PEX for air lines

-- 1 --

OK - what are your experiences with PEX for air lines? With Shark Bite connectors. Does it work? Not work? Any blowouts? Any explosive blowouts like pvc?

Thanks!

MarkB

Member

Why would you ever waste your money on Sharkbite fittings in the first place? They are the most god awful expensive fitting when you could use a fitting that costs $0.50 a piece as opposed to several dollars? They are bulky, expensive, non-rigid.

The PEX air line thing is a rabbit hole of a conversation that Im sure youve already read about with a simple google search.

Ive been using PEX in construction for almost 30 years and have no problem with it for small air distribution (we run 175psi mains and none larger than 1"). It is not rated for air distribution which Im sure you already know. Its never going to fail like PVC in shards but you will proceed at your own risk.

I would never use sharkbite only for the waste of money, I would never use them in plumbing other than in a situation where I couldnt crimp a proper fitting for the same reason. Trusting you air (or water) to an o-ring behind a thin stainless steel grab washer doesnt leave me with a good nights sleep.

Brass fittings, crimped with either a full copper crimp ring, oetiker style clamp, or expaner, I personally have no issue with it even at 175psi as long as your not near heat.

Eric Smith

Brass fittings work with PEX?

MarkB

Member

There are brass and plastic PEX crimp fittings that are used with copper crimp rings, oetiker style crimp clamps, and expanders. I would not prefer the plastic but would moreso opt for brass but many may feel the plastic is fine. Ive just never been comfortable with them. A crimp tool (especially the oetiker style) is cheap. But I prefer the full copper crimp ring.

Karl E Brogger

[X] Member

I had pex in my last shop, I wouldn't do it again.

It was cheap, and easy to modify if you have access to the tools. Those were pluses.

It was ugly, we had zero water removal in the old shop, and the air didn't cool until way down the line so we had a lot of water issues that probably would've been less with a metal option.

I just wasn't a fan. No failures though.

I have aluminum pipe in my current shop. The pipe is dirt cheap, but the fittings are kinda spendy. It looks good. Modification is easy. If I move, I can take it all with me and reuse most of it. I was planning on sweating copper, but it was cheaper to do the aluminum. I still think the aluminum was the wiser choice.

Eric Smith

Aluminum PEX? Or Aluminum what?

Tom c

The only way to go !

Was a forum discussion back on 2/13
http://www.woodweb.com/forum_fdse_files/business/791941.html

https://www.rapida
irproducts.com/maxline

cabinetmaker

Elephant in the room is your main manifold no one wants to address.

We have 3/4 pipe throughout and run a rotary screw. We can starve the cnc or bander using to many DA’s. Just be aware. As you grow, the main manifold is imperative to be over 2” with a good supply.

I finally gave up and have the cnc’s and bander on their own compressor I have a storage tank that dumps every 15 minutes for 15 seconds then I run through a dryer fir moisture control.

Good luck. We have copper. I put in a ton of black pipe over the years and copper.

The new aluminum pipe does look great.

Just make sure you have an auto drain, dryer and filters in front of the dryer to keep the oil and dirt out. Always run dry air.

Karl E Brogger

[X] Member

Eric, aluminium pipe.

There's a few brands out there, we used Prevost since that was the easiest thing to source.

Scott

Eric,

I would say there are a lot of options for airlines, every type has advantages and disadvantages, the best airlines are the aluminum ones as others mentioned, the only disadvantage I am aware of is cost.

I would say the worst ones for a wood shop are probably black pipe. I have seen a few shops with copper and pex. The one shop I saw with pex was a large shop and it had all 3/4 pipe and just the regular brass fittings with the pex crimp rings, the guy said they never had any issues. It is fairly inexpensive and it is clean inside the pipe which is huge when it comes to expensive woodworking equipment and wood finishing work. It is also really quick and easy to work with and easy to make changes. After the aluminum, I think it would be my first choice.

Bill

A key to a good air system is the design of the system. The system must have a main larger than the drops. They system must be a circle so each drop is being fed from two directions. The drops should go up before going down. The pipe should slope back to the compressor. The system should go from compressor, to wet tank to filter to drier to dry tank to the main. Look up compressed air system design you will find what I have described used by every manufacturer. That is how our system is designed. It is dry everywhere with good pressure everywhere. The pipe is secondary. I would not use pex unless you can get a sufficient size main.

Good luck!

Bill

A key to a good air system is the design of the system. The system must have a main larger than the drops. They system must be a circle so each drop is being fed from two directions. The drops should go up before going down. The pipe should slope back to the compressor. The system should go from compressor, to wet tank to filter to drier to dry tank to the main. Look up compressed air system design you will find what I have described used by every manufacturer. That is how our system is designed. It is dry everywhere with good pressure everywhere. The pipe is secondary. I would not use pex unless you can get a sufficient size main.

Good luck!

Jim

Haven't used pex but we ran Maxline for the new building addition. Aluminum tubing with fittings etc. This was 2013 but the pricing was within reach. No failures at all with this system.

Larry

Copper.

Kip

Combination of copper and pex. 20 plus years absolutely no issues.

Larry

All copper. All sweat fittings.
https://www.copper.org/applications/plumbing/cth/

Larry Schweitzer

Member

Different Larry, If you use Pex you need to take into consideration the restrictions caused by each fitting. The fitting bores are much smaller than the Pex tubing they work with. Also take care to not have sags that accumulate condensate. To have the same flow in PEX you will need larger tube than in aluminum or copper. Aluminum & copper are both very easy to work with.

1 --

To receive email notification of additions to this forum thread, enter your name and email address, and then click the "Keep Me Posted" button below. Please Note: If you have posted a message or response, do not submit this request ... you are already signed up to receive notification!
Your Name:
E-Mail Address:
Enter the correct numbers into the field below:
Date of your Birth:	Return to top of page