Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Air Compressor Question
Rob Hix - King George, VA
>I have a Porter Cable pancake air compressor, and I am thinking of putting it on a shelf up on the wall. To make it easier to drain the tank, I want to take out the valve on the bottom and put in a pipe to go down to the floor to drain the water.
First, is this safe (I plan to use either steel pipe or copper)?
If safe, can anyone tell me what thread is on the drain hole on the compressor?
Thanks,
Rob Hix
Re: Air Compressor Question
Tom MacGregor
>I've done that to all the air compressors at the factory where I work, they're even piped into containers so the water doesn't end up on the floor. I would expect to find 1/4" female national pipe thread (FNPT) on a tank of that size; you can match it up when you remove the existing fitting. I recommend iron pipe rather than copper (it's required by code around here), and terminate it with a small ball valve. Use teflon tape to seal the threads. It should be safe and heavy duty enough to last for the life of the compressor without any problem.
Re: Air Compressor Question
Larry Clinton in Frankfort, Indiana
>Sure its safe - same as running an air line out the top. I used flexable plastic 1/4" air line with compression fittings for my 60 gal unit. It is close enough to the shop garage door to allow me to stick the plastic line outside and drain. I have a 1/4" ball valve in the line to turn the drain on/off. I'm can't remember if the fitting on my tank was 1/4" NPT (national pipe thread) or 1/8" NPT.
Re: Air Compressor Question
Robert Hutchins
>My older Emco (ca. 1989) double tank has 1/4" NPT on the drain plug. Had to replace it once and an auto radiator drain plug fit perfectly.