I have a 7hp air compressor 220v single phase, for my garage. The circut breaker box is on the diagonal opposite end of the house from the garage. My biggest air using tool is a handheld Lincoln pro-cut 55 plasma cutter. here are my questions and welcome and appreciate any comments or suggestions you guys can offer. Right now, my compressor is in the back yard wired 10 feet from my box. If I need to cut anything I lug my plasma around back (all rock landscape) to the compressor. If I run about 100 feet of airline to the garage how big do you think it needs to be? It is a rented house so I really don't want to buy copper tubing and make it permanent, I would rather go out and buy air hose if feasable. If I keep the compressor out back, could I build a shed around it to silence it up some (kind of noisey) without burning it up? How big should it be? I would like to do some work in the evenings and at night without meeting Mr. Policeman. I can move the compressor into the garage, but how big would the wire need to be to cover that 100 feet or so? Best way to insulate it on concrete so it doesn't rattle the house? This would be the best way to not wake the neighbors, but I want my kids to be able to sleep too.
"If I run about 100 feet of airline to the garage how big do you think it needs to be? It is a rented house so I really don't want to buy copper tubing and make it permanent, I would rather go out and buy air hose if feasable." I would use 3/4" PVC... It is cheap, durable, and easy to remove when you move. You shoud run a 3/4" for a 5 to 10hp compressor up to 100'. You'll need 1" if it is over 100'. If you use a hose make sure you put a gauge on the end, because in 100' a 3/8 hose will have aprox 12 psi of pressure drop at 80 psi. A 5/16 hose will have aprox 16 psi of pressure drop at 80 psi.
Cheapest route might actually be to put that one away and get a $150 120V smaller compressor that can run off the garage's circuit. It would definitely solve lots of your problems, doesn't sound like you're a major air user to need a big compressor. Good luck
I would use 3/4" PVC... It is cheap, durable, and easy to remove when you move. You shoud run a 3/4" for a 5 to 10hp compressor up to 100'. You'll need 1" if it is over 100'. I have seen some really mixed oppinions on PVC. Sure would hate to be hit with plastic shrapnell if it explodes. I used to have a 3.5 horse CambellHausefield 120V compressor that had a really tough time keeping up. That Lincoln uses a lot of air on longer cuts. I have other tools that use more air (sandblast cabinet for example), but the plasma is a more isolated tool from the compressor.
three quarter cpvc has worked for me for many years........doesn't get real cold here.....I can't remember the working psi printed on the tubing but I know it was considerably more than 150 psi.......I think a lot of the apprehension about using it is created by the plastic pipe manufacturers who don't won't to be held responsible for damages IF something were to burst......works for me
I just read on another thread on here (and a couple others online) that the oils in compressors will weaken the pvc and can burst. Although I don't want to spend a couple hundred on copper tubing, I sure would hate to have a line burst and hit my kids, my wife, my cars or even me with plastic shrapnel. I know some guys will say that they have used it for years with no issues, but a plastic pipe exploding at 130psi worries me a bit. Plus in the desert here, plastic doesn't last long in the elements. (sun).
The only thing I know about hydrocarbons being determental to cpvc is if the hydrocarbon is clorinated......Clorinated hydrocarbons are use in plasticisers in paint, fire retardents and adhesives.....so if you don't put any JB Weld in your compressor, cpvc should work
NEVER USE PCV! I have been inside shops that had blow-outs, and the shards cut like knives with that pressure behind it. Not to mention the now unsecured pipe waving around like crazy!
What is this devotion to copper pipe? Just use galvanized plumbing pipe. It's also cheaper than copper, and nimrods won't try to steal it.
Go to your local home improvement center (Lowes, Home Depot?) and pickup 100' of 1/2 ' pipe-black will do and it's cheaper than galvanized. Even with the necessary couplings & elbows you can do what you need to do for around $100 and you'll have all the air you need at the end of the line. Better yet, if you move, you can dis***emble and take it with you. It won't blow up.l
Second the black pipe. Nix the PVC idea. sunlight degrades it pretty quickly and it becomes brittle. I hit a sprinkler riser last summer with a weed eater, light weight plastic line, and it just shattered. with air pressure and a light hit you could have a lot of shrapnel flying around.
Third the black pipe... but you might find a better price at a plumbing supply shop rather than sLowes/Groan Depot. I got mine from Lowes, and had to return several pieces because the threads weren't cut correctly on the pipe. (Yep, made in China!)
The important thing to remember is install the pipe so that it runs at an slight angle so that water will ac***ulate in the lowest area and allow you to drain it from the system. Black pipe will work good and you will be happy with the distance from the compressor. It takes about 50 feet of pipe to allow water to condense in the line so put a drain somewhere close to drain the water. Your water problems will be greatly reduced by having all that distance from the compressor. As for enclosing the compressor, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you install something like those vents you see on the eave of a house to allow the compressor flywheel to pull air across the compressor. One of my friends completely enclosed his several years ago and hasn't had any problems.
I just plumbed my shop last weekend with 1/2 galvanized water pipe. I think I plumbed the whole thing for under $100. Of course, I only used about 60 ft or so of pipe, but I ended all of my runs using a T with plugs in them. This way I can add on as I feel like it. I used ball valves for water traps about every 20 feet or so. Just use a T turned to where you have one outlet pointing horizontal and the other straight down, add a 6" piece of pipe and a ball valve and they make great water traps.
off topic but I'd like to see what happens to pvc on some of the compressors I build. we make em to go as high as 200,00 psi. I've only built ones that go to 80-85,000 psi. these are used by our goverment and high end/high dollar company's to mix un-known (top secret) g***es. we custom make everything then after ***embly we have to put it in a blast room and pressurize them in stages to operating conditions. our torques ranges vary from 300 ft lbs to 2000 ft lbs, Ive seen an alloy stainless steel head 6" thick & 24" in diametor...buldge in the middle after having a dead end in pressure (failed outlet check valve) operating pressure was 3600 before the dead end, they estemated the psi was in excess of 1.5 million psi in the center of the head ,before the failure. f'ing amazing. still pvc would be cool to see explode in a bast chamber!LOL
A previous post stated the use of three quarter cpvc.....I actually have half inch cpvc.....here are the specs for schedule 80 half inch cpvc Wall thickness .147 Surge pressure 1300 psi Working pressure 848 psi @ 73 degrees F Working pressure 552 psi @ 120 degrees F As stated before, I have used this stuff for 25 years and I have never had a problem with it.....my compressor clicks off at 100 psi well within the working pressures and definitely within the 1300 psi surge limit.......none of the pipe is exposed to the sun.....the proper solvent and glue was used for the connections.....the key is to use half inch sch 80 cpvc.......larger sizes have lower psi limits. I'm finished commenting on this ****.
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