Straight or looped

[moik]

Hello,, hope everything is well . I am in the process of making a PVC air manifold 1 inch PVC .Basically 20-35 air outlets. If you can picture my situation. I have a 10 ft. run of tanks that goes into a corner (inside corner)and on the other side of the corner I have 5 ft. run of tanks. Like an "L" shape. My question is ,should I make a loop system or can I make two straight runs (top row of tanks and lower row of tanks). The two straight runs will look like a "H" on its side. The air pump is going to be in the corner on the only verticle peice. At the ends (4 of them) there will be end caps to end the section. Do you think this OK to run the PVC in a "H" pattern on its side? I am just trying to maximize the air flow/pressure for the entire system. Any help would be very appreciated.

[pcsb23]

Moik, my limited understanding says that the pressure will always try and equalise in the piping, therefore the H configuration should work OK.

[Jason]

I have a couple instruction manuals that recomend using a continuos "loop" with no dead spots. I beleive Paul is right aswell, from what I understand a loop with no dead ends is better for equalizing pressure as the whole loop itself is meant to function as an air tank or reservoir. If your using a piston or diaphram type pump I think the difference would be minimal, if your using a "blower" or ring compressor type I would definately use the loop.

[korbi_doc]

:) Hey guys, I'm 'bout to set up my linear piston pump again, & guess I'm not too savvy with what you've said here....my tanks will run on 3 sides of the "fishroom"...was going to start at one end, say the left side, run pvc across that side to 1st corner of room, turn rt across the back, turn rt again down the right side of room to the end, & stop there...drill holes in pvc for the valves to each tank & the water barrels which are in the left corner....this is more of a U shape with (maybe?) couple of turns, for instance back to the wall to the storage barrels & back again... will this be a problem? I'm not sure how to do this by myself, in NJ my lines ran 2 ways with the pump in the middle & I never saw a problem... sorry, can't draw on here to demo this, lol, tia, Dottie ;)

[Jason]

Hi Dottie,

That set-up sounds fine. What we mean by "loop" is the pvc never comes to an end with a cap, its always joined up back to itself like a ring.

If your going to be welding the pipe with solvent, be sure to run air through it untill you can't smell it anymore- could take a couple days. Also after you have drilled and tapped your valve holes, leave an opening in the piping and blow air through the pipe again, that will help clear out the plastic shavings and fillings- real pain if it gets into your pipe valves.

hth

[Polar_Bear]

Dottie,
From everything I have read Jason is correct. You really do want to create a "ring" of your PVC pipe. btw almost no one uses cement to seal their pipes in an air system. If you just push them tightly together you will be able to easily reconfigure the system if necessary and it will stay mostly air tight.

[LizStreithorst]

Really? Mine always blow apart over time. Then it's a royal PITA trying to find out which joint is leaking. Of course I don't have the loop. Mine are both like Dottie described.

[korbi_doc]

:D Thanks Jason, hope it doesn't really need to be a ring...there will be dead capped ends, but in NJ, that's what I had, & still plenty of air....& Polar Bear, I did cement them then, so probably will again, that's not too difficult....
Liz, you don' t have a problem with air pressure do you? I only had 10 tanks with 3 storage barrels, & used lotsa sponge filters & had plenty of air to spare.....;)

[Jason]

no problem Dottie :)

If your using a high quality linear type compressor like Medo/nitto kohki then the dead ends are not an issue at all, the pump will self adjust with a increase/decrease in back pressure.

Liz if your finding parts of the pvc blow apart frequently you may want to try a bleeder valve.

[moik]

Hello, thanks for all the info. I just put a looped system in and glued all the fitttings. I do not want to have ANY blow outs in the future. I am waiting for a couple of days to let everything cure and the fumes to dissapate. The loop was alittle pain in the a--, but seems like the right way to go.. I thank everyone for their input, what would I do with out my Simply Discus /members. Thanks again.