12-10-2012, 02:14 PM
Ed
Many years ago, as a young pup millwright apprentice, I was asked to add an air line to a new section of the R&D shop.
The owner of the plant came along and got upset with me that the air line was not plumbed in "level" When I explained why I had put the line in at a 1:12 slope he said he did not care, it offended his sense on symmetry and demanded that I level the pipes.
The big thing to remember is
1: Compressed air is a force that is contained in special pipes and vessels. If that force is allowed to escape in an uncontrolled manor, it can KILL!
2: Compressed air takes whatever moisture is in the air and "seemingly multiplies it" So that there is always moisture being condensed out of the air as it cools. This moisture then gets into the tools and lines and causes problems. Something must be done to remove this water before it can cause problems.
3: No matter how big of a compressor you get, you will always realize after wards that you should have gotten a bigger one.
For the average home shop, as long as these rules are obeyed, everyone will be safe. Piping can be as simple as strapping rubber hoses to the wall, or even running them behind tools. I operated for years with a smaller compressor, standing in the corner of the shop and a rubber air hose that went from there to where ever I needed it in the shop. I got tired of the noise of the compressor running constantly, of always stepping on the hoses while moving around the shop and water always spitting out of the air line whenever I tried to do anything. I added water traps to the sand blaster and other bigger units, but the small compressor was running 24/7 whenever sand blasting and I was being drowned!
When this compressor came up, it was 3 phase and the guy that owned it was having troubles even giving it away as "nobody" could run it. to make matters worse, the "controls" were missing. I had just put in the RPC, so jumped on the deal. I came up with a control box from by "bits and pieces boxes". I replaced the mis-sized belt and improper motor sheave with two of the correctly sized belts and the correct sheave. The deal came with two of the Zeks air coolers, so I installed one in my shop and went to the fun of plumbing in the whole system. Now I have a properly done system. There was no belt guard so that is being remedied.
Oh just remembering my setup from 30 odd years ago, a similar sized tank with a 3 Hp single stage Devilbiss pump on it. I put it beside the garage and made a little lean-to over it to keep it from getting too wet. Then I ran a length of "hose" that I just happened to have, rubber hose with a steel braid inside, basically Hydraulic hose between the garage and the basement of the house by sliding it between the fence boards of the fence between ours and the neighbours property to where my workshop was set up. 1/4 NPT fittings just nicely screwed into this hose and a tridon clamp to make sure it could not pop out and I had a good safe air line system.
Ran Like that for years until I moved out of the house.
Walter
Many years ago, as a young pup millwright apprentice, I was asked to add an air line to a new section of the R&D shop.
The owner of the plant came along and got upset with me that the air line was not plumbed in "level" When I explained why I had put the line in at a 1:12 slope he said he did not care, it offended his sense on symmetry and demanded that I level the pipes.
The big thing to remember is
1: Compressed air is a force that is contained in special pipes and vessels. If that force is allowed to escape in an uncontrolled manor, it can KILL!
2: Compressed air takes whatever moisture is in the air and "seemingly multiplies it" So that there is always moisture being condensed out of the air as it cools. This moisture then gets into the tools and lines and causes problems. Something must be done to remove this water before it can cause problems.
3: No matter how big of a compressor you get, you will always realize after wards that you should have gotten a bigger one.
For the average home shop, as long as these rules are obeyed, everyone will be safe. Piping can be as simple as strapping rubber hoses to the wall, or even running them behind tools. I operated for years with a smaller compressor, standing in the corner of the shop and a rubber air hose that went from there to where ever I needed it in the shop. I got tired of the noise of the compressor running constantly, of always stepping on the hoses while moving around the shop and water always spitting out of the air line whenever I tried to do anything. I added water traps to the sand blaster and other bigger units, but the small compressor was running 24/7 whenever sand blasting and I was being drowned!
When this compressor came up, it was 3 phase and the guy that owned it was having troubles even giving it away as "nobody" could run it. to make matters worse, the "controls" were missing. I had just put in the RPC, so jumped on the deal. I came up with a control box from by "bits and pieces boxes". I replaced the mis-sized belt and improper motor sheave with two of the correctly sized belts and the correct sheave. The deal came with two of the Zeks air coolers, so I installed one in my shop and went to the fun of plumbing in the whole system. Now I have a properly done system. There was no belt guard so that is being remedied.
Oh just remembering my setup from 30 odd years ago, a similar sized tank with a 3 Hp single stage Devilbiss pump on it. I put it beside the garage and made a little lean-to over it to keep it from getting too wet. Then I ran a length of "hose" that I just happened to have, rubber hose with a steel braid inside, basically Hydraulic hose between the garage and the basement of the house by sliding it between the fence boards of the fence between ours and the neighbours property to where my workshop was set up. 1/4 NPT fittings just nicely screwed into this hose and a tridon clamp to make sure it could not pop out and I had a good safe air line system.
Ran Like that for years until I moved out of the house.
Walter
starlight_tools, proud to be a member of Metalworking Forum since Apr 2012.