They are right!!!!!!!!!!!! DANGER!!!!!!!

Here is the skinny!

http://www.lni.wa.gov/wisha/hazalerts/902.htm

No compressed air in PVC!

Be Safe, Shut it down now and replace with iron... I haven't read up on copper yet.

Safety First!

-Eric


[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|FTE Moderator]
over!

 

I used black pipe, the type used in Natural gas applications.

I was surprised it wasn't that much more expensive.

 

Paul, I would be interested to know a couple of things about the blowup. What psi was on the pipe when it burst and the condition of the pipe. Was it new when installed, schedule 40, had it been stacked outside for a long period of time, and sun damaged before it was instsalled?

<Comment edited 05/19 moderator>

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John

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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

DO NOT INSTALL IT! Period! The problem is not the pressure rating or sun damage. The problem comes from the inherent properties of PVC itself, IT SHATTERS! There are different grades of PVC, and the amounts and types of fillers used in the manufacturing process, and yes even sun damage, can all effect the shatter resistance of a particular piece of PVC pipe. Unfortunately they ALL still shatter on impact. This impact can come from something as slight as a bounced wrench or a hunk of wood thrown from a table saw, to an impact from a 2x4 or pipe being manhandled thru the shop. This failure comes from the point impact stress added on top of the stress from the air pressure. The failure is catastrophic, throwing shards of plastic everywhere with enough force to KILL. If you are thinking about using it DON'T! If you have it in your shop GET RID OF IT! Don't just think about yourself, think of your KIDS, wife, friends, neighbor, or the guy that buys your place later and his...

I suggest you READ the warning posted by OSHA and go up on the web and check out all of the engineering papers and failure analysis studies that are up there. I DID which is why I repeated the warning in this thread. Take a piece of PVC out and bash it against a post, see for yourself, then try a piece of steel pipe b4 you install anything.

There are certain types of ABS pipe that, if MARKED for air service, can be used for compressed air. I personally haven't looked for any so I don't know how common that material might be. Steel pipe is cheap and readily available, whether black or galvanized. Put it together with the good old paste type pipe dope, not that cheap teflon tape stuff, and forget about it! Don't take chances with safety! EVER!

DO NOT USE PVC FOR COMPRESSED AIR PERIOD !!!!!

 

In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

 

I recently had something happen that made me think about this old thread.On A cold Illinois night recently there was water in a low place in the PVC airline in my shop and it froze and shattered the pipe while it had pressure on it. I was not there when it happened but it does not look like it was a big deal.I am not promoting the use of PVC pipe for airlines and would probably not do it again myself.


Larry