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Shop air?

Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 9:24 pm
by Brucepts
Anyone here have their shop plumbed with 1/2" Puvex line?

Currently my shop is semi-plumbed with PVC and I need to swap over to something else before I have a problem as PVC is NOT a good option. It's been in my shop for many years now with no problems but don't trust it and I need to run some more lines so now would be a good time to do a swap.

I started researching Puvex a couple of months ago and plan to go this route but just wanted some feedback. I've read alot about it on various forums but thought I'd ask here?

Re: Shop air?

Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 9:34 pm
by jfholm
Did you say this is for you compressed air? We used PVC and did not have any trouble as long it was schedule 80. We had done it with schedule 40 the first time and it blew up after a year or so. After changing to schedule 80 it seemed to be ok. Is that what you were referring to?

John

Re: Shop air?

Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 10:03 pm
by Brucepts
Yes, the white PVC is what I had used which is schedule 40. Have wanted to change it out for years but haven't done it yet. The Puvex line looks easy to work with and should suit my needs just fine and it's cost effective for me.

I'm tired of dragging hose all around and tripping over it, (doesn't go well with my bum leg now) so I'm gonna run lines/drops so I have short hoses. My main drop is halfway between front/back of my shop. I want drops at various places specially close to my garage doors for running hose outside.

If you saw my shop you'd understand ;)

Re: Shop air?

Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 4:58 pm
by Michael Moore
Bruce, FWIW I used 3/4" copper in my garage. There's a lot of water in the air (3 blocks from the Pacific Ocean) and the copper helps cool the air and encourage the water to fall out of suspension. A friend built a zig-zag copper aftercooler on the wall that the air goes into after leaving the receiver with a vertical trap at the end, and something like that can help too as will an intercooler between the pump and receiver.

There are no doubt safe high-pressure plastic lines, but I wouldn't think they'd have good heat conduction to help cool the air.

cheers,
Michael

Re: Shop air?

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 6:40 pm
by Tony
I don't like PVC, it splinters.
A bit of air won't hurt you, but flying shrapnel sure can.
All my air lines are either copper or the reinforced "garden hose" type of flexible airline.

Re: Shop air?

Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 8:28 pm
by Brucepts
An update on this project; I purchase Puvex line and assorted fittings and will be installing that as soon as I get caught up on flowbench orders again.

In my haste I ordered the wrong NPT fittings so I need to re-order some of the 90 and straight NPT's I needed. I want to get away from having to use regular airlines laying around my floor as it presents a tripping hazard for me now with my bum left leg so I want to add as many drops as need be to cover my shop with retracting hose reels or dedicated lines to my mill/lathe. I don't use a lot of air now due to being such a pain to drag hose out so this will eliminate that pain and hazard. For those of you who have been to the "World Headquarters" fully understand.

I'll post up some pics when I get to doing this project for anyone else who wants to reference what I did . . . in the end this project will cost me less than 2 velocity probes :)

Re: Shop air?

Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 9:18 pm
by blaktopr
Bruce, I thought those were crimp type fittings. New stuff out there?