PDA

View Full Version : Pexs tubing



Busted Knuckles
01-21-2013, 06:19 PM
Had to do a special project at work a few months back and thought I would share what I did. We had to run airlines in a part of the shop that didn't lend itself to being an easy job. Using the typical black iron pipe or copper was out of the question. So rather then do it my bosses way (who by the way claims to be smarter then everyone else) running 3/8"airline from Harbor Freight....;) I opted for something a little more professional. I ran the entire job in Pex tubing. If your not familiar with Pex it is used mainly for plumbing and has pretty much replaced the old standard copper pipe. Especially on retrofits where you don't have to worry about burning the house down when sweating pipes. I invested his $100 in the better grade crimp tool that had a little LED indicator that lit up when the crimp was completed. The bottom line 9no pun intended) is we ran almost 300' of airline with a total of 12 speed couplers and another dozen or so connections for elbows T fittings etc. and not one single leak from the first time we fired it up to present. When we costed that part of the job out it was no more expensive then running either black pipe or copper lines. It may not be for you but if your looking for an alternative check with your local Lowes or Home Depot and compare prices.

WagonCrazy
01-29-2013, 06:11 PM
My brother's been a plumber for nearly 30 years now, mostly just "new construction" work. He has alot of experience with copper and iron pipe (galv and black pipe). I asked him about Pex about a year ago (as an alternative to copper pipe for water lines) and he swears by the stuff.Says it's way easier and speedier to install. And costs no more than copper...a bit less nowadays. But I haven't asked him about using it for compressed air lines though. As long as you aren't exceeding about 150 psi in the lines...I dont' see why it wouldn't hold up. Do some Google searching on it and see if anyone else is warning of issues with compressed air. (Just to be safe).

Busted Knuckles
01-29-2013, 08:21 PM
My brother's been a plumber for nearly 30 years now, mostly just "new construction" work. He has alot of experience with copper and iron pipe (galv and black pipe). I asked him about Pex about a year ago (as an alternative to copper pipe for water lines) and he swears by the stuff.Says it's way easier and speedier to install. And costs no more than copper...a bit less nowadays. But I haven't asked him about using it for compressed air lines though. As long as you aren't exceeding about 150 psi in the lines...I dont' see why it wouldn't hold up. Do some Google searching on it and see if anyone else is warning of issues with compressed air. (Just to be safe).

Well at the time I didn't have the opportunity to do much research, my boss and I were in Lowes and I started looking at the Pex because we couldn't do it the way the owner wanted because the stuff plainly doesn't exist, well maybe in his mind it does.The guy in Lowes said they rated the stuff with a temperature rating of something like 180 or 200 for hot water so considering how the hot water makes it expand he figured and I agreed that with air it wold be a lot colder hence less expansion. So far its proven flawless. A friend of mine told me he ordered a kit online to pipe his garage and when he got it he opened the box to find a roll of Pex tubing.

markm
01-30-2013, 05:00 PM
when I was much younger and had even less miney I used plastic PVC for airlines. IT was blowing out even before I got a real compressor.

Busted Knuckles
01-30-2013, 05:26 PM
when I was much younger and had even less miney I used plastic PVC for airlines. IT was blowing out even before I got a real compressor.

The smartest man in America or at least he thinks so our boss insists there is nothing wrong with using pvc for airlines, he no sooner got the words out of his mouth and we heard hiss then kaboom! pvc pipe exploded overhead. if it were a line going versicle on the wall it would have been like a grenade going off.
What is that Ron White says "you can't fix stupid" we have proof of that every day

WagonCrazy
01-31-2013, 06:53 PM
I posed the question about using pex for compressed air lines to my brother (the plumber) and here's his comments:

You can use it for air , but remember air pressure is different than water pressure,, Most PEX systems are rated at 160 psi water pressure at 73 degrees,
the PSI goes down as the temps go up. It probably would be ok ,but for some reason when a cap blows off with 80 psi air pressure it just seems to have alot more velocity to it then when pushed with water pressure,, believe me i know from experience,,lol,, The easy way to do it would be rolls of pex with fewer fittings but if he wants it to look straight and plumb then you can also get the straight 20 foot lengths and use elbows and tees.
There are 2 different systems ,, 1 is a crimp ring style where you crimp a metal ring over the pipe and fitting and it comes in red ,blue, or white
The other system is called Uponor and it has an expansion tool that expands the pipe and collar long enough to shove the fitting inside and then it compresses itself back down over the fitting,,It comes in only white or clear,, Both systems have the same psi rating.
The crimp ring style is easier only because you dont have to be fast getting the fittings together as you do with the expansion system, only allows about 5 seconds before it shrinks back down,, (so dont drop the fitting or have it out of reach).
Both systems you need their tool to use with it,, their both comparible in price.

So...let us know if you encounter any blowout issues. I would think that if you drained down the lines after each use...it would probably last a long time.

Busted Knuckles
01-31-2013, 08:26 PM
I've seen the other system used but I used the ring clamps with the tool that Lowes sells. the tool itself was around $100 and was pretty idiot proof. You held the ring in place and squeezed the handles until a blue LED lit and the clamp was set. Unfortunately we had to use a lot of connections to accomplish what needed to be done. We did figure the heat factor and yes water pressure is figured with a much colder temp then air but I calculated with the distance the compressor was from where this whole gizmo was in place the air had plenty of time to cool down. Its hottest as soon as it comes out of the compressor but because of the nature of the machines we use. HAAS cnc vertical mills we employ an air dryer in our system so that also keeps things nice n dry and cool.