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Workshop air lines ?

evranch

New Member
Those quick connect fittings are good for a surprising amount of cycles, too. Effectively they are "Shark Bite" fittings but are rated much higher and only worth a couple bucks.

PEX is rated at a minimum working pressure of 160PSI at 70F but derates with temperature to 100PSI at 180F. This is minimum spec though and many manufacturers rate their pipe higher. Also, minimum burst pressure is over 400PSI @ 70F so there is a lot of room to work with when a failure doesn't fill your house with water. A big issue is UV resistance though, many pipes are not UV stabilized.

All my water is in PEX and I've started converting the house to radiant heating loops as well. If you like heated floors, check out heated ceilings... Heat rises, but radiant can throw downwards. Works amazingly well *if* you put the proper insulation above it.
 

Dabbler

ersatz engineer
I let my garage freeze in winter, and I'm not too condifent that plastic can take the freezing/thaw cycles.
 

Sailor

Randy
Premium Member
I let mine freeze too and heat the floor when I need to do something major otherwise I turn on the space heater, too expensive to heat shop steady. My thought when the truck air lines were mentioned was they are out in all weather conditions so they may work well.
 

Chicken lights

Forum Pony Express Driver
I let mine freeze too and heat the floor when I need to do something major otherwise I turn on the space heater, too expensive to heat shop steady. My thought when the truck air lines were mentioned was they are out in all weather conditions so they may work well.
They do....but like everything they shrink in the cold, I’ll always have more air leaks in the winter than the summer. I actually hate the push connect fittings for this reason. In a shop they would probably be better out of the elements
 

cuslog

Super User
Premium Member
So, my little P/A system is up and running now - had a couple of leaks initially - one was my own fault (hadn't pushed one line far enough into a push fitting). The other is a small leak at a distribution block where I plugged one of the holes but the NPT tap had been run in too deep and the plug wouldn't "seat" - I put teflon tape around it hoping it would seal - almost, not quite, may change out that block.
Looking closer at those push lock connectors and feeling the hardness of that line, I'm actually surprised that they seal but they seem to.
Side note, I've been keeping my shop / garage at 10 deg. C - we'll see how expensive it is, I might turn it down a bit if I think its too expensive.
 

CalgaryPT

Ultra Member
Vendor
Premium Member
If I had planned my garage layout better from the get-go I would have done things differently. But once it is packed with stuff your options diminish.

I run black (gas) pipe down the middle of the ceiling in my shop. I put christmas trees on both ends and from these just drop rubber lines to equipment. While black pipe is most recommended by pros, never use galvanized despite it sounding like a great idea. I have an inline filter in the line, plus a drop nipple at the lowest point to address moisture. Twenty five years in and no problems.
 
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Dabbler

ersatz engineer
But once it is packed with stuff your options diminish.

ask me how I know - you are right on!

100% agree on the black pipe comments. I just happen to have a small supply of copper (provided for free via curbside pickup...) Because I'm cheap, Mine will be plumbed in copper.
 
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