Maxline by Rapidair

[J Mack]

I need to move my air compressor from one corner of my building to another and my plan is to use some of the maxline and reroute everything and run some drops down the walls.
Have any of you worked with the stuff before and have advice?

 

[Michael B]

A friend of mine used it and said it could not have been easier to use and install. I have a couple of kits waiting for my new shop and new compressor.

 

[Waorani]

Was already installed in shop at new place but have made a few changes like replacing couplers to match what I already had and changing a few locations. I like the aluminum blocks and the options they afford and the tubing is real easy to work with. Mine's 1/2" so not super high volume but I see they also have 3/4".

 

[J Mack]

Curious - what are you using for air piping?

I bought two 3/4" and one 1/2" master kits by Rapidair.

Still waiting for a few of the extra fittings I ordered but this is what I have so far.

I’ve been looking into the PAP (Pex-AL-Pex) line for my air system for a few weeks now, I was going to order some of the Hydronic PAP line and run everything in that but as with everything the inexpensive stuff all comes from China and has mixed reviews and the name brand stuff cost more than I wanted to spend for this project so at the end of the day I settled for the Maxline Chinese made PAP line based on cost and reviews.

I’ll post more info for you as I dig in a bit more.



Some basic info about the PAP line and fittings. A Beginner’s Guide to PEX-AL-PEX Fittings | Tubomart - https://www.tubomart.com/a-beginners-guide-to-pex-al-pex-fittings/

 

[Ol Yeller]

I bought two 3/4" and one 1/2" master kits by Rapidair.

View attachment 2783373

Still waiting for a few of the extra fittings I ordered but this is what I have so far.

View attachment 2783375


I’ve been looking into the PAP (Pex-AL-Pex) line for my air system for a few weeks now, I was going to order some of the Hydronic PAP line and run everything in that but as with everything the inexpensive stuff all comes from China and has mixed reviews and the name brand stuff cost more than I wanted to spend for this project so at the end of the day I settled for the Maxline Chinese made PAP line based on cost and reviews.

I’ll post more info for you as I dig in a bit more.



Some basic info about the PAP line and fittings. A Beginner’s Guide to PEX-AL-PEX Fittings | Tubomart - https://www.tubomart.com/a-beginners-guide-to-pex-al-pex-fittings/

Right on, I too have been pointed at this product in the past, looking fw to seeing how you like it post instal.

 

[J Mack]

Parts are trickling in slowly.
Hopefully I should have enough stuff here by next week to start putting the lines up.

 

[scrapdaddy]

My whole life has been spent tripping over and untangling air hoses with extension cords lying on the floor, I'm sick of it! I'm following along, now or never. Besides, I can get away with it, if I tell her J Mack said I need it.

 

[J Mack]

My whole life has been spent tripping over and untangling air hoses with extension cords lying on the floor,

I’ve been in this shop for 18 years and added infrastructure to it as I go, I just bought another machine and it forced me to move a bunch of power around so as you said it is now or never.

You should talk to your bride about doing an Alaska run for a couple weeks with us next year and we can sit around the campfire and chat about ways to spend your money updating your shop..

 

[scrapdaddy]

chat about ways to spend your money updating your shop..

That would be a very short conversation I'm afraid.

 

[J Mack]

I had tried to save a few bucks and ordered some inexpensive fittings from Amazon and that bit me in the butt and is costing me more time and money in the long run.
You can see the janky threads on the Chinese fitting on the left.

I have reordered all Parker fittings but need to wait for them to ship now..

 

[scrapdaddy]

J Mack,

What regulator and water separator are you using. I know your compressor is bigger than mine, but would that have any effect on what reg. to use?

 

[J Mack]

J Mack,

What regulator and water separator are you using. I know your compressor is bigger than mine, but would that have any effect on what reg. to use?

Ron,

I have been using the standard Parker regulators like this: Parker 07R418AC $71.88 Air Regulator, 3/4 In. NPT, 90 cfm, 250 psi | Zoro.com - https://www.zoro.com/parker-air-regulator-34-in-npt-90-cfm-250-psi-07r418ac/i/G4862523/

And they work fine for single airline use because it would be hard to flow more than the 90CFM with a single line.



