running air line

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here

Dr.Faustus

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Hi all,

I want to put an air line from my compressor to the house, for access to air inside the house. the compressor lives in the garage and I have a 50 ft air hose reel. this reaches the wall of the house where i want to install a pipe where i can go out and hook up when i want the air. (i want to use the air mostly to assist in cleaning my pellet stove)

i have 1/4 npt fittings. and i can get an 8" npt black pipe and put it through the wall. add the fittings and this would work perfectly - except - the pipe wouldnt be anchored to the wall in any way, just slideable in that hole held in by its quick connect fittings.

i think my attached drawing says this better than words. any ideas how to go about this? it sure would save me a lot of hassle not to have to run a 100 foot hose through the front door all the time.

If i put flanges on the pipe then i lose the threads where i would put on the fittings.
 

Attachments

  • [Hearth.com] running air line
    airline.webp
    13 KB · Views: 203
Pancake compressor. 99$. Very portable. Use any regular outlet for power.
 
I agree with a pancake compressor You will loose volume with a 1/4" restriction and 100' of hose.
 
I run 100 feet of hose now, if i get this set up correctly, then i wont need more that 25 feet of hose. i have a little pancake, it doesnt work as well at the 35 gallon.
 
It's 1/8" iron pipe. Buy an 1/8" cap. Drill a hole that's a little smaller than the OD of the pipe somewhere that there's sheathing. Put the cap on and use the capped end to hammer the pipe through. The sheathing will hold the pipe up. Tada.
 
You want to use a "bulkhead fitting". Its a fitting with a square or round flange that you can secure to the wall. Any NPT you want then of course the proper length nipple and QD's for a nice neat look.

These fittings are very common in marine applications but I would check with McMaster-Carr first. Don't recall ever seeing them in the MSC or Fastenal books but I could be wrong.
 
I just moved my compressor into my utility room. Now the run from the utility room to the outlet in my basement shop is about 40 feet. I also have a second drop in the garage. 1/2" copper pipe all the way. Easy to work with. Seems to do the job just fine. :)

I put quick disconnects at each end, along with a moisture drain at the bottom of the system. It holds pressure for 10 minutes or so after I shut off the compressor.