Installation in under two days
April 1st 2008 After a reinvestment
programme,VRS
Automotive needed to
install a new air supply system. The
company had intended to use a 'galv'
system but it was pointed out that
such a system would be both slow
and very expensive to install because
of the need to cut and thread steel
pipe. Also, compressed air is not
always completely dry and corrosion
of the pipe's inner lining could
reduce the efficiency of air tools.
VRS Automotive then decided to
use the John Guest Push Fit System.It
is made up of push in fittings and
rigid pipe colour coded blue.Pushing
a pipe into a fitting produces an
instant leakproof connection,
immediately ready for use.The pipe is
easily cut to length using pipe cutters.
The need for a very flexible system
with lots of take off points and the
ability to extend and reconfigure
when required were important
reasons for choosing the System.
The System, which had some 300
metres of pipework and around 200
fittings, proved to be even easier
than expected to install.Using their
own employees with no previous
experience of installing an air
supply, VRS had the system installed
and running in less than 2 days.
Even though the system travels
over a fairly long distance,the smooth
bore of the pipe and low pressure
drop within the fittings means the
comparatively small size of the
pipework was found to be adequate.
The many take off points were
made up of Water Trap Tees, a length
of blue pipe and a Wing Back Elbow.
The Water Trap Tee has an inside
arrangement which means air can
pass to the take off point with
minimum headloss without allowing
moisture to follow.The water is
retained in the line to be drawn off
at a suitable location.
Simon Fox of VRS reported that
he found it very quick and easy to
install and will certainly be using it
again when extensions or alterations
are required.He was especially
impressed by the speed of response
he got from John Guest and from
distributor Beaumanor Engineering
who were able to advise on the
installation and also provide a next
day delivery of the parts required. More articles from John Guest Ltd: | 
