Rapid air looks like a good alternative also. I am going to try it in the near future. 

Billd did you look into something like this? http://www.aircompressorsdirect.com/RapidAir-M7500/p7618.html Also what is the spec on the compressor that it keeps up with the blasters? HP of motor (volt/phase), single or duel stage pump, CFM@ 90 psi & CFM@ max psi, max psi.

Hello,
I work in a 2 car garage. My compressor is on the front wall. Line out to a flex line to black pipe up the wall and across the ceiling and down between the 2 garage doors. This is where I have my seperator/regulator/etc... One drop with a dirt leg. I screwed up and used unions and pipe dope and some of my connections lead, but I've heard tell that you need some real distance between the compressor and the seperator to cool the air so that the seperator can do its job and get the moisture out of the air.
Brass would be nice, but you'd need to sweat all those joints and it would be difficult to add stuff later - although the way I'm currently set up, it won't be easy to add stuff either... Whatever you do, don't use plastic.
I have been in shops that only use hose line.

Thanks for read

Don’t remember where I saw it maybe if you Google air compressor coolers you might find something. But IIRC some used that base board fined heat tubing to cool the air and condense the water piped to a drain leg before the air reached the tools. Other thing I remember was guys using car/truck A/C condenser to do the same thing as the fined tubing. A small fan blowing thru the condenser to help air flow thru it but think did not even need that.

 

I know my old little 30 gal would turn the air hose into a water hose! The filter /dyer at the tank did nothing. I will have to see how this new 80 gal unit is come summer but using it for a full day last week the tank was cool to the touch so I might be ok and just need to drain the tank? When I get more $$ I will get a shop air kit and look into the base board set up. Should be able to pick up some used stuff at the scrap yard I would think?

Dave ----

I use an oiler in one line in my upstairs wood shop, I have two drops at one location, one has the oiler, the other has a filter. This way I can plug my nailers and brad guns into one, and any other equipment such as nozzles, spray guns, etc. into the other. Each has a dedicated hose so I don't connect spray equipment or an air nozzle to the hose that had the air tool on it.

Sweating - in Iowa, even my garage has that issue - the floor has water puddles and metal, such as my antique engines, tools, etc. has water droplets all over it. It's when something cool stays cool while warmer more humid air comes in. The humidity in that warm air (which holds more water than cold) hits the cooler object and the water condenses as the air around the cooler object must leave the air and condense. Doesn't matter pole building or garage, it's a matter of cool item coming into contact with warm very humid air certain times of year, under certain conditions. I don't have sweat issues with the copper pipes in my shop, I rather expected at least a little bit, but so far, nothing. I suspect running them high helped.

Cost-wise, I added up my total expenses thus far with copper and compared what I've done vs. buying the air line "kits" and such, and I'm coming out ahead. I figure I've saved so far nearly $100 vs. other methods. Work - the copper means soldering and a bit of work, but to me it's well worth it. If I had to start over, I'd not change a thing. But in comparison to PVC - I probably don't spend any more time running the copper. Cut it, clean it with the brushes you can buy for that purpose to make it much faster, a bit of paste, push together, heat one side of joint, apply solder to the other side, move on.
 I have no worries about rupture with the metal pipe. I could literally run into it with a vehicle, bump it while moving engines or transmissions around, or a 2-wheel cart with a garbage can or heavy box. It will handle impact with little risk. If heaven forbid something DID happen, it would simply pop or split - no shards flying through the shop at speeds high enough to puncture skin and muscle. (I actually saw a pipe blow many years ago - wow, messy.)
I value the one eye I have that is functional, and like to feel as if I can invite my wife, kids, other family members, neighbors, young and old out to my shop with little worry.

I also prefer metal pipe (as I probably said a few times in this thread already) because the metal lines act to remove moisture - if the thing is designed properly. There's little need to have many water traps in a system like I am putting together.
The vertical risers, the drops and drains, all adds up to moisture removal at low cost. The air leaving my compressor expands into a larger vertical pipe, cools as it hits the larger cooler metal pipe and loses a fair amount of moisture right there. As the air expands under any condition, it cools, thus has to drop water. Allow the air to expand and cool soon after leaving, it's already dropped a fair amount as is born out by my need to drain that first riser more frequently, and getting more out of it than any other. Thus moisture removal methods near-by can work. My next riser is a few feet away  - air is taken from the TOP of the line, goes up, then back down to my first drop. The fact it has to go up several inches means any water in that line won't "run" or "drop" into the line going down. I have several feet of drop, the connection, then a few more inches. It's another natural cheap water "trap" or removal.  You do definitely want some distance between the compressor and your drop or tool. Don't plug a short line into the compressor, or take air from a line a short distance away.
In my shop I hung the horizontal lines to have a bit of fall to them so as air travels along the runs if water falls out, it keeps on running downhill inside the pipe to the end where there's another drop (and drain valve) to collect water. Each drop along the run goes out of the horizontal line at the top, up a few inches, then down just like the first.
One thing I have noticed since moving to this sort of a system is that when I use an air nozzle, I no longer get that "moist" or wet air feeling as the air hits my hand, say when blowing off a part. I can blow air onto something and not see the very fine change of tone as moist air hits - because it's pretty dry air by the time it gets that far. I can feel the difference, I can see the difference, blowing high-pressure air on parts no longer makes me feel like I'm making things wet or would cause any quick rust. I noticed a huge difference in my blasting cabinets. They not longer have any moisture issues - beads, sand, nothing sticks to the parts as I blast. The nozzles flow more freely, I don't have anything plug up. The media absolutely feels and stays dry, no clumping even in our climate. My air tools don't get a moist feeling to them after long use because of moisture in the air leaving the tool and condensing on it. This is all with the natural water removal built into the system.
I have valves everywhere - I can isolate any part of the system I want to do maintenance, add or change anything, and at the bottom ends of the drops to drain water out as needed if needed.

Wrambler, you won't have moisture issues with cast........ or should not....
Some folks take that cooling thing further, and run pipe or coils or those radiator units through a small fridge. Some commercial units I've seen are just that, sort of a dorm-sized fridge with coils in them that the air runs through.

I took what I knew of very basic physics and science, grabbed the best, or what I thought was the best, of what others had done and came up with what I hope was/is a decent plan, not very high cost, pretty maintenance-free. I feel that I limited or reduced the need for expensive water traps and have a safe, reliable system in my shop, upstairs and down. I have a few more lines to run - I'm going to have a few more drops of various configurations for various purposes, but have almost all the materials I need. I catch the copper on sale - watch and sometimes you can catch pretty good deals on decent copper.
When I want it to last as long as I live, want low maintenance, safety, reliability, I'll do what is needed and then save somewhere else...........this puppy will be solid and work perfectly, and I won't be running hoses all over the place. I hate tripping over hoses or having a hose catch on something, or knocking something over.