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Shops setup for air!!!!!

crash2

-Oh no I picked a side-
Joined
Mar 26, 2001
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So who all besides myself has there shop setup properly for air?
I am running a 5horse 60 gallon upright compressor housed in its own building(its nice all I can feel is a lil buzz in the floor). I am running 3 air catches (2 with sight glass's and one is a gravity). The system is built with 1/2" copper/sweated with no leaks. I am running 2 air hoses. One is for main usage and the other is primary for either the bender or the plasma..

So lets here how yours is setup..
 
5hp (bullshit, 3 maybe, pulls 15 amps) on a 60 Gal tank, in the garage (loud). I plumbed in two drops, one on either side of the garage door. Plumbing is all sched. 40 PVC.

I did it kinda wrong. I put the seperator right off the compressor tank and it doesn't trap anything at all. I now will have to plumb in an extra 30 feet or so of probly copper, then put in the seperator, then feed the rest of the system.

As long as I don't over drive the compressor, I still get dry enough air for air tools though.
 
I know that one I got from Crusty is loud as ****. I need to make a little house for it andmove it outside on the patio. But I do need to run plumbing for the air everywhere. Right now I just have a 50 foot hose that always gets in the way and is jammed in the corner when not in use. :cool:
 
We have a big 200 gallon 3 piston lay-down compressor behind the shop (the lights dim when that sucker kicks on :redneck:) under the covered/fenced awning, and a seperator right off that kinda like Crusty's that's less than ideal for actually trapping moisture. Two big long hoses, one runs inside the shop for power tools, the other goes outside for the tire changing station, sandblaster, filling tires, etc. The one inside is always in the damn way. Maybe one of these days I'll do it right and get some copper pipe and run it around the perimeter and just have a short hose for inside.
 
I don't have one now, but I know what to do when I do. :D
Volume baby volume (1" line), and of course pressure, 130 is enough at the connection. Then choke it down to 95 for the pneumatics between the connection and the hose. Did I mention a huge compressor with a drier?? :D
 
:pics: no point tended



crash said:
So who all besides myself has there shop setup properly for air?
I am running a 5horse 60 gallon upright compressor housed in its own building(its nice all I can feel is a lil buzz in the floor). I am running 3 air catches (2 with sight glass's and one is a gravity). The system is built with 1/2" copper/sweated with no leaks. I am running 2 air hoses. One is for main usage and the other is primary for either the bender or the plasma..

So lets here how yours is setup..
 
It's on the Left.... 5hp Coleman (yeah, I dunno, Costco had it and it was a gift...) Nothin' but Harbor Freight's finest after that...

garage4.jpg
 
[booty fab] York AC Compressor and a dryer motor. Belt driven. Pressure switch shuts off motor and clutch. 30 gallon propane tank holds the air. [/booty fab] :redneck:
 
I have an 80 gal. 220 3hp lay down compressor I bought off a radiator shop for $150. Sucker is loud. I need to insulate the room I built for it better. I get some piston slap when when its cold, so I think its been rebuilt. Once it warms up though, it runs pretty smooth.
I plumbed 1" copper lines with separator and auto drain system. Right now I have only 2 drops, but I'm making my system as I need it and my wood shop is in the basement where I'll add 2-3 more and maybe another to the garage. I do have a very small leak somewhere that I need to chase down. I lose about 5psi in 24 hrs. so its not a big deal.

I also have a 5 gal. pancake and a 26 gal. portable compressor I was going to sell, but I think I'll keep it now.


Edit: I was curious about the air loss and it's much better than I thought after I did an actual measurement. Updated air loss data above.
 
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York compressor powered by a 4.3 V6 with 5/8ths line going to a 11gal. tank, but it is being removed so I can link my toy. Building a couple of 3.1 gal tanks that will be placed out of the way right behind the cab:cheer: ..
 
I'm getting ready to plumb my shop..what would you guys use for hard line through the shop..I'd like to use copper..its in my shop at work,,but seems it would be spendy compared to pvc??

pros,,con's ??
 
mr4x42u said:
I'm getting ready to plumb my shop..what would you guys use for hard line through the shop..I'd like to use copper..its in my shop at work,,but seems it would be spendy compared to pvc??

pros,,con's ??

Alot of the main stream shops that are newer are running pvc and if I was to do it again I would have gone this route. I think the main thing with this material is to fully secure it to kep it from slapping from the air rush to keep it from cracking...
 
Copper is better, but plastic is waaaaay cheaper. If cash is a problem, you could do a hybrid: Main lines in plastic (up high and out of harms way), and drops in copper (more vulnerable).

I also have a theory that it's better to do the first 50' section (or whatever) before the seperators in copper because it will cool the air faster, which is what causes the water to condense so it can get caught by the seperator.
 
CrustyJeep said:
I also have a theory that it's better to do the first 50' section (or whatever) before the seperators in copper because it will cool the air faster, which is what causes the water to condense so it can get caught by the seperator.

I gotta get pics of mine but when it comes out of the compressor and thru the wall, it goes up the side of the shop at a 45 degree angle with a valve at the bottom to trap water via gravity...
 
crash said:
I gotta get pics of mine but when it comes out of the compressor and thru the wall, it goes up the side of the shop at a 45 degree angle with a valve at the bottom to trap water via gravity...
How much pipe have you got before the seperator?
 
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