Air Hose setups for a shed

[Rumpig]

I only turn it on when it's needed ( unless I forget and hear it fire up in the middle of the night    ) and drain the tank about every two weeks ( depending on how much it's been running )

every 2 weeks i'd be lucky to do it twice a year, and i'm a chippie who uses his compressor for a living  i usually do it when i notice excessive moisture coming out the air hose end as i plug something in...lol...please note, i don't reccomend this method of maitenace to others  i'm still running the same compressor i bought as an apprentice also (nearly 20 years old), so it doesn't seem to effect the compressor itself, and the oil i throw in the nail and rattle guns each time i use them seems to be doing it's thing

[achjimmy]

Disclaimer - I work for Nitto! 100% on the reason for not using pvc due to the way it shatters. Certainly wouldn't stand up in a workplace claim.
My only other suggestion if you want to run pipe / hose around then have outlets would be to create a ring main and drop your outlets down from that. - essentially run your line out from the compressor into a T piece then run the line in a ring around the shed and back into the T piece, place your outlets along the ring where you want. This will ensure your pressure / airflow is equal at each point - particularly if using more than one tool at a time.
And of course spend a couple of dollars extra and get the genuine Nitto fittings! 
If you want to keep pressure out of the hose reel if you go that way grab a full blow cupla, which locks but also purges the air from the reel slowly and safely. www.nitto-australia.com.au for all the info!
The practice of a short length of hose from the tool to the fitting then connect to the air hose is still our recommendation (whip hose) particularly for any tool with a lot of vibrations such as needle scalpers, chipping hammers and impact wrenches. Main reason is it takes the vibrations away from the fittings giving longer life

Hey new BFF.  Great post, are the full blow the ones that will also stop the mating hose from whipping all over the place before release?

The nitto fittings are certainly the best for home user IMO.  Great flow and Because of the availability  of copies from anywhere when you need a fitting but I always use the genuine female fittings.( It's generally the male you need as you add air tools) . Your eyeballs are worth so much more than the few dollars you save buying a knock off fitting.

What we need now is a Nitto group but thread 

[macca]

Bruce the other thing to do is make sure you don't create a way for moisture to get trapped in the lines. The horizontal runs need to be straight with a fall one way or another with a drain. Again old school used to bring the drops of the top of the horizontal line and loop back down vertical, continuing down past the quick connect to a drain tap. This allowed no moisture in lines to be trapped.

Used to be fun doing all this in gal water pipe with a pipe threader, hemp and stag jointing paste.

Agree with achjimmy re pvc pipe, seen one let go and blow a hole clean thru a sheet of 3/4 mdf. Usually happens in hot weather. Achjimmy I currently doing a gal setup at the moment, been up in the roof for the last week, done hundreds of joints, bit easier these days with jointing paste, love my rigid threader

[D4D]

What we need now is a Nitto group buy thread 

x2

[Jacmark30]

Would love to help out on the group buy but unfortunately company policy would prevent me from offering one! The full blow sockets slowly release the air from the plug side of the connection, so put one on your compressor outlet and no more loud blast of air when disconnecting your hoses! $50 list price.

[Robbo]

Some years ago in a previous workshop, i ran a half inch galvanised pipe around the walls of my workshop at 1.2 mtrs above the floor and had six outlets at specific locations. I used a half inch tee at each location with a reducer to bring it down to the air fitting. In addition to this i fitted an old 90ltr LPG tank in series with the air line and the compressor and this gave me a large air supply storage which was great for spray painting. I used an 8mtr flexi-coil hose from whatever appliance i was using and into the closest wall outlet.
This system worked a treat for many years and was left behind when i sold. Not sure i would trust PVC though.

[oldmate]

every 2 weeks i'd be lucky to do it twice a year, and i'm a chippie who uses his compressor for a living  i usually do it when i notice excessive moisture coming out the air hose end as i plug something in...lol...please note, i don't reccomend this method of maitenace to others  i'm still running the same compressor i bought as an apprentice also (nearly 20 years old), so it doesn't seem to effect the compressor itself, and the oil i throw in the nail and rattle guns each time i use them seems to be doing it's thing

Yeah I wouldn't worry to much mate. If you were spray painting it would be an issue. When I was in that industry, as an apprentice it was my job to maintain the compressors, 3 very large ones, and used to drain them every day, and leave the tap open over night. In the morning check the oil and turn the tap of again. We also had an air drier in the line for the paint shop. It removed and moisture in the line also.

[Bird]

Some good info...

[Black Diamond]

How often do you guys drain your tank and do you leave your compressor pressurised when not in use?

At the end of everyday in my workshop.

