Rigid air lines - what material
Discussion
I'm about to put an air main into my garage - totalling five outlets and about 30 meters of pipe to get to them.
What's the best material to use for the pipes? From reading around, the options seem to be nylon, copper and iron/steel. I'm currently thinking (15mm) copper might be best because it'll probably be better than nylon at condensing moisture out of the air and less rust-prone than iron/steel? If I use copper, will normal solder-ring type joints designed for water pipes hold, or do I need to braise the joints?
Also, what diameter? The compressor is rated at 14CFM and will be used for a variety of things from pumping up tyres to painting.
What's the best material to use for the pipes? From reading around, the options seem to be nylon, copper and iron/steel. I'm currently thinking (15mm) copper might be best because it'll probably be better than nylon at condensing moisture out of the air and less rust-prone than iron/steel? If I use copper, will normal solder-ring type joints designed for water pipes hold, or do I need to braise the joints?
Also, what diameter? The compressor is rated at 14CFM and will be used for a variety of things from pumping up tyres to painting.
Edited by kambites on Friday 16th August 10:41
I have a 3 cylinder up-right compressor in my barn(because its far from the house)running at 12-13bar/70-ish cfm plumbed to the garage with 30mm i.d semi rigid nylon brake hose designed for trains,trucks etc.
The supply form the barn to garage is one long length and was just buried un sheilded as it is designed with impact resistance in mind.
This is reduced to 18mm i.d inside,mainly because the coupling to push fit adapter made this an easier option but the lower profile helps.
I did fit a drain off at the lowest point and have never had a problem with leakage, a fitting blowing off or excess water despite not having a water trap.
I figured that it has a hard life as brake hose in a pretty hostile environment and have not regretted it,the fuel lines on my Capri is exactly the same stuff of 10mm id,so it is suitable for oil feed.
The added bonus is that when I needed an extra coupling above the bench I just cut the pipe and pushed on a new fitting,which took less time than releasing the pressure in the first place.
I got it all from Pirtek,
its a doddle to use and fit up and needed no more than a junior hacksaw and a sharp knife to install,plus 3 hours with a mini digger for the trench form the barn,plus another 4 f
king about on it
The supply form the barn to garage is one long length and was just buried un sheilded as it is designed with impact resistance in mind.
This is reduced to 18mm i.d inside,mainly because the coupling to push fit adapter made this an easier option but the lower profile helps.
I did fit a drain off at the lowest point and have never had a problem with leakage, a fitting blowing off or excess water despite not having a water trap.
I figured that it has a hard life as brake hose in a pretty hostile environment and have not regretted it,the fuel lines on my Capri is exactly the same stuff of 10mm id,so it is suitable for oil feed.
The added bonus is that when I needed an extra coupling above the bench I just cut the pipe and pushed on a new fitting,which took less time than releasing the pressure in the first place.
I got it all from Pirtek,
its a doddle to use and fit up and needed no more than a junior hacksaw and a sharp knife to install,plus 3 hours with a mini digger for the trench form the barn,plus another 4 f
king about on itMangledMetal said:
I've seen quite a lot of workshops kitted up with normal water alcathene pipe, (blue water stuff). If you're worried about water in the oipes(condensation) fit an inline drier and oiler after the compressor.
I think it is the John Guest system as this is also a blue plastic pipe.John Guest do either aluminium or plastic in blue. http://www.pipefittingsdirect.co.uk/contents/en-uk...
I looked at their stuff thinking of doing my workshop & can advise you not to buy any off ebay because it all seems to be twice the price of anything in the link above.
For the time being I bought a 15 metre rubber air hose for 20 quid which reaches every corner of my workshop, not as nice by any means but cheap & practical.
I looked at their stuff thinking of doing my workshop & can advise you not to buy any off ebay because it all seems to be twice the price of anything in the link above.
For the time being I bought a 15 metre rubber air hose for 20 quid which reaches every corner of my workshop, not as nice by any means but cheap & practical.
buzzer said:
I did my garage years ago with standard 15mm copper with soldered joint. No problems at all, and plenty of capacity for running air tools. Cheap and easy, neat to install.
That's exactly what I did; also no problems for many years. Bending the pipe rather than using bend fittings reduces joints and helps to keep flow as high as possible. I have a variety of outlets with and without reducers fitted, one with an in-line oiler and a couple of others that have an in-line oiler mounted on the wall but not connected into the pipe line. If I need to use it I put it in circuit with a short jumper hose.
Doubling up on the water separator just downstream of the compressor is a useful option.
kambites said:
Are the air-line screw fittings the same as water tap fittings? They're both BSP but there seems to be two types - tapered and flat.
I always use tapered with either PTFT tape or preferably something like Holts thread lock & seal because they tighten up as you're screwing them in, the thread diameter increases as you screw it in. If you use the flat they tighten up on the end/shoulder so I'm presuming you'd need a copper/fibre washer to seal. Edited by mygoldfishbowl on Tuesday 27th August 18:15
To be honest I'm not sure that they are. I think only the males are tapered, but I am not 100% sure of that.
Edit. Actually the more I think about it the more sure I think I am. I just wish I had a fitting here now that I could measure.
Edit. Actually the more I think about it the more sure I think I am. I just wish I had a fitting here now that I could measure.
Edited by mygoldfishbowl on Tuesday 27th August 18:25
mygoldfishbowl said:
To be honest I'm not sure that they are. I think only the males are tapered, but I am not 100% sure of that.
Edit. Actually the more I think about it the more sure I think I am. I just wish I had a fitting here now that I could measure.
To answer your uncertainty, there are 2 types of BSP fitting.Edit. Actually the more I think about it the more sure I think I am. I just wish I had a fitting here now that I could measure.
Edited by mygoldfishbowl on Tuesday 27th August 18:25
BSP(P) which is parallel.
BSP(T) which is tapered.
Whilst they will fit in each others male/female of the other type THEY SHOULD NOT BE MIXED!
They are designed to seal differently & could prove disastrous if used incorrectly.
BSP(P) all have a machined face to seat a dowty/copper/PTFE washer to seal.
BSP(T) are designed to have PTFE tape/paste as their seal.
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