New to air compressors - hose suggestions

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Hello,

Just got me a new porter cable c2002 6 gallon compressor. I am mainly going to use it for pumping air in the tires and blowing air.
I already bought this:
http://www.amazon.com/Amflo-Straight--Ta...ty+air+inflator
and i will buy a blower kit sometime soon.

My question is, what hose size diameter should i get? 1/4 or 3/8?
Also, should i get the universal, automotive or industrial fitting?

Thanks!
 
3/8 hose . For you purposed I don't think the Q/R fittings would matter.
 
1/4inch is fine commpressor won't really have the guts to gain any benifits for a 3/8 hose plus much lighter to lug around.
 
Whatever you use for fittings, now's the time to set the standard.

I got automotive then worked at a tire shop that used industrial. Oops.

I'd get one of those curly yellow plastic hoses and a goodyear rubber 3/8.
 
will the 1/4 inch hose be sufficient to blow air into tires? Someone said that i should go with 1/4 as my compressor is a small size. Is this a good suggestion? I think i will go with industrial fittings
 
Originally Posted By: garlicbreadman
will the 1/4 inch hose be sufficient to blow air into tires? Someone said that i should go with 1/4 as my compressor is a small size. Is this a good suggestion? I think i will go with industrial fittings

Yes correct and commpressor is plumbed 1/4inch you will gain nothing with a 3/8 with that commpressor
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
Originally Posted By: garlicbreadman
will the 1/4 inch hose be sufficient to blow air into tires? Someone said that i should go with 1/4 as my compressor is a small size. Is this a good suggestion? I think i will go with industrial fittings

Yes correct and commpressor is plumbed 1/4inch you will gain nothing with a 3/8 with that commpressor


perfect, 1/4 it is! thank you for your input
laugh.gif
 
Goodyear Gorilla. Rolls up nice and lasts just about forever.

If you're going to be hammering on rusty lugnuts all day with an impact, get 3/8".

1/4" should be fine for just about anything else. 1/4" is fine for an impact too, you'll just need to break the really tight stuff free with a breaker bar by hand.
 
I've got roughly 10000 feet of hose for work. The polyurethane ones are the best,regardless of name brand. Old school rubber is fine in a shop where it not going to get caught up but onsite they suck.
If running any impact tools a 3/8 I/D is what you want. Moves more volume of air faster. If your just pumping up tires you don't need anything special.
 
Thanks, ill get the 1/4 for now.


I have a dewalt 20v 1/2 drive electrical impact driver for those tough nuts and bolts. It took off a honda crankpulley bolt too!
 
Broke-in the compressor yesterday and tested it out. Works fantastic with the 1/4 hose for pumping air into tires. Thanks all for your help!
 
Wth 1/4" fittings you don't need a valve fitting to pump up tires. You just use the end of the hose,as long as the valve on the tire is long enough to reach the inside of the hose.
You just use the hose fitting itself and push it over the valse stem.

Little trick I learned after having lost countless valve fittings.
 
Originally Posted By: garlicbreadman
Broke-in the compressor yesterday and tested it out. Works fantastic with the 1/4 hose for pumping air into tires. Thanks all for your help!

Glad to hear the 3/8 hose will never be a benefit with that small of a commpressor.
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
Originally Posted By: garlicbreadman
Broke-in the compressor yesterday and tested it out. Works fantastic with the 1/4 hose for pumping air into tires. Thanks all for your help!

Glad to hear the 3/8 hose will never be a benefit with that small of a commpressor.


Well that isn't quite true. Bigger hose flows more are faster and increases capacity of air,but if using 1/4" fittings they become a restriction.
I use 1/4" fittings/hose for my finish guns and 3/8" hose/fittings for my far,I got guns.
Depending on how many guns I need to run I'll add a supplement air tank that I had fittings welded to to increase air volume and makes a smaller compressor act like a larger one.
In my last garage I used 2" abs pipe for air distribution and a small 1 1/2hp compressor. There was so much volume because the abs even when running impact guns I couldn't run it out of air.
The compressor was an oiled unit(must have) so it would run for 45 minutes to pump up the system and I set the valve to pump air as soon as pressure dipped below 110psi.
 
3/8 will flow more air. There is a restriction from using a length of hose as well as the fitting.

That's why 25ft of 3/8 will flow better than 100ft

In this specific case esp with 1/4 fittings it doesn't matter.

They make 1/2" air hose and high volume fittings too but unless you have a large compressor and need 10+cfm you wont "need" it.

My current setup uses 3/8" hose because it was the same price as 1/4" hose with regular 1/4" quick connectors.

If I was going to run air tools I'd definitely upgrade to the high flow style fittings.

2015-03-19%2020.25.50.jpg


50ft flexzilla retractable hose.
Stays very flexible at 0F compared to regular pvc hose that turns rigid.
 
Restriction is based on diameter *and* length. A 3/8 hose with 1/4 fittings will flow a *lot* more air than a 1/4 hose with 1/4 fittings.

It's less about the diameter of the hole and more about the length of the pipe. Pressure drops proportionally to the total length. Look at it as a sum of frictional losses. Each component (ie the hose & the connectors) contributes a frictional loss. A short hose will flow more air than a long hose. Length for length, a 3/8 hose with 1/4 fittings will flow a lot more air than a 1/4 hose with 1/4 fittings. The longer the hose, the bigger the difference.

If you are just blowing up tyres then it probably does not matter, but on a cost basis moving from a 1/4 hose to a 3/8 hose is an awfully cheap way to get more airflow (within the limits of the compressor and tank of course).
 
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