My tank pressure is 175PSI so I need to regulate the system air down to 125 entering the new lines and I’ll have mutable machines using air at the same time so I upped the regulator to the full flow style like this: Parker R119-06CG/M2 $150.75 Air Regulator, 3/4 In NPT, 300 cfm, 300 psi | Zoro.com - https://www.zoro.com/parker-air-regulator-34-in-npt-300-cfm-300-psi-r119-06cgm2/i/G4862487/



I sold my bigger compressor a while back but I still have the filter and separator from that system, they are overkill but I might use them now, they have a 2" inlet and outlet and I'll need to reduce them down to 3/4" if I use them or just buy the correct size for my new system.

For my two plasma cutters I’ll use a Motor Guard M-60R Compressed Air Filter with Regulator 1/2 NPT at each.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Thanks, that's the type I have now. I'd like to start with new and Parker has good stuff.

 

[J Mack]

Small update.

I’m too cheap to buy the Rapidair straightener for a one time use so I thought I would just build my own with some scrap junk laying around the shop.

The homemade straightener worked but at the end of the day the Harbor Freight tubing roller worked just as well as was more convenient to use clamped to the bench.

I was going to buy a new ¾” Hankison coalescing filter but again I’m cheap and I already owned the 2” so I just ordered to fittings and mounted it to the wall.



I have all the drops mounted to the walls and as soon as I can get some help I think I’m just about ready to tie it all together.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Jim,

Is that filter & reg. coming right from the compressor? Are you going to use water traps/dumps on each drop down?

 

[J Mack]

Ron,

Yes there is a short flexible line between the compressor and the regulator, the Maxline kits have a small ball valve to bleed water on the wall mounts. I’ll run the Motor Guard secondary filter on the plasma cutters only, I live in a fairly dry state and this compressor is a low RPM unit so it doesn’t build a lot of heat and I’ve never had an issue with moisture.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Nice, mine generates a ton of water and is a major concern.

 

[1MOA]

It helps to get the airline as hot as you can make it before straightening it as well. I helped with an installation of it last winter and it had been sitting in temps about 0 deg C and it was like trying to bend cold rubber. We stopped and took the line into the house and set it next to the pellet stove while we ate lunch and after that it was warm to the touch but was able to be straightened almost effortlessly by running it through a generic tubing bender.

 

[J Mack]

mine generates a ton of water and is a major concern.

Years ago I had one of those 5HP compressors they sell for the consumer market and it had a 3500RPM motor like most of them do, that thing would get ridiculously hot when running something like a DA sander then start shooting a water/air mixture past any of the small coalescing filters I added to it.



When I built this shop I had a 15 HP Kaeser screw compressor and never had any condensation issues but it was just too big for a one man hobby shop, I sold that compressor and talked to the guys at the local industrial compressor shop and expressed my concerns about going back to a piston compressor and wanted a smaller screw to replace the Kaeser, they explained to me that the industrial marketed piston compressors look similar to the consumer units but they are a completely different animal and I would be happy and save a few bucks by just going with a 7.5HP piston for this shop. They talked me into a Gardner Denver Reward Series 7.5 HP and I couldn’t be happier, it has a 1700 RPM motor and spins the pump at 950 RPM and the lines barley get hot to the touch. Gardner Denver has a factory mounted air-cooled aftercooler they claim “effectively removes up to 65% of the moisture from discharged compressed air”. I don’t claim to know exact numbers but I can tell you I don’t have a moisture issue here and I haven’t had a coalescing filter until now with this compressor and wouldn’t have spent the money if I didn’t already own it so I would guess it’s doing something.

Gardner Denver rates this compressor at 22.3 CFM @ 175 PSI, it has been a while and I don’t want to misquote the numbers I was told but they rate the home gamer compressors at XX CFM @ 90PSI and dropping the PSI numbers to make your CFM look better is a consumer market ploy and difference is significant in the amount of time a compressor has to run to make the same amount of air increasing the heat issue.

Might be worth a call to your local industrial compressor shop and get their take on it.

 

[J Mack]

I finally got some time to get everything tied together last night, between my hotrod project balling up my free time and my buddy getting tied up on a big project we were having a hard time finding time that worked for both of us.

Going to run the rest of the power for a few machines then I’ll grab some photos. The line is easy to run and we tested for leaks last night and so far this stuff looks like a great option for reasonably inexpensive airline in a shop.