Piped, Regulated, Hosed

I finally got my frigging compressor set up.

I'm not all that thrilled with the solution I came up with. I have two male-male 1/2" ID couplers, joined by a female-female 1/2" ID coupler, going from the ball valve to the regulator. I have a male-male 1/2" ID coupler coming out of the other side, going into a 1/2-1/4 female-female reducer, which goes to a quick-disconnect deal. Then I have the snubber hose to the reel, the reel is on the wall, and I have what appears to be a hundred feet of 3/8" urethane hose on the reel. I thought it was 50, but when I unrolled it to wind it on the reel, it went practically to the moon.

The thing I don't like about this arrangement is that the regulator's weight is held up by the fittings. It's just hanging out there. It's not heavy, and there isn't much vibration, and it's not in a place where anyone would whack it. And even if they did, the maximum damage would be one or two destroyed fittings. But it would be nicer on the wall.

Funny thing is, the people who make parts for compressors conspire to keep me from putting my half-inch ID regulator on the wall. For one thing, the valve is 25" from the wall (when the compressor is installed correctly), so it requires a snubber at least 30" long. Good luck finding one in half-inch size. You can't use pipe, because you need something that isn't rigid. On top of that, the regulator packaging prominently states that you can mount it on a bracket. But Ingersoll-Rand doesn't make a bracket, and there isn't a single place on the regulator where you can drill and put a bolt to attach it to a regulator you make on your own. So you pretty much have to hold it up on the pipe coming out of the tank.

On top of that, you can't put the regulator right up against the tank, where the connection would be subject to less torque, because the ball valve handle is in the way. I considered sawing half of it off.

I finally killed all the air leaks, using two wrenches and half a roll of Teflon. I guess I'll be okay. I love my impact wrench; it's so quiet, it's ridiculous. It doesn't have as much torque as some of the others IR makes, but on the other hand, I got it for 90 bucks. You can actually have a conversation with the wrench and the compressor both going at the same time.

The reel looks pretty sweet hanging on the wall. Thank God it's finally out of the way. I had it piled on my portable compressor for months.

Does anyone out there know how close to level a compressor has to be? I'm off by about an eighth of an inch, back to front. Not sure if that matters.

Time for a giant steak and an immense baked potato. I have earned it.