anybody running sch 40 PVC pipe

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Another thing to consider here, above and beyond the safety aspects previously debated is cooling. The PVC does not transfer heat very well. Compressing the air will generate a lot of heat and when the pressure is released, the air cools and the airborne water in the air will condense in the form of droplets in the airstream. Most everyday filters will not remove this water. Metal piping will chill the air and the water will condense out in the pipe, if it is long enough, leaving a cleaner air supply. This is especially important when you paint. Most sources talk about an ~25 foot run of pipe between the compressor and the outlet so the air can 'chill out'. Include a moisture trap and drain valve at each drop. I overdid mine my including an extra section of pipe that extends beyond the drop furthest from the compressor who's sole purpose is to move the dead leg passed the drop with a drain. Good luck. L8r
 
I am going to run at least 50' of piping to allow it to cool with a downward angle and attach the second regulator with filter towards the end and at least 2 traps inline for painting. I haven't got to that yet. I still haven't got the new compressor in the garage yet. Have the Duster in the air trying to install new axle bearings in it. Axles are at the machine shop and Jegs screwed me on the bearing delivery. I have Moser axles and I ordered the bearings through Jegs. I have always received parts from them overnight as I am only 150 miles from them but it seems now they have gone to USPS for small parts delivery and it will probably be a 3 day trip now. They didn't tell me this when I ordered. So here I am waiting for parts.
 
Good luck with your set up but I agree,please don't use schedule 40.It is cheap easy fast but we don't need another member on the 6:00 news
 
Yeah, I told Tyler last night that we are scratching the idea of PVC and either going with the Rapid Air or black pipe. On of his friends has PVC in his 40x60 garage and has no problem but I have heard too many stories and I don't like to take chances not to mention if we have a customers car in there and it blows what kind of damage it will do. I can just imagine what would have happened to that 35 Ford we just painted. I would hate to have to try and find parts for that and replace them.
 
trudysduster said:
Yeah, I told Tyler last night that we are scratching the idea of PVC and either going with the Rapid Air or black pipe. On of his friends has PVC in his 40x60 garage and has no problem but I have heard too many stories and I don't like to take chances not to mention if we have a customers car in there and it blows what kind of damage it will do. I can just imagine what would have happened to that 35 Ford we just painted. I would hate to have to try and find parts for that and replace them.
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Even harder to find good used human body parts!!!!!!!!! Heck with the cars.
 
well for those who were concerned with the PVC system I was going to put in, here is what we decided to do. Went with galvanized pipe. 1/2 ". came off the compressor with a shut off first. Then went with a filter regulator with the hook up for the air guns etc. then we ran the pipe up and over the garage and back and forth to get at least 60' to another shut off with a drain. we have 2 drains before the filter and another regulator right before the decadent and the last regulator is used to drop the pressure for the guns. have not had no problems yet and it is working great to paint with. This way I can have 120 PSI for the guns and 40 or what ever I need to paint with at the same time. I can also shut off the valve to keep air out of the decadent and using it up if we are not painting. Cost with all the line , shut offs, filters and regulators was under $250.00 I believe. We are happy with it and I think it is safer. Thanks guys.
 

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I like PVC myself....
j/k looks great and it aint so pricy that it sends ya to the poor house. Compressor a 2 stage??
 
well... let me try and be as plain and simple as i can .... DO NOT USE PVC FOR AN AIR LINE.... ANYWHERE ... EVER!!! if you do, you will eventually kill or seriously injur yourself, a family member or someone else. if you kill yourself, then your family and kids will probably be upset and blame you for not listening to people (like me and the other FABO folks here); if you kill one of your kids i probably don't need to discuss how you are going to feel. if you kill someone else, you WILL be sued by a clever lawyer and you WILL lose because there is NO pvc manufacturer that your attorney will be able to find that will testify on your behalf. so maybe your exploding pvc will just injur someone. well that's not going to be very good either.

