Pex tubing for Compressed air?
A recent Residence Hall contruction at the University where I work ended up with a "pile" of Pex tubing cut-offs. Some quite long (50 feet?). This and the many debates over copper vs iron vs PVC has me wondering about the practicality or pros and cons to using Pex to plumb Compressed air in a shop. So three questions come to mind;
1) Any one out there done this?
2) In relation to other materials how expensive would Pex be? I have the pipe for nothing and access to the $300 tool so that's not an issue for me. The cost of the fitting and the ease of attaching hose fittings comes to mind.
3) What are the pros and cons of the physical application? The pipe itself is certainly cheaper than copper. It wouldn't be as puncture proof as iron but the perception of the likelyhood of it shattering under pressure that seems to be the worry with PVC doesn't seem to be there. etc.
Thanks in advance,
Mike
pex tubing for compressed air?
Mike, I don't think this would be advisable for compressed air systems...too much of a chance of the lines exploding. You would be better of using galvanized pipe and threaded connections for an air system. A bit more trouble to install at the outset...but won't give any trouble either. I tried to use pvc, a short run on my compressor, in no time it split the connections and blew it out...went back to the galvanized iron pipe and glad I did. Jim Heffner