Shop air line
 

What is everyone running for shop air lines? I bought 3/4 steel but decided against it. Im leaning towards RapidAir 1" alum. pipe but not sure I like the compression fitting idea. Any input?

I've done rapid air in our little farm shop, but my big shop (aka, our business) is all 1" and 3/4" Copper...a little overkill for most...

Chris

There are tons of people saying to do many different things over on Garage Journal. Black or galvanized steel is the most recommended, then copper, then rapid air, but never PVC.

I have enough 3/4" steel to do my entire garage, but have not had time to put it up. A friends dad has rapid air in his shop going on three years now and no issues and he always leaves it charged.

Hmm, Dont think I know of anyone running copper.

Pvc... My uncle has had cpvc in his garage at home for 20+ yrs no issue. A buddy that owns a local well drilling company built a brand new shop 5ish yrs ago and they ran 1" shc 80 also no issues. Im kinda scared to do it though.

Black iron pipe is what used most over at garage journal. Next in line is PEX AL. It's very easy to work with. Buy a set of PEX crimpers and some fittings, and you're off.

Copper is expensive, and labor intensive...but I haven't had to mess with any of my shop air line for 16 years now.

Chris

I have experience in Pex and have the tools but the specs are worrisome.
PexAl
200 psi @73°F
160 psi @140°F
125 psi @ 180°F
Regular Pex ratings are lower yet. Also dealing with coiled pex is a pain and hard to make look nice and neat. IMO.

We have PVC in both garages and have never had any issues

Good to know. This will be in my list of options for sure. After doing all the copper plumbing for boiler system running air should be a breeze!

We put the rapidair up in my buddies shop, it took us about 3 hours to do a 36x48 and it's had zero issues. I really like the billet drops

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

The problem with PVC is that it is not rated for air pressure, it is rated for fluid pressure. If PVC is under pressure and breaks or something falls on it the results can be bad.

Not saying it's right but I've worked out of several shops plumbed with pvc and never had an issue.

Rapid air here for years, fully pressurized at all times. Zero issues.

I'm doing my shop with just regular pex. 1 inch with 3/4 drops. And yes, the sticks are much easier to work wwith. Also, what PSI is your compressor. Most 2 stage are only 175PSI.

Correct 175psi but I will be running it through the attic and I imagine temps will be well over 100 in the summer months. Seems like you would be running on the edge of their safe zones. Id rather do it once and not have to worry.

What about CPVC?

Our main shop (built 1945) is all steel air lines. Our new shop (built 2009) is done with rapid air and took me, my dad, and one of our guys about 3 hours to do the whole 60x30 building, including installing four reels, and about 10 drops. Pretty nice setup, I would highly recommend it. The PVC scares me. I would never do that.

My neighbors 60'x40' shop built in '03 was done with all 3/4" pvc and the only issue was once or twice a glued joint failed going across the ceiling.

My insurance company wouldn't allow pvc. Working with black pipe is a complete pita. We used something similar to rapid air. If you've ever used anything else to run air you won't go back. Crazy how much quicker you can plumb. Getting the lines to look halfway straight is a bit more difficult than the other ways though. The line wanted to coil on me everywhere.