Air Compressor in a shed

[Scott Dorrer]

I'm fitting out a new shop and was thinking it would be nice not to have the compressor in the new space. I have a shed about 80' away and thought about housing the compressor there. Wiring it would be no problem and I'd install a disconnect in the shop so it would be no hassle to turn it off. My question is if anybody has done this, what pipeing did you use, material and size? My initial thought was 1" PEX in a black plastic conduit. Thoughts?

[Martin Wasner]

My only concern would be water collecting in the pipe in the ground.

Also what is your climate? Compressors get cranky when really cold.

[Keith Outten]

I have a large air compressor with an 80 gallon tank in a storage building about 15 feet from my shop. I ran a large hose in PVC pipe underground from the compressor that is connected to the copper pipe system in my shop just inside the south wall. I haven't experienced any problems with water collecting in the hose or in my shop piping which runs in the overhead of my shop and drops down at several areas where I connect to tools or machines. I'm in eastern Virginia so the temperature varies from the low teens in the Winter to about 100 degrees F in the Summer. I do have a water trap installed at the compressor just before it connects to the hose.
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[Mike Bigfoot]

I did just this, I love the results...Ill tell you about my set up, I love it.
My shop is 75' from the main house & garage. To keep the air compressor out of the shop I built a small 30" x 72" lean-to shed next to the garage to house the compressor, lots of extra power available. To connect the 2 buildings with air I first dug a 24-30" deep trench from the location I wanted the compressor to go all the way to the area I wanted the air line to enter the shop. I ran 2" electrical pvc between the locations (It's not what you think) I cemented the pvc joints. I stubbed the pvc out where the lean-to was going to be built. The opposite end, the shop side I brought the pvc tight to the concrete footing, up the wall 10' then into the building next to the trusses. I then poured the 6" cement slab & built the lean to to match the house. After all the exterior work was finished, the trench back filled & air compressor installed this is where it began to get fun. I purchased two 100' 3/8" goodyear 300psi braided rubber air hose from amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003U5B6D2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I fed the rubber hose through the 2" pvc connecting the buildings. The first 100' air hose had about 5' of slack entering the two buildings. You might ask, why the air hose in the pvc?? The idea is that it would be easy to pull the rubber hose out & replace it if it was ever necessary. The pvc is a simple chase. Now in the shop I set up a 60 gallon air tank, its an air reservoir. I am able to maintain constant air pressure. In all I have over 100 gallons of compressed air. It takes about 13 minutes to fill the tanks from empty & about 6 minutes when the compressor refills. It kicks on at 88psi & shuts off at 126psi. I did this last year, its a nice set up & works great for me. The extra 60 gallon reserve tank in the shop makes the difference. Im leaving out details like the water separators, drain valves ect. I get no water in the reserve tank at all, this reply is long enough.

There are lots of ways to achieve the same results. I recommend using an old rust free air compressor as a reserve air tank in your shop as not to lose air pressure. My set up is designed for heavy spraying & some plasma cutting. I need a lot of air volume thats clean & dry. I researched for months before I began.

[Jerome Stanek]

If you go this route use a automatic drain on it

[Scott Dorrer]

Thanks for the replies.

Martin,,,, I'm not all that concerned about the build up of water. I thought of installing a dump valve that exits the shop near where the line comes in. Once a week or month or whatever seems appropriate, I could just open the valve fully and blast the line clear. Location is just south of Asheville, NC.



Keith,,,, That's pretty much what I'm thinking except for using PEX. Running it in the conduit underground would allow me to replace it if it ever burst.



Mike,,,, Good idea with the extra tank in the shop. My 2 main reasons for getting the compressor out of the shop are, space and noise. I have a ton of overhead space and could mount a tank up high. I'll consider this approach.



Jerome,,,, Yeah, good idea. I had an Emglo compressor given to me a few years ago from a wood shop that went out of business. 30 gal, 2 stage with an air drier. The thing looked brand new and I was pretty excited. Last year I decided to throw some power to it and dug it out of the storage building. Hooked it up and it sprang to life. Even though it's 2 stage I was surprised how little time it took to build pressure. I opened the drain and drained 1 quart of water, then 2,,,, then 3. So I used the shop hoist and lifted it up to drain,,,, almost 2 full 5 gallon buckets. What a disappointment. I'm not sure I trust the tank now and may just switch everything over to my 80 gallon tank.

[Bob Cooper]

Scott if you are south of ashville drop by sometime. I'm in Columbia sc