# Air compressor question. Am I a moron? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148 "2013-02-23T06:00:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/21 "2013-02-24T04:58:36Z")
And repeated pressure cycles weakens the PVC. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/22 "2013-02-24T05:11:46Z")
> [@Glazer](#): > > And repeated pressure cycles weakens the PVC. heated tubing of any kind expands so it would need expansion joints built in. I put my compressor in the attic of the garage and plumbed it point-to-point with regular hose. If it ruptures I don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/23 "2013-02-24T08:42:29Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > What about outside? Yeah, you can string a few 50’ sections like a garden hose if you want, but why not go ahead and put another reel by the drive, in the garage, or even out back. One word of caution with connecting multiple hoses together - the usual quick-disconnect female connectors cut off the airflow when disconnected, but the male ones don’t. If you’re careless and just pull on the sleeve of the female connector to disconnect one hose from another, the other hose with the male connector will whip around as the air pressure dissipates. I’ve got a big Thomas compressor in the garage, plumbed to a 50’ (-ish, it’s metric) Retracta Reel. I have a 50’ extension when needed (mostly to blow the crud out of the house air conditioner coils). When even that isn’t long enough, I have a portable Thomas pancake compressor that I can move wherever I need compressed air. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/24 "2013-02-24T13:08:00Z")
> [@dan1500](#): > > Using PVC pipe in compressed air applications can be very dangerous, if it breaks and shatters shards of it get sprayed everywhere. > [OSHA OPINION](http://www.osha.gov/dts/hib/hib_data/hib19880520.html) Yeah, I have never seen a professional installation which uses PVC, only copper. Certainly what I used at my house. The compressor lives in the garage, but I wanted drops inside the house for nailers. I have one drop at the back of a kitchen cabinet (which is on the other side of the garage) and one in the basement, below that cabinet. I used to do systems qualifications, and I reviewed many a gas system. ALWAYS copper. That doesn’t mean they never use anything else, but I never saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/25 "2013-02-24T13:35:45Z")
FWIW I have never in all my years in the car business seen copper air piping in a shop. It is always galvanized pipe. ( with the exception I mentioned above. One thing you might consider before you install the compressor in its final location. Turn the compressor on its side and unscrew the drain out of the bottom of the tank. Screw in a 1/4" street ell and a length of pipe long enough to reach past the edge of the tank. Put a valve there. You can then run a drain hose to a good location and won’t have to lay on the floor to drain the water from the tank. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/26 "2013-02-24T14:06:32Z")
Ditto never PVC. Copper or iron. If you see PVC air lines, start looking around for other hazards. PVC is safe enough for pressurized liquids, because they don’t store much energy when compressed. Gases are another story. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/27 "2013-02-24T14:45:57Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Jesus Christ on a pogostick, can’t Lowes ever get anything right. No, not in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/28 "2013-02-25T02:47:26Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > FWIW I know of a shop that plumbed their system with PVC, and put the compressor in a closet for noise reasons. > compressing air heats it. Doing body work makes a compressor run damn near all the time. The PVC got so warm it started to sag on the wall. > He replumbed the place in galvanized pipe This is in pharma. Copper for all the utilities, although I should have noted dedicated systems with stainless if product contact or contact with primary packaging (i.e., the vial) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148/29 "2013-02-25T07:08:05Z")
> [@obbn](#): > > Jesus Christ on a pogostick This visual makes the whole thread worthwhile. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-compressor-question-am-i-a-moron/651148.md?page=1)