i'm a semi-retired lawyer that still does negligence cases - car wrecks, slip and falls, and people who are injured as a result of someone else's misuse of a product. i would take every "pvc used as an air line" case that walked into my office because i know there is no legal defense to this practice. further, and more important than my years as a sleazy attorney, is the fact that after 8 years of faithful service, i just left my part-time job at a local home depot in the plumbing department. i actually acquired many more friends in that role as when i was a full-time "big-time" attorney. home depot's position on pvc used as an air line is very clear - they do not recommend it and they will not assist a customer in putting together the parts once they find out that that is what the customer wants to use the pvc for. and, as has been previously mentioned, plastic pipe - all plastic pipe - degrades significantly if exposed to direct sunlight and/or heat. there are all kind of "back-yard" practices by car mechanics. some work, some don't and some will kill you. so would you use your kid's a-frame swing set to pull an engine? you shouldn't. would you crawl under a car supported by only a hydralic jack? you shouldn't. would you weld close to a gas tank just because "it doesn't have much gas in it." you shouldn't. would you test your transmission by running the car in gear just sitting on a couple of jack stands with nothing more? you shouldn't. do you let your kids play with your guns without proper training and when you're not at home? you shouldn't. do you often go to lunch with a female fellow worker "by yourselves?" you shouldn't. none of my examples will bite you in the *** 100% of the time. however, you only need to be unlucky once with all of my examples. why would you want to take the risk of having pvc air line explode in your face? just be smart, use black iron (or galvanized) pipe with proper "fall" and angles for water drainage and you can check "air line explosion" off you list. by hey, don't believe me, do your own research. i am confident that you WILL NOT find any professional or reputable source stating that pvc pipe, schedule 40, 80, 100 or whatever, is safe for use for compressed air. and if you have some time, just go to your local home depot and read what the label on the pvc pipe says.

good luck. i hope you follow the advice being given to you here.
 
trudysduster said:
well for those who were concerned with the PVC system I was going to put in, here is what we decided to do. Went with galvanized pipe. 1/2 ". came off the compressor with a shut off first. Then went with a filter regulator with the hook up for the air guns etc. then we ran the pipe up and over the garage and back and forth to get at least 60' to another shut off with a drain. we have 2 drains before the filter and another regulator right before the decadent and the last regulator is used to drop the pressure for the guns. have not had no problems yet and it is working great to paint with. This way I can have 120 PSI for the guns and 40 or what ever I need to paint with at the same time. I can also shut off the valve to keep air out of the decadent and using it up if we are not painting. Cost with all the line , shut offs, filters and regulators was under $250.00 I believe. We are happy with it and I think it is safer. Thanks guys.
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Nice installation glad you went to hard line, you did screw one thing up, after the shut off valve on the tank you should of had a soft line and mounted the water separator to the wall.
Vibration will kill your set up and fatigue the pipes.
 
well trudysduster you did good. except you used galvanized pipe. but you will most likely get away with it.
 
it is a 2 stage compressor. moe, what is wrong with galvanized pipe. it is better than the black pipe for rust.
 
I use the semi trailer 3/8 plastic line, run it where ever and use a wire tie, use quick disconnect fittings, never had a failure
 
I've heard with galvanized line, some of the little galvanized bits can flake off inside and cause problems. But then I think, wouldn't rust bits do similar? Definitely should put a soft line between the compressor and your hard line setup. I put mine right after the cutoff that is right on the side of the compressor (same place as yours is). And the moisture filter works better farther away from the compressor rather than right up on it like that. Still looks like a nice setup, might just want to consider a couple small tweaks to make it even better.
 
Wow that video of the one that blew up looked a lot like mine. I got to thinking that I had mine since 1974. from sears 20 gal. tank 2 horse. I always drained the tank after each use, but now a little leary about using it anymore.
 
I installed 3/4" pvc in my garage attached to the house 25 years ago and have never had the first leak. The compressor is on 24/7 at 125 psi. Two years ago I bought property across the road from my house that has a 36'X64 tool shed on it. I rewired the building, insulated and added interior wall and ceiling sheeting and installed a big Ingersol upright compressor to handle my sandblast cabinet etc. I installed 1" schedule 40 pvc and have not had any problems there either (and I don't expect that I will either). Oh and by the way my new compressor output is 150 psi.
 
moe7404 said:
well trudysduster you did good. except you used galvanized pipe. but you will most likely get away with it.
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We had galvanized pipe all the way through the Mercury Marine Mercruiser plant here in Stillwater. Ran three paint lines, die cast, machining, assembly and every other department off of it with zero problems.

Personally I would run nothing but galvanized.
 
Well I guess I'm one of the lucky ones too. Been using PVC for over 30 years in my shop @ 175 PSI?
 
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