Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Back in Black · Active Member

Thoughts On This Idea?

Enganeer · Mega Poster

You would need to bury the line with a slope for the moisture to collect on one end.

On the deeper end of the slope, I would dig a 'sump' pump hole as you will need to add some items.

A drop down leg with a cylinder to collect water, put a ball valve (or spring for a auto drain solenoid) on the bottom the cylinder. Open the valve to purge the water.

Grajmahal · Active Member

I did something like this between my house and garage - I buried a 3" PVC 'conduit' and pulled a hose through it to have air in the house if needed. It goes into the basement, so the pitch is there for drainage, although I have never used enough air in the house (nailers and such) to have noticed a water problem.

I would think about two things: temperature drop and serviceability. If you bury a copper pipe and something goes wrong or it fails, you are digging up a lot of yard or driveway to get it fixed. Also, the copper pipe being in direct contact with the ground means that there will be a cooling effect on the air as it travels, so you'll need to go deep enough that the condensate doesn't freeze solid in the winter. If you stick a chunk of PVC in there instead, not only can you easily replace the hose if it fails, you can pull other stuff through the tunnel if your needs change in the future.

My .02. Congrats on the added garage!

John

Lost in the 60s · President

Can't you use wi-fi....

Bury it 6' and no worries. Wrap the drops on each end with heat tape and plug in an hour before using the air. You will need a moisture trap/separator in the secondary building.

Do you now have a cooling system to get the moisture to drop out before the outlets ? Cooling the air before leaving the house will eliminate a lot of the moisture and issues.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

I have thought about doing the same to run air to both of my garages.

If it's buried deep enough to not freeze, I wouldn't worry much about water accumulating in the line, as the flow of air should force it out. You'd want a good moisture trap on both ends of the underground pipe, and as Mitch said, cool the air before the first trap.

I decided to do 2 separate compressors, since I will only be running a blast cabinet in one of them, the other won't need as much air so I could get by with a cheaper compressor and a lot less effort in the small garage.

Back in Black · Active Member

Hmmm.....sounds like a more complicated project than I'm willing to take on.

Lost in the 60s · President

Back in Black wrote:
Hmmm.....sounds like a more complicated project than I'm willing to take on.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/tls/4663207407.html

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/tls/4669451958.html

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/csw/tls/4668830157.html

Cheaper than the copper tubing...

Chris R · 2K+ Club

I worked at a shop that had one air line buried and came up from the floor. There was nothing but moisture in that line all the freakin time. It was like a garden hose quite frequently. I dont know how deep it was buried though. If you were to do it, I would spend the extra bucks and perhaps look into a drier for the line to help. Any moisture in the air is no doubt going to collect in the lowest point.

Dave Seitz · Mega Poster

Use a PVC housing and pull your line through attached to a tank on both ends for air supply. If you do not have an accumulator tank it will create issues running tools and such with a constant line loss issue. Even a portable tank that you take to the track will help as a storage unit for the air.