They will also likely have gear clamps a little bigger than the outside diameter of your hose. Your local hardware store should have a double barbed air fitting the same size as the internal diameter of your hose. Before chucking it out, are you sure it’s worn out? Or is it just that it’s sprung a leak or two from being walked on or driven over all these years? You don’t have to throw it away. (inside diameter) that you need to know to get the correct air fitting.Īir hose is expensive. (outside diameter) of the air hose is, it’s the I.D. If you remember the acronym HID, and that it stands for “hose I.D.”, this will help you remember that air hose size is measured on the inside diameter not the outside. Not all manufacturers manufacture their compressed air hose to the same outside diameter as another company’s hose. That size, whatever it is, is the actual size of that air hose. If you want to know what size the air hose is, measure the I.D. As a result, a 1/2″ air hose might have a 3/4″ O.D., or maybe a 1 1/2″ O.D. I always get a chuckle when people look at an air hose lying on the floor, and declare that it “must be” a 1″ line…and they’re deciding that from looking at the outside diameter of the hose.ĭifferent air hose manufacturers and hoses manufactured to different standards and applications have different wall thicknesses and a variety of cladding. There’s lots of information on this blog about air hose, but here’s an updated. Starting with a higher air pressure means, even though you will lose flow and pressure due to turbulence in the air line still, the higher the compressed air pressure at the hose beginning will mean more higher pressure and flow at the air tool end. If possible, increase the air pressure entering the hose. If there is a need to add to fittings keep the number of air fittings to the absolute minimum. What can be done while limiting exposure to maintenance issues is to increase the diameter of the air hose.Ī larger air hose, while still having turbulence where the compressed air meets the walls of the hose, will have a greater amount of air in the middle of the hose that has experienced less exposure to the turbulence resulting in greater flow to the air tool at the end of the hose. If a too small extension cord is used, this meaning that the gauge of the wire is too thin, then the compressor motor will be underpowered leading to maintenance issues with the motor and possibly the compressor not running at all. This can create a separate problem however because if the air compressor is electrically powered then one would need to use an extension cord to get power to the motor when the compressor is some distance from the power source. If the air compressor is portable the tendency may be to move the compressor closer to the point of use, this reducing the amount of air hose necessary to get air to the air tool. What can be done then when air is required some distance from the air compressor to help reduce the effects of a lengthy air hose on compressed air loss. Then, if you add elbows, angles and tees to the air line, each time you do, you increase resistance to flow even further, and this costs you in flow and pressure at the point of use. Make the hose longer still, and the yield at the air-tool end would be less still. Pressure loss will be lower or greater, this depending on the smoothness of the inner air hose surface.Īdd another 100′ of hose and your pressure at the end of 200′ of run would be less, even though you are still pouring a constant flow of air at 100 PSI into the hose at the supply end. The amount pressure drop can be seen by reading the air gauge at the tank, and then by plumbing the end of the hose into an air gauge that has a coupler attached. If you started with 100′ of 1/2″ rubber hose, and pumped air at 100 PSI into one end of it, you would not get 100 PSI out the other end. The net result of this is loss of compressed air flow and that results in the pressure drop where the air exits the air hose to the air tool.Ĭlick on image to check air hose price on Amazon The longer the hose the greater the impact of this turbulence on the flow of air. The turbulence created by the flow of compressed air rubbing against the walls of the air hose or pipe, and a particularly over long distance, creates a significant amount of turbulence in the air hose. This slows the flow of compressed air at the edges. It is because compressed air flowing through an air line, whether a rubber hose, a PVC hose, a copper pipe, or black iron pipe, encounters resistance as the air flows along the inner surface of the air line. In a word, yes! How does the length of an air hose affect whether or not your air tools work properly?
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