The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Compressor Plumbing

I need to plumb up my air compressor and have been told that sch 80 PVC would work fine. Sounds alot easier but how safe? Any thoughts?

Pvc will work, but i dont know how long it lasts.
The dealership that I worked at recently plumbed the entire shop with pvc. We did the service dept. and body shop. We had one of the air compressors serviced by an air compressor company. The guy that did the work on the compressor noticed that we had PVC pipe, & said that PVC is not safe because the oil in the compressor causes the PVC to break down & deteriorate over time, eventually causing the pipe to explode like a grenade. I don't know how true this is, but I do know it will melt with extreme heat. The dealership burned down memorial day weekend, melted Pvc everywhere.
The fire didnt quite make it into the bodyshop, but some of the PVC in there was melted.

If/when PVC breaks, it explodes producing shrapnel-like shards.

Here is an recent interesting discussion on plumbing a compressed air delivery system.

Here is an excellent plumbing diagram from TP Tools.

Isn't that PVC pipe rated at 300 psi? Come on guys, how are you going to exceed that with a compressor that only produces half of that and a regulator that only puts @90 psi in the lines?

I don't doubt that if you exceed the 300 psi in the PVC it will explode but I'd be willing to bet that even if the pipe deteriorated over time it would probably just split and leak, not explode like a grenade.

While we're on the subject, doesn't iron pipe rust?

http://www.eastwood.com/100-ft-rapid-air-master-garage-kit.html

This system is rated at only 150 psi max.

I know this is a popular set-up now because it's quick and easy but $200.00 for 100 ft of air line and a few fittings seems like a lot to me. I'll bet you end up spending at least another $50.00-$100.00 in fittings once you get the line where you need it. Then try taking a fitting apart after 10 years to make a change, I'll bet you get a leak. I've seen this same style fitting in other applications, they don't always work very well. Plus most plastics get brittle with age. If I were planning on having the shop a long time I'd only use metal pipe. It will take a little longer to install but it will be there practically forever.

Thanks Everyone,
I'm going with metal galvanized, I did'nt think to much of the pvc to begin with. The thought of it bursting scares me.

We did our shop with PVC about 15 years ago. It lasted about 5 years and then about once a week we could get to the shop and the compressors were running. The PVC had broken somewhere. I found a bunch of 7/8 hard copper joints and we used compression joints. It's been there over 15 years with no problems. We stretched a line out to the gate of our truck yard with air conditioning copper about 15 years ago also. We have an old compressor tank at the gate for storage so the drivers have easy access to air. If I had to do over, I might consider Synflex air brake tubing. http://www.eaton.com/EatonCom/Marke...seFittings/TruckAirBrakeTubing/index.htm We have some 20 year old trailers and the stuff still looks good. We buy it by the roll and the hose and the fittings are reasonable.