air line under ground

by kyle
(dixon, il)

I want to run an air line from my shop 100 ft+ under ground out to a shed. I was wondering if I can use some kind of flexable hose that would cost less and be easyer to install than pipe? I plan on using it mainly to air up tires and occasinal work.

Thanks, kyle

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Bill says...

Kyle, you can use any hose, tube or pipe that's rated for the pressure of your air system.

Another consideration is rust from ground water, so that would leave pipe out for me.

If you bury it far enough, then you'll avoid heat/cold issues, but if you don't, moisture in the air and condensing in the air line outside in the winter could be a problem.

If I were doing what you were, I'd consider using 1/2" poly tube, with no fittings buried (one length from inside to inside), and if I planned on using the air in the winter, I would have a desiccant dryer installed inside the source building to dry the air before it got into the outside pipe. That won't give you much flow after a 100' run due to pressure drop, so you might have to opt for larger hose, and if you can't get one big enough for the flow required, you may have no choice but pipe.

See the PRESSURE DROP pages for flow info.

Consider reading the pages on this site about Water for more info about this problem too.

Cheers,

Bill