVC line grenaded overhead, it would be like a terrorist bomb going off with shards flying everywhere!!! This illustrates a Bible verse, "There's safety in a multitude of counsel" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texfire Posted July 26, 2012 Report Share Posted July 26, 2012 I don't have the experience that the other posters have, but I too have heard about water collecting at the lowest point of the system, so make sure you have a way to drain it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimReed Posted July 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 RapidAir looks perfect for me-- flexible, easy and relatively inexpensive. Thanks to all of you for all your great advice! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 I've also been interested in Rapid Air... Rumor has it, it's a truck plumbing product. If you've got a large NAPA or truck parts supplier nearby, it might be worth a price check on the tubing and terminations. Once you terminate connectors in standard NPT pipe threads, you can easily add inexpensive Milton air fittings. Milton fittings are available everywhere, including Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=milton+air+fittings&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=6736616301&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1204489951370885494&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&ref=pd_sl_8ic6uk35a0_e). My shop is standardized on "M" (Manufacturing) fittings. These often come on air nailers and sanders. Milton "A" fittings are aimed at the automotive world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pro-staff Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 Hay guys I thought I would put I my two cents! I am a contractor in Houston tx and have installed and worked on air lines in many commercial buildings. We solely use schedule 40 PVC and have never had a problem. I do recommend using heavy duty glue instead of the medium duty used in water lines; it’s about a dollar more and on the same shelf in home depot. It even states time for curing when use for air lines. As far as brittle shards I have never heard of any problems in 20 years in the business... for air drying I like to put 25 ft of flexible copper wound up in a circle coming off of any small compressor to act as a radiator and put an air dryer at the other end that way the compressed air has time to cool and condense before it goes into shop lines. At that point I would not hesitate to put them under a floor. We have recently worked on a shop air system that has an average psi of 190 and it had been in use for years. I was just capping off an unused drop to make way for something else... I hope that helps. I just don’t see the need to buy expensive pipe and threaders for an air delivery system, all the “pros” I know like to spend their money on the cool stuff that they get to play with. Troy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambo Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 If you want to use plastic I know Aqutherm is approved for air (http://www.aquatherm.com/). As an alternative you might look at stainless steel tubing. You can make bends in it to fit the situation and that way you would have no fittings that would be hard to get to for repair later. If you do use a hose or the flexible tubing system install it in a conduit. That way if there is a problem you can pull it out and replace it easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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