- Joined
- Jul 19, 2020
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- Location
- Northwest Arkansas
- Vehicle(s)
- Ford Bronco, BMW R1150 GS
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
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- #1
Overview
I just finished installing my large, Ingersoll Rand air compressor and Transair piping system this weekend (photos below).
Obviously, this system is overkill for a residential garage, but I like working with my hands, building things, doing auto repairs and maintenance, and some occasional wood and metal work, and Iāve had this system in my old house for almost 15 years. When I moved to my new house, I simply dismantled it and planned to reassemble it in the new garage. This weekend, I finally finished the project.
Air Compressor
The air compressor is an Ingersoll-Rand, UPR Quiet Enclosed Series, Model UP6RM-5-175. Technical specs: 5 HP, 17 ACFM max, 175 PSIG, 565 lbs, two-stage cast iron compressor, 100% continuous duty cycle, 68 gallon vertical tank, with a Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled (TEFC) motor (IP54)ā¦ basically an acoustic, compartmentalized sheet metal enclosure for sound suppression with vibration isolators to minimize vibration.
I mainly use it to run air tools (e.g., automotive, drilling, grinding, cutting), inflate tires, and spray off trail dust, sawdust, or metal shavings. I donāt spray paint in my garage, other than occasional rattle cans for repairs, mods, and clean-up, so I have no real need for a sophisticated moisture management system. However, it does have a solenoid-operated automatic purge valve at the bottom of the tank to purge condensation and prevent internal rust.
The main reason I bought the compressor was for the sound suppression (74 dBA). When the motor is running inside the garage, I donāt have to wear hearing protection, and I can actually talk to someone without yelling, which was well worth paying for the sound enclosure.
Transair Piping System
The Transair piping system is a really robust set-up with 1ā OD aluminum piping. It was originally branded as Garage Pak, but is targeted towards both DIY/Enthusiasts and Commercial Garages. Once the aluminum pipe is cut to length, using a normal pipe cutter tool for copper pipes and tubing, it is really easy to install by simply pushing the ends into special compression connectors on each end for a leak-free seal..
Now I have an air drop at the front of my vehicle with two safety couplers, and an air hose reel mounted to the ceiling at the center of my garage with a 3/8ā diameter x 25ā long air hose that can reach all corners of the garage. This makes it easier to air up the tires on all vehicles in the garage without having to move anything around. Itās also handy for just spraying off trail dust after Iāve returned from a 4-wheeling trip or sawdust/metal shavings when Iām working on projects in the garage.
After I finished the installation, I spent 20 minutes just spraying off all the trail dust inside my Bronco from my last 4-wheeling trip with @kodiakisland and @Ragtop1962 a few weeks ago. Since I was at the back of the trio, I was eating trail dust all day, and the inside of the vehicle was covered with a thick layer of clay-colored trail dust.
Installation Photos
Below are some pics of the installation as it progressed, in case youāre interestedā¦
1) Connection to the compressor tank with a condensation trap and ball valves at both the tank and the pipingā¦
2) 5-gallon bucket to collect condensation from the automatic purge valve at the bottom of the tank. The valve is set to purge condensation that collects at the bottom of the tank for 2 seconds every 10 minutes. This is to keep moisture out of the system and minimize rust inside the tank, which could compromise its structural integrity.
3) Close-up of the ball valve at the front of the piping system and the first vertical leg of the pipe, plus pipe clips that attach the pipe to the wall. This vertical pipe leg has an elbow connector which will connect to a horizontal pipe and run close to the ceiling to get it up and out of the way of work within the garage to minimize damage from tooling or moving/falling objects (e.g., ladders).ā¦
4) First horizontal leg of pipe connected to the aforementioned elbow on the left and a T-connection on the right. Below the T is a vertical air drop to a wall bracket containing two safety couplers at the front of the Bronco. Coiled air hoses are typically attached to the safety couplers and used with a spray nozzle attachment or small air tools like an air ratchet for work in the engine bay...
5) Close-up of the air drop bracket with two safety couplers. To disconnect an air hose requires two sequential motions: 1 counter-clockwise
to de-pressure, and 2 clockwise 
to disconnect. (You can see the directional arrows on each safety coupler.) This prevents the male fitting on the end of the air hose from blowing out uncontrollably when the pressure releases and striking you or whatever is in front of the connector. Itās a nice safety feature which helps prevent unexpected damage to your vehicleās grill, headlights, or hoodā¦
6) Second horizontal leg from the T connector on the left to a union connector (extending past the maximum 9ā length of a single pipe) on the right, to an elbow connector that runs back across the ceiling to the center of the garage, where the air hose reel is mountedā¦.
7) Air hose reel attached to the ceiling. This was one of the most difficult parts of the installation, simply because the hose reel is heavy, and it cannot be easily mounted directly to the sheetrock ceiling or to the joists in the attic, which run on 16ā centers. However, the hose reel must be able to sustain the lateral force of pulling the hose out against the countervailing force of the spring retractor inside the reel and the weight of the hose when fully extended (25ā)ā¦
8) Reinforcing bracket in the attic. Needless to say, the hose reel installation required reinforcement to prevent it from being pulled off the ceiling during normal use. So I fabricated a reinforcing bracket with steel channels, threaded rods, lock washers, and nuts to spread the lateral loads to the joists and reinforce the sheetrock underneath the mounting plate. Yeah, I knowā¦ itās a little overkill
, but no one is going to pull this sucker down! I bet you could do pull-ups from this thing and still not make it budge...
Bottom lineā¦ I finally have my system back up and running again, and I am pleased with the end result.
