Air Compressor Piping Layout Questions

[JMarsa]

I'm completing the piping for my compressor and I have a few questions. I already have a auto tank drain at the bottom of the tank. At the end of the run there will be a water/oil separator and a regulator.

Given the not to scale diagram below:



1. Is there any benefit to sloping the line from the tank? I am planning to install a petcock at the bottom of stub 1 to drain any water/sludge.

2. Should I keep stub 1? I'm not sure if they work in air systems like they do for natural gas.

3. Is there any benefit to stub 2? (I'm not planning a petcock here) Should I keep it?



Thanks in advance,

--JMarsa

[sniper]

I am no expert here by any means but here is my advice. Is this in a garage or a shop?

If you need that slope to get the air to a place in the garage where you want it then use it.
Otherwise, You can run a vertical right out of the tank with a 90 at the tank fitting then back down with stub and just a ball valve, before you start the 10' slope. That would help a good bit with water removing moisture.
But if you only have it to try and remove moisture, then you are better off having it go straight vertical for a couple of runs, up down up down then just have the air outlet closer to the tank.

Let gravity help pull moisture out of your air as much as possible.


I actually have 60 foot of pipe that runs up and down vertically before heading out to the shop loop. On the bottom of the 6 runs, there are 3 ball valves. A stub if you will, 1 in each set of verticals. Then it runs up into a seperator and an ingersol portable dessciant dryer. It has been this way for the last 4 years and a minut amount of moisture, if any, over that time has made it to an outlet.

[JMarsa]

Thanks for the reply.

It's a bit confusing given the shape and constraints of my home shop. I have two 14' wide bays next to each other with a compressor room directly behind one of them. The compressor room ceiling is only about 8' tall and the fitting on the tank is about 30" off the ground so there's not much room to go vertical first. There's also an elevation difference as the compressor room is an add-on and it 1-1/2 concrete blocks lower than the main area.

I am trying to allow for cooling so instead of going through the closest wall I made a long run before going vertical. I thought that the length would provide a cooling area and that sloping it would help with draining the condensate and that the stub would act as a drain. I'm not making a loop or ring around the shop though, instead I'll have a hose reel at the end of the run.

Should I add some more vertical runs after my corner transition for better cooling? Currently I only have about 25 feet of black pipe used.



--JMarsa

[ProdigyCustoms]

No advantage to the slope, make the air have to climb a couple times with drains at the bottom of each line. Up to the ceiling, down half the wall with a tee and a extension a couple feet down with a drain and duplicate a few times. Up down, up down, up down. The water will have a hard time climbing the up pipes. You will find more water at the first drop then each of the others further down the system. Ours run 1 foot apart and the 3rd one is dry except if we forget to drain for a while.

[JMarsa]

Thanks Frank,

I'll do something like this then:






This will provide over 20 feet of cooling (towers) along with the 10 foot run I have from the compressor. I'll do a stub with a drain petcock on each and a final stub before my separator/regulator unit.

How's that sound?



I forgot to mention, I pulled some of my ideas from this source:

http://www.oldsmobility.com/air-compressor-piping.htm


Thanks again,

--JMarsa

[protour_chevelle]

Why do you need cooling? What do you use it for?

I'd go vertical as high and quick as possible and run everything down from there. That way you have 1 drain to worry about. Its going to look like a italian dinner plate the way you have it in the last photo. Just my thoughts on it.

[JMarsa]

Why do you need cooling? What do you use it for?

I'd go vertical as high and quick as possible and run everything down from there. That way you have 1 drain to worry about. Its going to look like a italian dinner plate the way you have it in the last photo. Just my thoughts on it.

Matt,

We've got a 72 Chevelle SS in the family too. My Dad bought it new.

I've got a big two stage compressor that heats the air up a bit, the heat along with the humidity in the air creates a water in the lines once the air cools. Regardless of how long your piping is the air will cool at some point leaving behind the water. The water can wash out the oil in your air tools and cause them to freeze up or cause your separator to work OT for paint work. I plan on doing some non automotive painting as well as auto primer work with this system.

I worked out a design since my last post. I have really tall ceilings in my main shop so I'll actually have only 2 long risers (one on each side of a corner) and the 3rd riser before the separator/regulator combo. This will give me about 20' of risers and close to 50' overall length which is considered optimal by the air industry.

--JMarsa

[protour_chevelle]

Ohh ok, I am well versed in plumbing for use via air tools. I have several thousands into air tools and yes water can kill them. We run quality seperators with zero issue. I've only run airbrushes in the garage but my lines were ran from the big tank to a smaller tank totalling 2 seperators with zero issue.

Glad you got something sorted out!

[JMarsa]

Ohh ok, I am well versed in plumbing for use via air tools. I have several thousands into air tools and yes water can kill them. We run quality seperators with zero issue. I've only run airbrushes in the garage but my lines were ran from the big tank to a smaller tank totalling 2 seperators with zero issue.

Glad you got something sorted out!

I read a post on another board where someone ran 2 tanks. I wish I had the space for that to be an option. I guess this layout makes the best use of natural laws at the expense of piping. Since I don't have any inline driers I think this will work well with my SMC filter/regulator.

Thanks again,

--JMarsa

[redss86]

Why do you need cooling? What do you use it for?

I'd go vertical as high and quick as possible and run everything down from there. That way you have 1 drain to worry about. Its going to look like a italian dinner plate the way you have it in the last photo. Just my thoughts on it.

I have often thought of doing an air system this way, but my paint supplier at work brought up a good idea. We were talking about how to route air lines to plum an entire shop. His suggestion was similar to yours (up from comp, sloping away from comp, to drain), but instead of sloping away from comp. He said to have the compressor's vertical leg at the lowest point, so all the moisture drains back into compressor tank. I thought this was a good idea so you only have one "main" drain instead of two. He also said that if you are going to do the entire shop, then make it one big loop. This way you have equal pressure everywhere.

So with that being said, here are my plans: Out of compressor, straight up, make one big loop around entire shop, with compressor inlet being lowest point in loop, several drops off main line with t's pointing up and looping back down. I would also have a moisture trap valve at each drop.

These are just my thoughts. I know it doesn't apply to your setup jmarsa, but just food for thought.

Joe

[JMarsa]

Check this link for lot's of info. It was handy for me.

http://www.oldsmobility.com/air-compressor-piping.htm

--JMarsa