[AT] Air lines for shop: Finished with review

Spencer Yost spencer at rdfarms.com
Tue Nov 2 18:23:01 PDT 2021 

Hey Roger - I’ll hit you up offline.

Also, I forgot my own rule:  If there are no pictures it didn’t happen.  (-:

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Sent from my iPhone

> On Nov 1, 2021, at 8:47 PM, Roger Moffat <rogerkiwi at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for the review Spencer
> 
> My new shop is all but finished, and air line is one thing that remains.
> 
> What did the bender and straightener cost?
> 
> What would you want to try and get for them?
> 
> I could well be interested…
> 
> Roger
> 
>> On Nov 1, 2021, at 8:11 PM, Spencer Yost <spencer at rdfarms.com> wrote:
>> 
>> So, I finally finished the air lines.   Here is my unvarnished option:   Maxline is a good choice but not quite the slam dunk I thought it was.
>> 
>> I was impressed with:
>> 
>>    -   Lack of air leaks in the fittings (provided you installed them correctly).
>>    -   Gentle turns and bends are easy and don't require elbows and what not(see below)
>>    -   Completely modular system:   You can get most any kind of fitting or hardware that is compatible and don't need to "hack" anything.
>>    -   Seems good quality (see below though). time will tell.
>> 
>> What I learned:
>> 
>> As far as handling its the worst of both worlds.
>>    -   Shorter lengths:  I've never used PEX-AL-PEX but I understand its akin to that so this was a learning process.  It is fairly stiff and difficult to shape shorter lengths. Its a bit like wrestling a dead snake with rigor mortis.  Unrolling it straight from the roll was the worst.
>>    -   Longer lengths:  It is flexible enough that you can't lift longer lengths without help.   Long lengths are like partially cooked spaghetti: the far end just won't come up if its over 12-15' long.  My wife was so happy to have to assist (-:
>> 
>> 
>> What I didn't like:
>>    -   One of the fittings designed to attach the line to a standard female NPT fitting (a regulator in my case) had weak/bad threads and a few 12-18mm sections of the thread broke during installation.   So air leaked and I almost could not remove it. Removal did minor damage to the female threads in my regulator but I saved it by chasing it with a pipe tap.  Since the fitting is steel and regulator housing is aluminum and was undamaged (other than trying to remove it) I assume the problem was with the fitting and its thread cutting during production.
>>    -   Its way too easy to kink it when bending a 90 degree or greater by hand.  Had to buy the bender.
>>    -   If you don't want it to look like an eighth grader installed it you really need their tubing straightener to unroll it and give you nice crisp lines.
>>    -   Instructions state that you tighten each fitting by hand and turn 3/4 more.   I never could get a full 3/4 but none leaked so not a biggie but I have 10' ceilings so standing on a ladder using all my might to try to hold a fitting with one wrench while torque-ing that sucker down with another was zero fun.
>>    -   The lines are, as Steve W stated, very blue.   Matches my compressor but could be unsightly if that matters.
>> 
>> 
>> All in all I was glad I used it.   I bought the straightener and bender and also glad I did.    As for money:  I can resell the straightener and bender but counting the loss on the resale I am way over copper - probably $100 over copper.  But still happy.  It went in faster and leak-free.  Plus soldering on a ladder is zero fun as well (-:
>> 
>> 
>> Hope this helps.   And if anyone needs a straightener and bender I'll make you a great deal......
>> 
>> 
>> Spencer
>> 
>> 
>>> On 9/20/21 4:41 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>>> I am going with the Rapidair system.   Im using the Maxline product rather than their rigid AL piping so I can simply hand shape turns and curves.  I placed my order on Amazon over the weekend. While the “Master” kit is $200 on Amazon, it’s also a very simple system.  I needed a slightly more complicated system.  So my order was quite a bit more.  But still it will cost less than a copper system and maybe only $50-75 more than a steel pipe system so this was a nice choice. Modular and easy.
>>> 
>>> Will let you folks know how it goes. With delivery of a few items stretching out to the end of the week and my schedule rarely allowing me more than 20 or 40 minutes of fiddling on something in the shop before other priorities call me, it’ll be a while before I’m finished.
>>> 
>>> Spencer
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
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