OK - So one took the plunge and bought a vertical air compressor. Now that the thing has been correctly wired and lagged to the floor, any suggestions pn plumbing the air line?

Low spots with drains for moisture collection ??

How about the ID of the plumbing pipe?

I've had suggestions to use PVC instead of black iron. sounds risky..

Any comments from an expert??

If you use pvc i would make sure to use rubber hose inline so the vibration doesnt crack the pvc.... But i think i would use copper tubes. Because it will help cool the air the best and at the end you can put your water trap.Also easy to work with. and stronger then pvc. And if you hit it ,it's not going to break into 100 peaces like pvc Cost will be about the same.

If your going to use this for air tools might want to add in a oiler too inline like

>>>airflow>>>====water/oiltrap==hoseinput==water/oiltrap=== autooiler==hoseinput

This is how i did it. i put in the second oiler/water trap make sure oil didnt come back around. frist hose input is for paint second is for airtools

But im no way a expert just somthing to think about

The pipe will allow the moisture to condense out of the air and it can run toward the filter or back toward the compressor. For a small shop it's best to angle the pipe slightly so that the mosture runs back to the compressor where it won't become a problem and can be drained easily.

Plastic pipe is a good quick method of running your pipe but you'll want to keep it above eye level so that it doesn't get hit with tools. I used plastic pipe for years until I had a small explosion that scared me, now I use metal.

Copper ???

Does it have to be silver soldered? It will stand 100#+ of pressure?

3/4 inch ??

I'd like to use copper because it is so easy to work with, but I always thought that those kinds of pressures would be too much for it to handle.

check out
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&l ... 6rnum%3D10

for a long long thread about copper pipe ver pcv . but one of them says

"I used to do HVAC work for years and I installed a lot of copper pipe.
I used 15% silver solder, which would easily take 500 psi without
leaking. If you use lead solder and the pipe is able to move, the
solder joint will crack very easily. If one were to use copper for
compressed air, I would recommend silver soldering the joints."

So if you use lead make sure you use some rubber hose to kill the vibration . I just picked up a 5 foot 1/2 inch hose from local chinatype tool store for 4 bucks so should be abel to find somthing cheap like that.

I use a polyethelene plastic hose in my woodshop, and occcasionally use pressures in excess of 100 psi. Lightweight, uses easy barb and hose clamp fittings, a breeze to add a connection inline at a later time, much more difficult to do with iron, pvc and even copper in some instances. also, the flexibility would allow you to dip the hose down a bit to capture the moisture. If you're still nervous, you can still get a poly hose with strands of fiberglass for extra strength.