OldCarGuy's Compressed Air System

[OldCarGuy]

 

My home retirement complex consists of my house and seven garages.Totally about 9,000 square feet. Two that are attached to my home, the rest are detached. 

Bird's-eys view...


The heart of my compressed air system consists of two 80 gallon vertical five HP compressors that are piped together. Devair and Benpack. I run the Devair compressor 24 hours a day year round. Except when I leave town. When the first compressor cannot keep up, the Bendpak compressor kicks in. Delivering twice the CFM output. That only  happens when I'm sandblasting or using air grinders.. The compressors are located in the large detached garage that's in the top-middle of the photo.



Moisture, oil, and dirt are the enemy in any compressed air system. Each tank has an auto drain valve at the bottom that's timed at 30 minute intervals to drain off any water in the tank. The compressed air first passes through a coalescing filter that removes water and oil contaminants. Before entering the refrigerated air dryer to remove any moisture. A second filter before exiting to the shops in a 1" black pipes to each of my seven garages. Braided rubber hose run under ground through 2" PVC pipes to the other buildings. Two main 1" runs are routed on top of the ceiling joists of the longer walls. Most of the 1/2" steel drops are hidden in the walls, between the siding and drywall. Several locations where that's not practical. Copper pipes with soldered fittings run down the walls,, Just for appearance.

There are eight retractable hoses reels located throughout my shops. Either ceiling mounted or surface  mounted few feet off the floor... In addition there are a dozen air hoses simply mounted at working level on the walls.





Ceiling air hose reel in background along with retractable trouble light


Reelcraft are my first choice in retractable reels. I voiced my displeasure to Reelcraft when they shipped one make with plastic reels. Pictured above my Avalanche. They called it corrosion resistant. I call them Cheep!

The left reel is for the pressure washer. The right is air..








There's no noticeable water, dirt, or oil in air lines throughout the garages. But the paint booth has a Devilbiss Camair filtration system that'll remove any missed contaminants. 

[goodfellow]

Very impressive OCG. Given your overall layout and varied interests, I didn't expect anything less.

[OldCarGuy]

Your kind words are highly appreciated..

Remember the picture I took on my journey around Elverson Pennsylvania in my 1914 Cadillac...

[goodfellow]

yes, I do, and I repeated the story over the years on how I became "goodfellow" from way back in the late 1970's. I tried to recreate the sign that I had originally discovered in the attic of the shop space I had rented. This is the closest that my fading memory can come up with.

[Uncle Buck]

I had forgotten how remarkable your system and installation are. In my job I have been through hundreds of shops in decades of facility inspections and honestly I don't ever recall encountering such a well engineered system. Usually I find as businesses grow and expand air handling systems are a hodgepodge of piecemeal designs installations and components often with abandoned and dead lines left where they were as system requirements changed. How refreshing to see a clean well designed and installed system!