Plastic air lines
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 489
Likes: 2
From: Between Shelby / Avoca Ia
Your boss is right.
I have worked in many shops with PVC air lines. It's cheap and doesn't swet like iron. Most shops use 3/4 PVC for the runs to 3/8 hoses and 1" PVC for 1/2" hoses. As long as PVC is anchored properly and glued right it works great.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,686
Likes: 1
From: Racine WI
we do all our air lines in schedule 40 black pipe, we buy it in 20' lengths and have a rigid power threader
Shatterable PVC is no good in a shop enviroment, IMHO
My hone has a 20' long 4" diameter crossover pipe where the honing oil flows between drains from the table, well they did it out of PVC on the cheap, somebody dropped something on it, pipe broke, 100 gallons of oil rushes out of the 4".............next pipe piece was steel with welded flanges
Shatterable PVC is no good in a shop enviroment, IMHO
My hone has a 20' long 4" diameter crossover pipe where the honing oil flows between drains from the table, well they did it out of PVC on the cheap, somebody dropped something on it, pipe broke, 100 gallons of oil rushes out of the 4".............next pipe piece was steel with welded flanges
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 9,359
Likes: 1
From: Hampstead, NC
Read this thread, there are many good points in there. Maybe print it off and give it to your boss too.
http://www.fordtrucks.com/forums/sho...threadid=98203
http://www.fordtrucks.com/forums/sho...threadid=98203
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
PVC is illegal to use for air lines, Check with your OSHA inspector. Check with the PVC pipe manufacturers!
DO NOT USE PVC FOR AIR LINES!!!
jbullfrog is DEAD wrong!
Read the other threads here for more information, all you had to do is search.
DO NOT USE PVC FOR AIR LINES!!!
jbullfrog is DEAD wrong!
Read the other threads here for more information, all you had to do is search.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 251
Likes: 0
From: Phoenix USA
PVC is NOT for airlines
Eric,
This topic keeps coming up time after time. Would it be possible in the interest of saving time and lives, to post the threads that we have gone to such lengths in as "stickies"? Maybe that would stop this from coming up again and again.
This topic keeps coming up time after time. Would it be possible in the interest of saving time and lives, to post the threads that we have gone to such lengths in as "stickies"? Maybe that would stop this from coming up again and again.
Trending Topics
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: Tucson Arizona
I once worked in a shop with all PVC airlines. They worked great if you didn't touch them. When you did touch them, they would blow out. They finally had to redo the whole system. PVC just can't handle more than about 80 psi. I think that is the standard schedule 40 rating anyway.
I agree with Torque1st "Do not use PVC for Air Lines".
Why not do it right the first time with steel?
I agree with Torque1st "Do not use PVC for Air Lines".
Why not do it right the first time with steel?
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Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 5,643
Likes: 8
From: NE Texas
Originally posted by Torque1st
PVC is illegal to use for air lines, Check with your OSHA inspector. Check with the PVC pipe manufacturers!
DO NOT USE PVC FOR AIR LINES!!!
jbullfrog is DEAD wrong!
Read the other threads here for more information, all you had to do is search.
PVC is illegal to use for air lines, Check with your OSHA inspector. Check with the PVC pipe manufacturers!
DO NOT USE PVC FOR AIR LINES!!!
jbullfrog is DEAD wrong!
Read the other threads here for more information, all you had to do is search.
It is not OSHA approved!
On edit: Here's a link for one: http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/airpiping.shtml
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 489
Likes: 2
From: Between Shelby / Avoca Ia
Let me clarify:
I do not use PVC in my shop I have worked in shops that use it.
Please don't hold the mistakes of previous employers against me. I don't work there anymore because of safety issues like this.
Please don't hold the mistakes of previous employers against me. I don't work there anymore because of safety issues like this.
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
jbullfrog- Then why did you recommend it if you knew better???
I have started a FAQ section above. It was long overdue. Check it out and let me know if you have any additions or comments. -Thanks 79Lariat for the suggestion!
I have started a FAQ section above. It was long overdue. Check it out and let me know if you have any additions or comments. -Thanks 79Lariat for the suggestion!
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
PVC used as a spanner to get to the outlets is a bad idea at every turn....the joints are glued together, and the more air you push through the system, the more heat is built up by the mass movement.....hte heat can make the plastic brittle (subject to failure upon bumping or even touching) and it causes the glue to break down as it has very VERY low viscocity, which causes the joints to be a timebomb waiting to fly apart.
**I** wouldn't use it around people that I liked....but in a shop environment,
depends on how much you like your coworkers.
The 'hopper
**I** wouldn't use it around people that I liked....but in a shop environment,
depends on how much you like your coworkers.The 'hopper
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
It isn't the heat either, it is just the failure mode of the material. It fails in a brittle manner and explodes. The glue is not a glue per se, it is a solvent that fuses the two surfaces together. That is why you are supposed to mix the materials by twisting the joint while pushing it together.
PVC should never be used anywhere for compressed gas service.
PVC should never be used anywhere for compressed gas service.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,571
Likes: 21
Why don't you use "L" copper with Brazed joints? It won't rust, is light weight, and is easy & cheap to insulate. You can get all the fittings, pipe, hangers, and braze rods at a refrigeration supply house. Just remember we measure by outside diameter. So 1/2" is 5/8"; 3/4" is 7/8"; 1" is 1&1/8". Make sure you sweat the joint not pile the brazing rod up at the connection. The braze should run back into the joint, you do this by heating the bulge in the fitting, its like soldering only hotter. Cherry red is too hot, so stay just under this point. If you quinch copper it gets soft, if you walk away and let it cool its hard, unless it was over heated. So you should quinch 90s and let thread connections cool gradually. Avoid 45s as they tend to crack.
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