Let me know if you have any questions, and Iāll try to answer them.
I just finished installing my large, Ingersoll Rand air compressor and Transair piping system this weekend (photos below).
Obviously, this system is overkill for a residential garage, but I like working with my hands, building things, doing auto repairs and maintenance, and some occasional wood and metal work, and Iāve had this system in my old house for almost 15 years. When I moved to my new house, I simply dismantled it and planned to reassemble it in the new garage. This weekend, I finally finished the project.
Air Compressor
The air compressor is an Ingersoll-Rand, UPR Quiet Enclosed Series, Model UP6RM-5-175. Technical specs: 5 HP, 17 ACFM max, 175 PSIG, 565 lbs, two-stage cast iron compressor, 100% continuous duty cycle, 68 gallon vertical tank, with a Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled (TEFC) motor (IP54)ā¦ basically an acoustic, compartmentalized sheet metal enclosure for sound suppression with vibration isolators to minimize vibration.
I mainly use it to run air tools (e.g., automotive, drilling, grinding, cutting), inflate tires, and spray off trail dust, sawdust, or metal shavings. I donāt spray paint in my garage, other than occasional rattle cans for repairs, mods, and clean-up, so I have no real need for a sophisticated moisture management system. However, it does have a solenoid-operated automatic purge valve at the bottom of the tank to purge condensation and prevent internal rust.
The main reason I bought the compressor was for the sound suppression (74 dBA). When the motor is running inside the garage, I donāt have to wear hearing protection, and I can actually talk to someone without yelling, which was well worth paying for the sound enclosure.
Transair Piping System
The Transair piping system is a really robust set-up with 1ā OD aluminum piping. It was originally branded as Garage Pak, but is targeted towards both DIY/Enthusiasts and Commercial Garages. Once the aluminum pipe is cut to length, using a normal pipe cutter tool for copper pipes and tubing, it is really easy to install by simply pushing the ends into special compression connectors on each end for a leak-free seal..
Now I have an air drop at the front of my vehicle with two safety couplers, and an air hose reel mounted to the ceiling at the center of my garage with a 3/8ā diameter x 25ā long air hose that can reach all corners of the garage. This makes it easier to air up the tires on all vehicles in the garage without having to move anything around. Itās also handy for just spraying off trail dust after Iāve returned from a 4-wheeling trip or sawdust/metal shavings when Iām working on projects in the garage.
After I finished the installation, I spent 20 minutes just spraying off all the trail dust inside my Bronco from my last 4-wheeling trip with @kodiakisland and @Ragtop1962 a few weeks ago. Since I was at the back of the trio, I was eating trail dust all day, and the inside of the vehicle was covered with a thick layer of clay-colored trail dust.
Installation Photos
Below are some pics of the installation as it progressed, in case youāre interestedā¦
1) Connection to the compressor tank with a condensation trap and ball valves at both the tank and the pipingā¦
2) 5-gallon bucket to collect condensation from the automatic purge valve at the bottom of the tank. The valve is set to purge condensation that collects at the bottom of the tank for 2 seconds every 10 minutes. This is to keep moisture out of the system and minimize rust inside the tank, which could compromise its structural integrity.
3) Close-up of the ball valve at the front of the piping system and the first vertical leg of the pipe, plus pipe clips that attach the pipe to the wall. This vertical pipe leg has an elbow connector which will connect to a horizontal pipe and run close to the ceiling to get it up and out of the way of work within the garage to minimize damage from tooling or moving/falling objects (e.g., ladders).ā¦
4) First horizontal leg of pipe connected to the aforementioned elbow on the left and a T-connection on the right. Below the T is a vertical air drop to a wall bracket containing two safety couplers at the front of the Bronco. Coiled air hoses are typically attached to the safety couplers and used with a spray nozzle attachment or small air tools like an air ratchet for work in the engine bay...
5) Close-up of the air drop bracket with two safety couplers. To disconnect an air hose requires two sequential motions: 1 counter-clockwise
to de-pressure, and 2 clockwise to disconnect. (You can see the directional arrows on each safety coupler.) This prevents the male fitting on the end of the air hose from blowing out uncontrollably when the pressure releases and striking you or whatever is in front of the connector. Itās a nice safety feature which helps prevent unexpected damage to your vehicleās grill, headlights, or hoodā¦
6) Second horizontal leg from the T connector on the left to a union connector (extending past the maximum 9ā length of a single pipe) on the right, to an elbow connector that runs back across the ceiling to the center of the garage, where the air hose reel is mountedā¦.
7) Air hose reel attached to the ceiling. This was one of the most difficult parts of the installation, simply because the hose reel is heavy, and it cannot be easily mounted directly to the sheetrock ceiling or to the joists in the attic, which run on 16ā centers. However, the hose reel must be able to sustain the lateral force of pulling the hose out against the countervailing force of the spring retractor inside the reel and the weight of the hose when fully extended (25ā)ā¦
8) Reinforcing bracket in the attic. Needless to say, the hose reel installation required reinforcement to prevent it from being pulled off the ceiling during normal use. So I fabricated a reinforcing bracket with steel channels, threaded rods, lock washers, and nuts to spread the lateral loads to the joists and reinforce the sheetrock underneath the mounting plate. Yeah, I knowā¦ itās a little overkill
, but no one is going to pull this sucker down! I bet you could do pull-ups from this thing and still not make it budge...
Bottom lineā¦ I finally have my system back up and running again, and I am pleased with the end result.
Let me know if you have any questions, and Iāll try to answer them.
Sponsored
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