Compressed Air Hose Size
 

Hooking up my compressor. Any pros/cons for 1/4 or 3/8? line?

For building an RV? Unless you are going further than 500' with 1/4" hose, NO. It doesn't matter.

Building or painting
 

For building (riveting, drilling, etc) I use a 1/4 line long enough to cover my work area.
For painting (HVLP) I use a 3/8" line.
Maybe it doesn't matter. I've sprayed with the 1/4" with no problems.

Use this handy little chart -



A 5 cfm die grinder at 100 ft has a pressure difference of about 10 psi for a 100 ft of 1/4 vs 3/8. probably would have no effect.

However, if you have a big honking compressor and have tools that use a lot of CFM, then the bigger hose size would be better. :)

I sometimes need almost 100 ft lines to get air out to the ramp in front of my hangar.

My die grinder and my orbital sander run noticeably stronger with the 3/8 line. I use 1/4" line for my 1/4" drill, rivet squeezer, cleco remover, and pull riveter.

Looks like I overbuilt. Story of my life. :) Put in 3/4" Rapidair line to my basement and garage and have 3/8" hoses. I have added the 1/4" flexible Cleaveland hose for ease of use the last few feet. And when I cook I always have leftovers...

Hoses have differing flexibilities. I prefer the more flexible ones - to me, with my limited hose lengths (typically 25' or 50') that's more important than size. However, I haven't painted with these yet.

Dave

When plumbing for air, consider each 90 degree elbow to have the same loss as 20 feet of same size pipe...... you can't overbuild.