Air Compressor plumbing

[cstmwgn]

Why not fire up the compressor and listen? Or use the soapy water test?

That is a good idea. I could use my old compressor to test each section before mounting it. I just don't want to mount it all and then have to fix leaks in place (sheet rock and cedar paneling). While it would not allow me to measure the loss (if any) - it would allow me to do the soapy water test without building a leak down tool. Might be a good next step.

[oletrux4evr]

That is a good idea. I could use my old compressor to test each section before mounting it. I just don't want to mount it all and then have to fix leaks in place (sheet rock and cedar paneling). While it would not allow me to measure the loss (if any) - it would allow me to do the soapy water test without building a leak down tool. Might be a good next step.

Cool. Hope all is good.

[cstmwgn]

soapy water testing found a leaking threaded fitting - removed cleaned and re-taped - no more leak. Tested at 120 PSI



x

[Russell]

The only thing I don't like about that set up is the compressor is inside. When I buy a stand up compressor I hope to build it a little building behind the shop.

[cstmwgn]

The only thing I don't like about that set up is the compressor is inside. When I buy a stand up compressor I hope to build it a little building behind the shop.

Yeah - I considered putting up a small shed (10 x 14) to be my dirty room with all the cutting / grinding / drilling but I kept running into issues so I just went ahead and put all that stuff inside. At some point in the future I can move it if the opportunity presents itself.

[oletrux4evr]

Looks good.
I'd like mine to be outside too, but I don't want to deal with the sub-freezing temps during the winters.
Mine will sit in the corner.....I MIGHT build a noise barrier around it sometime later. So far I've just worn muffs when doing work that keeps it running..........

[JamesMayberryIII]

Are all ball valves able to handle the psi, I've never looked into a rating of the plumbing ones. that box stores carry?
I had a new truck air cleaner set up from putting on a cold air set up on a friends truck.
For giggles we put that on my Dad's 60 gallon compressor intake side,The idea was an airfilter to keep the sand blasting dust from getting into the compressor , or the compressor sucking in overspray and such. with a 3' pipe between the air cleaner box/muffler and the compressor, The noise difference while running is huge. So we then put insulation around the 3' pipe between the air box and compressor. it knocked down the noise level ,So much so, he scrapped moving the compressor.
I will be grabbing an air cleaner box from a newer vehicle next time I'm junkyard shopping.to put on mine,

[KeithTurk]

Good thread... interesting solution to water..be fun to see how it works. I've just finished plumbing my shop in Pex. I've had copper, PVC and Iron pipe over the years.. Pex was clearly the easiest to install. The Pex is in the ceiling and all the drops into the shop are in copper for durability. The Air Compressor is stuck in a closet behind the bathroom so I've got two doors and foam insulation between it and the main shop. The advantage to having it inside is I've got Air Conditioning and it drys the air. works pretty well

[cstmwgn]

Are all ball valves able to handle the psi ...

I have no idea about ALL but the ones I used are rated at 600 PSI

[anotheridiot]

Only thing I see missing is a hole in the wall so you can run a drain outside so you dont have to deal with the water.

You can also figure out a way to just plumb off the air filter and run it outside if its an actual fitting. Allows you to start with cool air or usually cooler air than the shop has.

[oletrux4evr]

So......how's it working?
My compressor gets delivered today, so I'm curious about your design.

[cstmwgn]

So......how's it working?
My compressor gets delivered today, so I'm curious about your design.

It appears to be doing fine. The legs for my blast cabinet are STILL on backorder so I haven't really stressed it out yet. I got the concept from booB - he put together a similar unit in the shop for Jessie to paint with. He claims it does a very good job to removing a lot of moisture. I hope to be getting into full swing here shortly so I will have a better feeling for how mine is working then.

[oletrux4evr]

Cool. I think I'll just attach mine to a reel for now and use your design if it proves to be sound. sure looks like it will be.......

[CTX-SLPR]

Are all ball valves able to handle the psi, I've never looked into a rating of the plumbing ones. that box stores carry?
I had a new truck air cleaner set up from putting on a cold air set up on a friends truck.
For giggles we put that on my Dad's 60 gallon compressor intake side,The idea was an airfilter to keep the sand blasting dust from getting into the compressor , or the compressor sucking in overspray and such. with a 3' pipe between the air cleaner box/muffler and the compressor, The noise difference while running is huge. So we then put insulation around the 3' pipe between the air box and compressor. it knocked down the noise level ,So much so, he scrapped moving the compressor.
I will be grabbing an air cleaner box from a newer vehicle next time I'm junkyard shopping.to put on mine,

I'm going to have to try that out. The previous owners of my house abandoned an airbox from a WK2 Grand Cherokee on top of the cabinets so I'll see if I can't rig that up.

[DanStokes]

As far as the plumbing: In my plumbing days it was black steel - that was code. Now it's what I run. Never had an issue with rusting out but I DO install drops wherever I can. I used caps on the drops when I installed the plumbing here because I have them but some day I'll change those to ball valves. I know guys run sweat copper and it's probably OK but I worry about structural integrity. Code (back in the dark ages) prohibited galvanized for either air or gas plumbing as the galvanizing can flake off and get in places you don't want it or so we were told. So far so good and I expect I'll be dead before the piping rusts out.

I have done an automotive air filter on my compressor in days past but I never did one here. Probably ought to do that. EDIT: I learned that hard way that you'll want a piece of something flexible between compressor and the automotive air filter. I started with a piece of pipe in there (my old Binks compressor had 1" NPT air inlet) with a flat plate welded on the end and a regular chrome air filter assembly and it fatigued the pipe at the compressor end threads. I got the stub out, put a piece of heater hose in between the compressor and the air filter, supported the filter independently and problem solved. And yes, it DOES cut down on noise!

Dan