Air system

[hotham]

I met a neighbor that invited me in to look at his beautiful '49 Ford coupe.  Beautiful car, but I was interested in his air distribution system.  He had run air lines from the compressor , across the ceiling to quick disconnect points.  All vey nice, except he used white p.v.c. from Home depot.  I asked him about having 100/110 psi in those pipes.  He said they worked fine.  Seems unsafe to me.  Thoughts???

[Coyote]

Don't use PVC, use copper. PVC will become shrapnel if it gives under the heat and pressure. 

[seattledyna]

air ride system in the car or the shop plumbing system?

sched 40 PVC is quite common for shop air supply, it will handle that psi range with no problems if installed correctly.

as coyote says, there are much better...but costlier methods.

[ULTRADOG]

i use sched 40 for an air resivoir for train horns when first pumping up i could hear it stressing but its 3 yrs old and holds 180psi 4'' tube 24'' long

[Princess Butt]

Call me old-fashioned, but I use black steel pipe.

BnEUC

[PoorUB]

You guys running PVC pipe have some big....well, you know! Conventional PVC pipe for water is no way rated or even safe for air supply!! If you are in a shop when it fails you will know why! Some of the wholesale houses I buy from have warnings about using it. OSHA strictly forbids it, manufactures forbid the use of PVS pipe for air supply. 180 PSI in a 4" x 24" PVC reservoir?? Plain crazy if you ask me! If, or when, that 4" PVC fails it could kill someone!

Sorry for being so crazy about it, but I was in a shop with 3/4" PVC air lines running 125 PSI when the pipe ruptured for no apparent reason. PVC flew everywhere like shrapnel form a bomb! A guy I know had it happen to him and has a scar on his face from PVC shrapnel. 2" higher and he would have lost an eye!

Read this, http://www.osha.gov/dts/hib/hib_data/hib19880520.html

I ran PVC in my shop for a while until I found out how potentially dangerous it is. I ripped it all out. I have a 50 ft hose reel now.

[seattledyna]

the only stretch of PVC I have is a section about 10" long that runs thru the wall of the compressor room into the big shop area, from there I just use hoses to go to the work, I see the 20ft long sections in some shops and garages and it is kinda scary, one bump could ruin your day!