[Barrabart]

The below will explain the codes on Nitto fittings; relying on Jacmark to correct me if I'm wrong (has been 20yrs since I sold them )

The fittings will have a code stamped into them, example 20pm

20 = 1/4" bsp thread size or hose tail size
30 = 3/8" bsp thread size or hose tail size
40 = 1/2" bsp thread size or hose tail size

pm= Plug male thread
ph= Plug hose tail
pf = Plug female thread
sm = Socket male thread
sf = Socket female thread
sh = Socket hose tail

So for instance a 3/8" id air hose would be fitted with 1 x 30sh and 1 x 30ph, oh and two clamps of course.

So there's some almost useless info for u!

[fishfinder]

Don't use PVC. Yes it may work but for Air you need to double the pressure rating which means you need something like 300+psi. If PVC lets go it will explode like shrapnel.  If you wanna go cheap use poly pipe, std poly pn12.5 from Bunnings. It is still underrated but won't explode like PVC but just split. The poly fittings are rated to 16 bar so there good. You can track down PN 16 poly but it's harder to get in lengths less than 100m but it's rated for 16bar and will legally do air.  Copper is great but 1/2" restricts too much and will stop tools performing.you need big diameters to get flow or receivers at the end of the run.

The work shop where i work at use pn12.5 blue line poly pipe and by the the amount of dust on the pipe and fittings i dont think they have had any issues

[Jacmark30]

Barrabart your spot on with the sizing codes!

[knoath]

edited

[Bird]

The air lines we run around the production plants tend to be stupid expensive.

well you better bring them to me for safe secure storage then..

[lino6]

well you better bring them to me for safe secure storage then..

Actually I was trying to remember which plant I saw some spare stuff lying around. I'll keep an eye out in my travels. Looks like blue polly pipe, even the fittings look like that. If I find a spare couple of lengths I might half inch them for "myself" and might be enough for your job.

Problem will be if I saw them in Bairnsdale a few weeks ago, I'm hoping to never have to go back down there EVER AGAIN.....

[achjimmy]

The work shop where i work at use pn12.5 blue line poly pipe and by the the amount of dust on the pipe and fittings i dont think they have had any issues

yeah quite a few cockies use it. the advantage is it just splits if it goes and the fittings are 16 bar rated. but if you need enough of it PN16 is that much more per roll and its the correct stuff.

[achjimmy]

ActuLooks like blue polly pipe, even the fittings look like that.

yeah I rang them up before when I was chasing poly and they supply it lengths rather than rolls. they reckon the fittings are different but they don't look it to me. I guess its just PN16 poly made for them special in blue??  Blue being the recognised colour of compressed air in factories.

[lino6]

yeah I rang them up before when I was chasing poly and they supply it lengths rather than rolls. they reckon the fittings are different but they don't look it to me. I guess its just PN16 poly made for them special in blue??  Blue being the recognised colour of compressed air in factories.

This stuff we have at work is fairly thick in the wall, you would never be able to roll it up without damage. And the connectors/fittings have heaps of barbs to withstand the pressure. I'm actually surprised work has used the stuff, thought it would have been far too expensive (sarcasm......). In my years of working in the factories the only failure of this stuff is when it has been hit bu a forklift and damaged. But I reckon I'd fail if I got hit by a forklift too....

[achjimmy]

Far enough maybe higher rating again? This shot
is 25mm PN16

[lino6]

This is the stuff in our plants. There is nothing I can get a picture of a cross section but I reckon the walls would be 5mm to 8mm thick. Heavy stuff

[Pipeliner]

PVC or any plastic pipe will be pressure rated for liquid use: the pressure rating should be considerably less for gas (air) as the amount of energy stored in the air will be many times greater than the energy stored in the liquid.

When we are pressure testing oil and gas pipelines (using water!) we have to calculate the amount of energy stored in the pipeline at test pressure, in order to determine an exclusion zone around the pipeline for safety.  Less than 1% by volume of air in the water can double the stored energy, so imagine what 100% air can do!

[macca]

This is the stuff in our plants. There is nothing I can get a picture of a cross section but I reckon the walls would be 5mm to 8mm thick. Heavy stuff

[lino6]

Thats the stuff macca! Certainly wouldn't roll that stuff up!

[macca]

Bird, if you want to do it in gal I can bring the rigid down and give you a hand with it. PVC is the cheapest but i wouldnt use it, the blue poly lino is talking about is fairly expensive. I am currently restructuring a factory that I put gal into at least twenty years ago and most of it is still in good knick, gal is fine if you put drains on all the runs, we just use a ball valve and the guys drain the compressor every day and usually drain the droppers about every week or so.
They run a Ingersol Rand ML110 (700cfm) with an ML75 as a backup and the gal works fine



Can do all the cutting and threading for you but cant get any pipe or fittings, this factory is doing it pretty hard at the moment, hence the restructure.

Let me know if you want a hand, only drama is I am leaving on Sunday to go to Newcastle for approx two weeks to dismantle another factory (that didnt make it) so it would have to be after that

[Bad Scott]

X2 for gal pipe.
As others have said you will need a drain pipe with ball valve at your outlets.